Menage or manege

I used to call it a menage until I was corrected here and checking with the dictionary. :redface3:

It's a manege. A menage is a family group. :)


But mostly I call it the school or arena.
 
Yes, of course it matters: a manege is a riding arena; a ménage is an establishment or household (or family group), as in "ménage á trois".
 
There have been so many debates over this. I don't even know if it's been decided if the word is of Italian or French origin yet?

Anyhoo - I say Menage as that's what I've always heard it called. I often put sand school or arena when writing on here as I hate it when people bring you up on writing the wrong thing. Plus the only person I have ever known IRL who called it a manege was the most awful woman ever, so I associate that pronunciation/spelling with her (yes - I'm nuts). :p
 
As for whether it matters, well only if you care about using the correct word I suppose. :) I feel that calling it a menage for all those years did show my ignorance.
 
Faracat said:
There have been so many debates over this.
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I don't understand what's to debate. Surely you just look in the dictionary and that's the end of the debate? :confused3: You can't argue a word's correct just because you and others used it wrongly for years. :D
 
But language changes as it's used. I don't think that it's that unusual for the British to pinch a foreign word, alter it a bit over time and make it their own.

PS - you're not called Janet by any chance are you? ;)
 
Faracat said:
There have been so many debates over this. I don't even know if it's been decided if the word is of Italian or French origin yet?
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Lol, it's French, I didn't think that was a mystery tbh ;) "Manège" is the French word for a riding arena. The word "ménage" has a completely different meaning, it means housework or household. But strictly speaking a manège is an INDOOR riding arena - an outdoor arena is usually known as a "carrière" (quarry - don't ask me why!). It doesn't bother me when people get the two words muddled up, I just think it sounds a bit too much like they're trying to be posh :p Why not just call it a school or arena like the rest of us common people :p
 
Faracat said:
But language changes as it's used. I don't think that it's that unusual for the British to pinch a foreign word, alter it a bit over time and make it their own.
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But it's not a new word brought over from somewhere. :confused3: It's a misused existing word which has been in use in this country for many decades at least.

My Dad used to call tack tackle as he misheard it once and wouldn't be corrected. It's a bit like that really. ;)

Cortez said:
I do so love you..............:-)
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Awww thanks.
 
FionaM12 said:
My Dad used to call tack tackle as he misheard it once and wouldn't be corrected. It's a bit like that really. ;)
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Tack is a shortened version of tackle though.

I never said that I was being logical in my hate for the word manege. :p

ETA - even misused existing words can become proper words. ;)
 
Faracat said:
There was a letter in the BHS magazine stating that it was of Italian origin.
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Well, French and Italian are both closely related to Latin so they share a lot of similarities. The French word "manège" may or may not have ORIGINATED from Italian (I don't actually think it does), but the word itself is most definitely French!

The Italian word for a riding arena is a "maneggio" or "pista".
 
Sorry you feel got at Faracat. :) We're all just replying to the question of the thread title, and explaining our evidence. No intention of being condesending.

As I said, I said and spelt it wrongly for decades. :redface3: Then someone here corrected me, I checked and found they were right. :) I just wish my Dad had done that over calling my tack "tackle", it used to wind my up no end.

Oh hang on, that's probably why he did it. ;) :D
 
Hehe - for many years anglophones have called it a menage, in the same way as for many years Americans have called a coupe a coup.

I find it interesting that on this thread some of the people who are vehemently against the correct use of terms for colours in horses, based on the argument that 'we've always called it that so why change', think it is very wrong to use the incorrect term for an arena - oh and vice versa. Neither are that important in the grand scheme of things but I would argue that using the correct terms for a horse's genetic colouring is more important than using the correct term for an arena.
 
No I don't feel got at at all. :)

I know that what I grew up saying is not 'correct' but it sounds right to me. I refuse to say the alternative because of the nasty so and so, therefore I mainly use alternative words. Problem sorted - don't upset anyone by saying/writing menage and they don't rub a sore spot when they correct me.
 
DabDab said:
Hehe - for many years anglophones have called it a menage, in the same way as for many years Americans have called a coupe a coup.

I find it interesting that on this thread some of the people who are vehemently against the correct use of terms for colours in horses, based on the argument that 'we've always called it that so why change', think it is very wrong to use the incorrect term for an arena - oh and vice versa. Neither are that important in the grand scheme of things but I would argue that using the correct terms for a horse's genetic colouring is more important than using the correct term for an arena.
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I never said it was logical and I completely agree that I am being daft. I should say/use the correct word but there are luckily correct alternatives that I can use instead.

I do think that being correct and accurate is important.
 
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Just to confuse the issue further - A lot of my family are Swiss (in that they were born there and have lived there all their lives), and my one horsey aunt calls it a manege when sh'e speaking French and menage when she's speaking English. I asked her why once and she said it was because she had French and English speaking instructors when she was little and just figured that was how the British pronounced it.
 
DabDab said:
Just to confuse the issue further - A lot of my family are Swiss (in that they were born there and have lived there all their lives), and my one horsey aunt calls it a manege when sh'e speaking French and menage when she's speaking English. I asked her why once and she said it was because she had French and English speaking instructors when she was little and just figured that was how the British pronounced it.
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No doubt because, like me, she'd heard so many people mispronounce it and quoted them. :redface3:
 
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