Eclair question

[nq:1]Would you spell eclair (the pastry) with the original French acute accent ( éclair ) or, Anglicised, without? I tended towards the former until I saw AHD4 using the latter.[/nq]
It's optional, especially as many folks pronounce it with long e rather than long a .
Adrian

[nq:2]ChrWaigl typed thusly: Eclair is a naturalised UK English word ... the English unaccented version is a different word, pronounced ee-claire.[/nq]
[nq:1]or even e-clair. Now why did the French name this kind of cake after a lightning strike?[/nq]
Because it's gone in a flash. Or so my French master told 3A: and his mnemonics have stood the test of time.
He also taught the relative

[nq:2]Eclair is a naturalised UK English word and needs no ... the English unaccented version is a different word, pronounced ee-claire.[/nq]
[nq:1]or even e-clair. Now why did the French name this kind of cake after a lightning strike?[/nq]
Chambers Dictionary has the answer. It defines the word as "a cake, long in shape but short in duration", just like a bolt of lightning.
Graeme T

[nq:1]Would you spell eclair (the pastry) with the original French acute accent ( éclair ) or, Anglicised, without? I tended towards the former until I saw AHD4 using the latter.[/nq]
The entry for 'eclair' in Chambers is the type of thing that makes that dictionary my favourite. (Is there as disk version yet? I moved from UK to US in October and had to leave my beloved Chambers behind.)

[nq:1]It's optional, especially as many folks pronounce it with long e rather than long a .[/nq]
Speaking as a language purist, does English have any diacritical marks? I say no, and submit that if you use one, you're no longer speaking English.

[nq:2]It's optional, especially as many folks pronounce it with long e rather than long a .[/nq]
[nq:1]Speaking as a language purist, does English have any diacritical marks? I say no, and submit that if you use one, you're no longer speaking English.[/nq]
That's such a cliche.

[nq:2]or even e-clair. Now why did the French name this kind of cake after a lightning strike?[/nq]
[nq:1]Chambers Dictionary has the answer. It defines the word as "a cake, long in shape but short in duration", just like a bolt of lightning.[/nq]
And very nearly as dangerous...

Laura
(emulate St. George for email)

[nq:2]It's optional, especially as many folks pronounce it with long e rather than long a .[/nq]
[nq:1]Speaking as a language purist, does English have any diacritical marks? I say no,[/nq]
Wrong.
Adrian

[nq:2]Speaking as a language purist, does English have any diacritical marks? I say no,[/nq]
It is more complicated than that. Some adopted
words with terminal accents on the last vowel, e.g. retrousse, simply look wrong without the accent.
The test case is cafe, an English word for 200
years or more, equally common with and without
the terminal accent, which eclair does not ne

[nq:1]It is more complicated than that. Some adopted words with terminal accents on the last vowel, e.g. retrousse, simply look ... in the same way. I think it is because the last vowel is sounded, not mute as in suede.[/nq]
And a grave accent is still often required to indicate that a sometimes-silent syllable is to be sounded: a classic case is "blessed", where the alternative "blest" is no