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Author Topic: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid  (Read 6327 times)

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Offline Machiavelli

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50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« on: November 18, 2016, 05:21:45 pm »
Maeve Maddox
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Fred Astaire drew laughs back in the Thirties with his song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" in which the lovers can't agree on the pronunciation of words like either, neither, and tomato.

On a personal level, I cringe when I hear someone sound the "t" in often or pronounce pecan with a short "a," but I have to acknowledge that both these pronunciations are widely accepted alternate pronunciations that can be justified by the spelling.

Alternate pronunciations, however, are a different matter from out-and-out mispronunciations. The latter, no matter how common, are incorrect, either because of the spelling that indicates another pronunciation, or because of what is widely agreed upon to be conventional usage. Word of caution: I'm writing from an American perspective.

Here are 50 frequently mispronounced words. The list is by no means exhaustive, but provides a good start.
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I don't agree with all of these.
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Offline Cripplecreek

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #1 on: November 18, 2016, 05:52:18 pm »
Its pronounced SPIGOT!
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #2 on: November 18, 2016, 05:55:23 pm »
Don't Axe me to clear my chashay anyways.
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Offline Idaho_Cowboy

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #3 on: November 18, 2016, 06:06:10 pm »
Some of this must be regional, I guess I have more of an accent than I thought. Most of this reads like an argument for saying things in a hyper phonetic fashion. I'll cross check with my dictionary and get back to you.

For starters, without consulting the dictionary; If you leave the e off of forte and say writing is just not your 'fort' folks are just going to look at you strangely and wonder why you want to hide in a fort.

It's not the a in pecan people get wrong its the e; for the uneducated it's pea-can not puh-khan.

Yes, barb can be said shortened to 'bob' in a pinch. Surprised he didn't call out the hicks for saying crick instead of creek.

And who in the blue blazes says Feb roo ary; It's pronounced Feb-u-airy. It's not phonetic, deal with it. Does this dude go to answer his puh-hone when it rings? Where is he from anyways

One final thought. Sher-bert is a frosty fruit ice ream concoction. A sher-bet is a horse you want to put money on. 
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“The way I see it, every time a man gets up in the morning he starts his life over. Sure, the bills are there to pay, and the job is there to do, but you don't have to stay in a pattern. You can always start over, saddle a fresh horse and take another trail.” ― Louis L'Amour

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #4 on: November 18, 2016, 06:17:00 pm »
Quote from: Unlimited on November 18, 2016, 06:12:56 pm


I still cringe when I hear it without the "L" which I heard often while living in Appalachia.

Is that a "chia" at the end.  Like Chia pet?
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Online roamer_1

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #5 on: November 18, 2016, 06:29:02 pm »
Quote from: Machiavelli on November 18, 2016, 05:21:45 pm
I don't agree with all of these.

Meh. mostly forms of dialect. Bob-wahr IS barbed-wire... A western or southern drawl would very likely drop the first 'r' and soften the second anyway. I can't help it y'all talk funny.
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Offline Resp3

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #6 on: November 18, 2016, 06:38:36 pm »
19.  February  – Just about everyone I know drops the first r in February. The spelling calls for /FEB-ROO-AR-Y/, not /feb-u-ar-y/.


As the current popular saying goes...... Suck it up, buttercup.

English is a mongrel language. Plenty of words are correctly pronounced differently than they are spelled. Feb you wary is a correct pronunciation.  Feb you airy works also.
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Offline andy58-in-nh

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #7 on: November 18, 2016, 07:03:47 pm »
Those of us who live in New England habitually mispronounce a great number of words, routinely rendering "ah" sounds as "aw"s, "ar" sounds as "ah"s, and dropping our "r"s and "n"s with reckless abandon. We do this so that we may recognize each other as locals and also, to amuse and annoy outsiders (pronounced: owt-sy'-duhz).
« Last Edit: November 19, 2016, 01:30:53 am by andy58-in-nh »
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #8 on: November 18, 2016, 07:15:12 pm »
I just want to learn to pronounce massatoshits correctly before  I die.
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Offline Cripplecreek

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #9 on: November 18, 2016, 07:23:58 pm »
West-Coasters Try To Guess The Meaning Of Michigan Slang Words


www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q8fCtG2TR8

Texans Attempt to Pronounce Michigan Words with Hilarious Results


www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFuDf7FlB4o
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #10 on: November 18, 2016, 07:40:49 pm »
Quote from: Cripplecreek on November 18, 2016, 07:23:58 pm
West-Coasters Try To Guess The Meaning Of Michigan Slang Words

Texans Attempt to Pronounce Michigan Words with Hilarious Results

I'd have got none of that either, except 'poutine', which is a Canuck word, more than Michigander... Being as how Alberta is dang near spitting distance, I know what poutine is.

