POLL: How do you pronounce portage?

[yknpdlr]

I prefer "carry" -- why not use English in an English speaking setting? When I feel I should use portage, I mostly use the French pronunciation, but sometimes I slip and use option 2 above.

what is your "boat" and how do you propel it? If you "paddle" a canoe or a kayak, neither of which originated from English words.

It is assumed that the word canoe came into English from the term 'canoa' that is used for the Caribbean dugout canoe in Columbus' travelogues in 1493. Possibly that word 'canoa' comes from the Taino word `kanawa' that the original inhabitants of the Caribbean used for this vessel. Following its incorporation into Spanish, the term "canoa" made its way into the French language. While the French adopted a form similar to the Spanish, such as "canoë" or "canot,"

In Inuktituk, the language of the Inuit people, the word kayak (or qajak) means “man’s boat” or “hunter’s boat.” originally made from seal-skins stretched over a wooden frame, 1757, kajak, from Danish kajak, from Greenland Eskimo qayaq, literally "small boat of skins."

Paddle:
c. 1400, padell "small, long-handled spade used to remove earth adhering to a plow," probably from Medieval Latin padela, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Latin patella "small pan, little dish, plate," diminutive of patina (see pan (n.)). Meaning "short oar with a wide blade"

 

[Black_Fly]

I hate when snooty people correct my pronunciation of that word. If I wanted to speak French I would have taken it in high school.

 

[mwaalen]

I once had a roommate from northern MB that scolded... "You Yanks want to be French in all the wrong places." Therefore I use "Portidge" and also out of fear now say "howkey".