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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world

Just based on how often I notice someone mispronounce a word without realizing it (or have done so myself and realized it later). Statistically I'm probably still doing it with some word.

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[-] GombeenSysadmin@lemmy.world 52 points 1 year ago

Welcome to the world of Irish names!

We got:

  • Dearbhla (Derv-la, f)
  • caoilfhionn (kee-lin, f)
  • Meadhbh (Maeve, f)
  • Saoirse (seer-shuh, f)
  • Seoirse (shor-shuh, m)
  • Caoimhín (kee-veen, m)
  • Sadhbh (sive, f)

And many more!

[-] Bagel5941@aussie.zone 42 points 1 year ago
[-] pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 1 year ago

I believe it's pronounced "wstr"

[-] IndiBrony@lemmy.world 17 points 1 year ago

Close, that's Worcester. Worcestershire is "wstrshr"!

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[-] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 14 points 1 year ago

The whole word is silent

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[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 32 points 1 year ago
[-] Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca 26 points 1 year ago

I'll concede aluminium when the Brits adopt platinium

[-] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 11 points 1 year ago

theyll adopt aluminum as soon as you wrap your lips around a fag

[-] AngryishHumanoid@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

Don't threaten ME with a good time.

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[-] TheBiscuitLout@lemmy.world 29 points 1 year ago

One of my friends once called me pedantic, and I got to correct his pronunciation of it - he stressed the first syllable. One of the high points of my life.

[-] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Someone is peDANTic, but they themselves are a PEdant. Probably why they made that mistake

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[-] Yantantethera@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago
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[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 25 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

For me it isn't "some" word it is "many, many" words.

charcuterie (shar-KOO-terr-ee) (TIL)

potable (POH-tah-bull)

prerogative (preh-ROG-ah-tiv) -- wait, wat? Damn. I say it (pur-OHG-ah-tiv)

preternatural (pree-ter-NAT-chur-al)

remuneration (reh-myoo-ner-AY-shun) -- I'm not admitting how I say it lol

surprise - let's just say I spelled it suprise for ages. sigh

victual (vittle) - wait, that's how you spell it??

Indefatigable (IN-dih-FA-tih-gə-bl) not in-dee-fa-TEEG-able

Primer: \PRIMM-er\ -- small book / short informative piece of writing. (Brits can use long-i for both the paint undercoat and the book).

Mischievous: \MISS-chuh-vuss\ though mis-CHEE-vee-us is a non standard alternate pronunciation.

Interlocutor: \in tuhr LOCK you tore. I had no idea how to pronounce this so I never said it.

I think some "mispronunciations" are down to regional pronunciation. Like, I say miniature as MIN-ih-chure by habit though I'm well aware of how it's spelled and "should" be pronounced. I swear that's how I heard it growing up.

Maybe it isn't regional and it is just me. That would explain some things lol.

And uh, yeah I have a bunch more, some I know but am forgetting at the moment. Undoubtedly I mispronounce many more while having no idea. What must people think of me? Lol

[-] RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 year ago

Look, I was on board until you started throwing out made up words like preternatural, victual, and indefatigable, then I knew you were pulling my leg.

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[-] tiredofsametab@kbin.social 25 points 1 year ago

A "niche" is not a "nitch"

[-] JamesBean@kbin.social 17 points 1 year ago

You're a bit too late for trying to complain about that one.

The latter has been the dominant American pronunciation of the word for so long that it now appears as the primary pronunciation guide in American dictionaries.

[-] oktux@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

Both Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster agree that "nitch" was the correct pronunciation in both British and American English until very recently. You already linked Merriam-Webster, so here's O.E.D:

N.E.D. (1907) gives only the pronunciation (nitʃ) /nɪtʃ/ and the pronunciation /niːʃ/ is apparently not recorded before this date. H. Michaelis & D. Jones Phonetic Dict. Eng. Lang. (1913), and all editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. up to and including the fourteenth edition (1977) give /nɪtʃ/ as the typical pronunciation and /niːʃ/ as an alternative pronunciation. The fifteenth edition (1991) gives /niːʃ/ in British English and /nɪtʃ/ in U.S. English.

(N.E.D is the original name of the O.E.D. "/nɪtʃ/" is pronounced "nitch" and /niːʃ/ is pronounced "neesh".)

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[-] workerONE@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago

I was like 25 when I found out it was wheelbarrow and not wheelbarrel

[-] Jimmyeatsausage@lemmy.world 18 points 1 year ago
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[-] ramble81@lemm.ee 17 points 1 year ago
[-] AlmightySnoo@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago

For the C/C++ nerds: Clang. There are still many people pronouncing it "Cee-lang".

[-] djsoren19@yiffit.net 12 points 1 year ago

Wait but...but that means I'm supposed to pronounce it like the sound of slamming metal doors? but it's for the C language!

am I seriously getting gif'd again?

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[-] Oka@lemmy.ml 15 points 1 year ago
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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Worcestershire.

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiasis.

I must be pronouncing them right enough for voice to text to understand me because I certainly cannot spell those.

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[-] Davel23@kbin.social 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)
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[-] mwproductions@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

I hear so many people pronounce "cavalry" as "calvary," which is a different word altogether.

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[-] rbhfd@lemmy.world 14 points 1 year ago

Not exactly related to the question, but as a non-native English speaker, whenever I read something related to weights in imperial, e.g., 150 lbs, my mind reads it as 150 lubes.

I know it's pounds, if I would read it out loud, I would say pounds cause I'm not a weirdo (well...). But still, my internal monologue has lbs = lubes

[-] Carlcarla@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago

I feel you. My inner voice reads this as "libs".

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Mine was "daschund". I always thought that was a separate breed from a "doxen".

Even after being educated on how the word is actually pronounced, I still purposefully pronounce it literally "daschund". Fuck 'em - should've spelled it better.

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[-] pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 12 points 1 year ago

I made the mistake of pronouncing epitome as "ep-i-tome" for a while.

[-] spearz@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

Hyperbole, not ‘hyper-bowl’ (like superbowl)

[-] bfg9k@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

superbowl like su-perb-owl?

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[-] samus12345@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

I had a roommate in college that pronounced "epitome" like "epi-tohm." He also pronounced "tome" like "toom." Drove me nuts.

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[-] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

You could record the times when you find out a new word that you've been pronouncing wrong. You should notice less and less new mispronounced words as your list of known mispronounced words gets longer and longer. If you graph the data out, you can extrapolate the curve out to infinity, and you can estimate how many total words you're mispronouncing.

[-] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

As a non native EN speaker, this website helped a lot. Even has regional variants

https://youglish.com/

[-] bluewing@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

So swaive vs suave or deboner vs debonair? Maybe 'fisticated vs sophisticated? You could be a swaive, deboner, 'fisticated urbane 'burban urbanite.

Personally, I blame the French for the short comings of the English language, just because I randomly can.

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[-] Maddie@sh.itjust.works 9 points 1 year ago
[-] NounsAndWords@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Arist-ot-le

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[-] Che_Donkey@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

And that is fine, when/if someone corrects you, you explain that you have never heard the word spoken, just read it.

Tri-ummm-vir-ate

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[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 year ago

ITT: people who care about how you represent yourself are evil, apparently.

I suspect people got a little butt-hurt when they discover their shirt is a little stuffed.

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this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2024
268 points (100.0% liked)

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