I'd imagine a good bit of that is native words... funny the difference in that - A lot of place-names here you'd probably have trouble with too...
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Offline Idaho_Cowboy

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2016, 07:47:04 pm »
Quote from: roamer_1 on November 18, 2016, 07:40:49 pm
I'd have got none of that either, except 'poutine', which is a Canuck word, more than Michigander... Being as how Alberta is dang near spitting distance, I know what poutine is.

I'd imagine a good bit of that is native words... funny the difference in that - A lot of place-names here you'd probably have trouble with too...
Not to change the subject, but poutine with chorizo gravy is delish...
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2016, 07:50:38 pm »
Quote from: Idaho_Cowboy on November 18, 2016, 07:47:04 pm
Not to change the subject, but poutine with chorizo gravy is delish...

Decent poutine is delicious anyway, but i'd imagine you're right... Tho chili fries are probably more common here and my preference, if I were to choose...
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Offline ShadowAce

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #13 on: November 19, 2016, 01:54:14 am »
I can't believe that the author omitted "vice versa!"

It's NOT "vice a versa!"
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Offline EC

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #14 on: November 19, 2016, 05:51:42 am »
Quote from: Idaho_Cowboy on November 18, 2016, 06:06:10 pm
And who in the blue blazes says Feb roo ary; It's pronounced Feb-u-airy. It's not phonetic, deal with it. Does this dude go to answer his puh-hone when it rings? Where is he from anyways

Several hundred million people. Same ones who pronounce Aluminium correctly.  :tongue2:
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #15 on: November 19, 2016, 10:11:56 am »
Quote from: roamer_1 on November 18, 2016, 06:29:02 pm
Meh. mostly forms of dialect. Bob-wahr IS barbed-wire... A western or southern drawl would very likely drop the first 'r' and soften the second anyway. I can't help it y'all talk funny.
Ya, suure, you betcha!  :silly:
Jus' Day-um.
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #16 on: November 19, 2016, 10:18:09 am »
Quote from: Resp3 on November 18, 2016, 06:38:36 pm
19.  February  – Just about everyone I know drops the first r in February. The spelling calls for /FEB-ROO-AR-Y/, not /feb-u-ar-y/.


As the current popular saying goes...... Suck it up, buttercup.

English is a mongrel language. Plenty of words are correctly pronounced differently than they are spelled. Feb you wary is a correct pronunciation.  Feb you airy works also.
English may be a mongrel language, but in the words of George Bernard Shaw,
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"The Americans and the English are the only two peoples on Earth separated by a common language."
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How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #17 on: November 19, 2016, 05:05:51 pm »
Quote from: Cripplecreek on November 18, 2016, 07:23:58 pm
West-Coasters Try To Guess The Meaning Of Michigan Slang Words

Aren't fudgies actually just tourists who go up north, but not necessarily to the UP, in particular the norther part of lower Michigan?  Lots of fudgies around the Mack.
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2016, 05:12:10 pm »
Quote from: EC on November 19, 2016, 05:51:42 am
Several hundred million people. Same ones who pronounce Aluminium correctly.  :tongue2:

Is that in the lab-OR-atory, or the lab-ra-tory?  Or just the lab?
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Oceander

