This little walk is just across the road from me. It is called the Bourne Rivulet. I presumed it must be French.  So, I was down by the village cricket ground the other day and I got talking to a local type. I told him I had just been on a lovely walk along the Bourne Reev-oo-lay.

“Where?” He said.

“The Reev-oo-lay”, I replied, already fearing the worst.

“You mean the Riv-u-let…it’s the Bourne Riv-u-let”, he chuckled, gleefully.

“Aha…yes”, I replied, with reev-oo-layss of embarrassed sweat running down my forehead. Like a Panorama investigative journalist, I made my excuses and left.

Well, I can tell you for free that I felt like a right prick.

It’s Riv-u-let

So, when I got home, I looked it up. I couldn’t let this humiliation pass. You can check pronunciation on Google. Fuck…he was right. It is pronounced Riv-u-let. But here’s a thing…it is French. I know the words straw and clutching come to mind here but it originates from the word Riveret (little Stream).  There is also the possibility it comes rivoletto (Italy) or rivolo (small stream). 

Yet there is no doubt that in the UK, it is pronounced Riv-u-let.

Definitions

Anyway, I checked for some examples of sentences where Rivulet could be used.

‘For eight months of the year, the Jumna shrinks to the dimensions of a mere rivulet, meandering through a waste of sand’.

‘To the south the rivulet of the Mance soon forms a formidable obstacle as its bed cuts its way through the sandstone’.

This was my favourite by a country mile.

“Darling…only a thin rivulet of water came from the faucet, making it difficult to wash the dishes.”

Can you imagine ever saying that? Mind you can imagine ever saying riv-oo-lay in your best French accent?

Not now you won’t.