I am doing a slide show about lace for lacmakers, some of whom may collect, but most of whom are lacemakers. I am planning to mention in passing that a piece is Gros Point, or Point de Angleterre or Rose point or Point de Neige. In one case, I am actually saying Rose Point (rather than Point de Rose) and Point de Neige in the same sentence. Rose Point is arguably English, whereas Point de Neige is arguably French. Since I mostly read lace names and rarely discuss them, I tend to say Point as we say it in English. I realize that it is pronounced Pwont in French. How should I pronounce it for the slide show. If I say Point, do I sound like a boob? If I say Pwont will the audience be so busy puzzling out what I am saying that they will miss the rest of the commentary? Will some people think me elitist? Fortunately I do not have any Tonder in the show. When I say Tonder, I am invariable corrected to Tooner. When I say Tooner, people in the US say, "what?" Likewise the problem with Chantilly. When I say Chanteeyay, I am met with blank stares. Most people are familiar with the pronounciation Chantilly from the Country Western song "Chantilly Lace". Santina Levey espouses a philosophy of eliminating French names of lace whenever possible as hopelessly Victorian. However, Point de Angleterre somehow conveys more than Brussels Bobbin lace to many people who read about lace and I think she even uses the term herself. LIkewise Point de Neige does not seem to have an English counterpart except "fine needle lace from Venice". Does one approach this issue as though everyone in the audience is sophisticated enough to know the pronunciation rules of every language or does one pronounce things the way they would be pronounced in the language that you are speaking in? Devon who realizes that she doesn't even know how her own last name would be pronounced in the European country of its origin, Luxemburg.
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