Does mis-pronounced word bother you?

15 years ago

I know this is small-potatoes when it comes down to the scheme of today's world, but some mis-pronounced words bug me. Three examples:

Coupons....there is no Q in the word. I think it should be pronounced Coop-ons.

Envelopes...The word starts with an E not an O.

Ask.......The S is before the K.

I must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, I heard all three of these words on TV this morning and it just bugs me. These should be professional people, and should know how to speak correctly. Dottie

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Comments (104)

stephanie_in_ga
15 years ago
Yesterday a note came home from school with DS#2 containing the words "...excepting applications..."

From school!

I resisted the urge (very strong urge) to circle it in red and send it back.

I appreciate good grammar, speech and spelling. But I recognize that sometimes it really does not matter as long as the message is clear. It's about communication, and there are different levels of communication.When it's casual, it just does not matter. Some mistakes still amuse me, but don't bother me in a casual situation. When it does matter- you bet it bugs me!

That said, I blink hard when someone says "it is taken for granite." I guess the understand the expression to mean something is so sure that it's as solid as granite. I don't know. If I do explain it to the person they seem very surprised (which I would do if it was a student or maybe an adult who I know will take it well, to save them possible embarassment later).

I only correct another adult if it matters (I'm proofreading) or I know they would want to know the right way. Some of the words mentioned here are regional dialect. Correcting dialect is pompous. Why is yours right? Why do you need to tell someone it is right? I admit that personally I don't enjoy hearing a thick southern accent. I avoid picking one up. But it is not "wrong."

As much as I want my own speech and grammar to be correct, "proper" just is not what communication between people is all about. The ideas are the important thing.
petaloid
15 years ago
To add to the list, I know people from Illinois and Oklahoma who pronounce wash as "warsh."

I like regional accents and dialects. The problem I have is when the meaning is confused by the pronunciation, as with axe for ask or ideal for idea.

I found the link below interesting:

Here is a link that might be useful: metathesis
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lilliepad
15 years ago
I thought the plural of you was y'all!
A couple of ones that get me are perscription for prescription and real-a-tor for Realtor,pronounce that way by a Realtor! Oh,and prespiration for perspiration.I just use sweat for that one.
My DH is dyslexic and pronounces a lot of words wrong.For instance he says maftress for mattress.Although I think a lot of his mispronunciations are due to his dyslexia,some may also be because of the way he heard it at home.His mother also said maftress and pronounced a lot of words the same as he does.
Most things like that don't bother me much.
yayagal
15 years ago
Some of these have made me laugh. I have times I cringe when I hear someone say "Him and i are going fishing" Correctly said is "He and I are going fishing. then the others who say that's between you and I. Correctly it is said "that's between you and me. I used to try to correct my sister and she askme to keep correcting her but I couldn't. I felt she was just fine the way she was and who was I to complain. Here in Boston we say onvelope, bawth for bath. hoss for horse. Motha and Fatha for mother and father. I pronounce them correcly as my Mum came from Canada and made us do it. So now I sound like a snob lol
It's all Mum's fault :-)
Lindsey_CA
15 years ago
"walla/wallah instead of voila"

I think that one stems from folks not knowing the proper pronunciation. And, by the way, the "a" should have an accent over it -- voilÃ .

I used to work with a woman who was always saying, "I think we should have another put log. Don't you think it's time we had another put log?"

If anyone asked me what a put log is, I would have to admit that I didn't know. Turned out it was a pot luck.

