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Comment by jasonjei | Hacker News Reader

Something always bothers me when I see two é's on résumé. Yes, it's probably the correct way of saying it, but neither the English nor the French (not even the French!) use the word "résumé." There's a certain level of douchebaggery when I see two accented é's rather than the term "CV," which is used in France and most of Europe.

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Frenchie here. Résumé is written with two "é". Otherwise it's a typo (e != é).

In french, résumé literally means "summary", and it's anything but a synonym for CV. I'm not sure how it ended up being a borrowed word used that way in US english.

I'm not sure how it ended up being a borrowed word used that way in US english.

Then you probably don't want to know what we did with your word for "shower".*

English is just weird like that, I think.

* Which is the same as the word for "shower" in German. I have some good stories from my childhood about such misunderstandings...

Judging by the pronunciation, I can't see how both 'e's can be accented. Unless you say "ray soo may".

Um, that's actually how I've always heard it said. How is it pronounced, otherwise?

Oh, I'd only heard it as "res oo may", with the first e soft.

I pronounce it that way in speech.

update: I figured i'd see wikipedia for the answer:

A résumé (pronounced /ˈrɛzʊmeɪ/ REZ-oo-may or /rɛzʊˈmeɪ/; French: [ʁezyme]; sometimes spelled resumé or resume)

The IPA guide has a soft e in the first syllable, but still suggests an accented first e. How odd.

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