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #19 on: November 19, 2016, 05:17:39 pm »
Another thing I love about the English language (at least as spoken by 'Muricans) is how readily words that belong to one part of speech can morph into another.  My current favorite is the word "platform" - traditionally a noun indicating a flat surface on which things may be mounted or people may stand - which the folks at the Long Island Railroad have turned into a verb, as in "the last four cars will not platform at Murray Hill," which means that the last four cars of the train will not be adjacent to the station platform when the train arrives at the named station. 
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #20 on: November 19, 2016, 06:48:03 pm »
Quote from: Oceander on November 19, 2016, 05:17:39 pm
Another thing I love about the English language (at least as spoken by 'Muricans) is how readily words that belong to one part of speech can morph into another.  My current favorite is the word "platform" - traditionally a noun indicating a flat surface on which things may be mounted or people may stand - which the folks at the Long Island Railroad have turned into a verb, as in "the last four cars will not platform at Murray Hill," which means that the last four cars of the train will not be adjacent to the station platform when the train arrives at the named station.
Someone gifted you with that word...maybe when they were dialoging with you. :facepalm2:
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How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #21 on: November 20, 2016, 12:25:14 am »
Quote from: Smokin Joe on November 19, 2016, 10:11:56 am
Ya, suure, you betcha!  :silly:
Jus' Day-um.

I just ran into this vid of Ozzies talking about American accents...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBTq6zi_gc

Notice there's Boston, NY/NJ, Midwest, California, and SOUTHERN...

Southern - Equated with cowboys... The South and the West blended together in other folks minds...

It's funny, that... Outside of regional slang, just intonation and such, I can understand most western and southern accents just fine... And I can certainly tell the differences between like Rockies vs Texas/Oklahoma, vs Tennesee / Kentucky South, and Georgia/Mississipi/Aabama South...

But I guess we all sound the same to Ozzies, huh?
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #22 on: November 20, 2016, 12:36:09 am »
And this:
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_4-Ii5opA

Yankees trying to figure Southern slang... I'm all the way up here in MT and I have used all these words...
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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #23 on: November 20, 2016, 02:25:54 am »
Quote from: roamer_1 on November 20, 2016, 12:25:14 am
I just ran into this vid of Ozzies talking about American accents...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTBTq6zi_gc

Notice there's Boston, NY/NJ, Midwest, California, and SOUTHERN...

Southern - Equated with cowboys... The South and the West blended together in other folks minds...

It's funny, that... Outside of regional slang, just intonation and such, I can understand most western and southern accents just fine... And I can certainly tell the differences between like Rockies vs Texas/Oklahoma, vs Tennesee / Kentucky South, and Georgia/Mississipi/Aabama South...

But I guess we all sound the same to Ozzies, huh?
ROTFLMAO! I thought the last bit was a riot. (If I was just 35 years younger...)

And then, too, I notice half the commercials on (American) TV have some guy with an Australian (or fake Australian) accent, trying to sell me stuff, usually beef.  :silly:
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How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis

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Re: 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid
« Reply #24 on: November 20, 2016, 02:41:40 am »
Quote from: roamer_1 on November 20, 2016, 12:36:09 am
And this:
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-_4-Ii5opA

Yankees trying to figure Southern slang... I'm all the way up here in MT and I have used all these words...
I grew up south of the Mason-Dixon Line, so 'tain't fair for me to pass judgement on the interpretive abilities of folks up(over) there, but that was funny. I don't reckon they'd have any idea what a fellow with a couple of cooters in a toe sack might be fixin' to do, but somehow, I think they might pass on the soup...

Most of those expressions I have heard out here in the Dakotas, too, but after The War, a lot of folks who had fallen victim to the carpetbaggers came out this way, and likely brought the expressions along.

When I first arrived in North Dakota, I was out in the northern part of the Red River Valley (of the North, for y'all Texans), which was highly settled by Norwegians. Most of the older folks still had the diphthong and consonant pronunciation of the old country, along with that singsong speech rhythm. The movie "Fargo" never quite got it, the best they did was sound like Reservation Canadians (eh).

I was coming out of Virginia and had just spent a few months working on the West Virginia Border back in the hills where I picked up a little twang to add to the drawl, so you can imagine the clash of dialects.
I had to say everything three times and write it down twice or find some guy from the Air Base to translate. Finally, I watched enough Johnny Carson to get that mid-Nebraska no-accent accent down well enough to communicate.

It was a rough run for a little while. I was a lot more comfortable after I moved further west...
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How God must weep at humans' folly! Stand fast! God knows what he is doing!
Seventeen Techniques for Truth Suppression

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.

C S Lewis
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