A current coworker says computher for computer....
hounds_x_two
15 years ago
Yup, they bother me. Substandard grammar is another biggie. Anyway, back to mis-pronunciations...
The one that bothers me most is ASTERIK instead of ASTERISK.
minrose
15 years ago
I am not good at pronouncing words, like cinnamon, aluminum, lots of others, the only one I find kind of funny, is warsh for wash, that I know a few around my parts say that way.
minnie_tx
15 years ago
I hate to mis-prnounce words
I have an audio tape of my reading aloud something and I pronounced the word intimate as intimidate. It is on a place on the tape that I can't go in and splice a correction.
nycefarm_gw
15 years ago
I think the title should say:
Do mispronounced words bother you? or
Does a mispronounced word bother you?
And yes, except there is already so much crap to worry about, I say let it slide!
pauline13
15 years ago
One word I hear all the time that really bothers me is irregardless. It actually is in the dictionary although I can't imagine why. To me, the correct word to use is regardless. Also, where did snarkey come from? I had to ask my daughter what it meant. I don't believe that word was around when I was growing up.
whidbeykathy
15 years ago
I too am a lifelong resident of Washington and my family and friends are guilty of the Warshington, as well as Crick for creek! At least we aren't from Orgun/Orygun (for Oregon!)
We never notice out dialect, but we really laugh hearing outsiders trying to get the Native American for many of the northwest towns and rivers words correctly.
Then of course last night on Jeopardy Alex pronounced Weyerhouser as Wirehouser instead if "wherehouser'.
Cherryfizz
15 years ago
LOL I cringe when I hear the news from Detroit. I would like to know how they get an "a" sound from the letter "o" like in the word dollar. I know it is an accent but come on - the letter o is just that, it is not an "a"

Aks instead of ask
Irregardless instead of regardless
Pisghetti instead of spaghetti

Growing up I couldn't say the word ambulance. I said ambliance instead. It took me a long time to start pronouncing it correctly and sometimes I still have to catch myself. LOL

Words that are not pronounced correctly do not usually bother me but that Michigan "a" grates on my nerves.

Anne
zeetera
15 years ago
cherryfizz reminded me of another one - pacific instead of specific.
kathi_mdgd
15 years ago
Breenthumb,nope,not from the city,born and raised in Rockland county.
Kathi
susan_on
15 years ago
Cherryfizz, I thought that was just a NY state accent!
carol_in_california
15 years ago
In the large scheme of things, it doesn't bother me.
However, there are days and there are people whose mispronounced words irritate me beyond reason.
jak1
15 years ago
Most mispronunciations don't bother me, although I do notice them. With one exception: InteracT instead of Interac. Almost always from store employees....I just grit my teeth and pay....
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Popular thread - over 70 replies in less than 2 days!

Susan on,

Did your Mom-in-law's "Kwi-rpractor" run a "Kwi-rpractice"? (Was he looking for an organist, maybe?).

The use of "noo-kyoo-lar" when referring to fissionable material (especially by those who should know better, e.g. a former President) troubles me somewhat.

Several of the ones referred to bother me somewhat, though, as someone (or several) said, "Why sweat the small stuff?".

One of the usages that I found rather unusual was Sue's referring to taking food from the freezer to let it unsolidify ready for preparation for dinner was to get it "unthawed"! She'd grown in Iowa - but I have no idea whether that term may have been common there. Though I made reference to the issue occasionally, without pushing the situation ... her usage seemed fairly persistent.

However... most of us want our children to develop following high standards.

It seems to me that, as our young people are in worldwide competition, seeking excellence will become even more important in future ... and our kids aren't doing too well when tested in competition with children from various countries.

The people who have the greatest influence in most of their lives are ... their parents.

It seems to me that we need to set an example for our young ones of aiming at excellence in our own lives ... one of the situations being not only the way that we pronounce words, but our spelling and composition, as well.

When I acted occasionally as supply teacher, I used to tell the kids (sorry - "students") that English is one of their most important subjects, and precision of language important. If they can describe a concept that's in their brain and send a message to another person that permits that person to develop precisely the same concept in his/her brain, the hearer will be impressed. That capability, worked at over the years, and honed, will enable them to progress farther in their life, and work, than if they are much less capable in that department.

Remember how I referred a couple of weeks ago to Pilot Sullenberger's pursuit of excellence throughout his life as having enabled him to set that plane down on the Hudson with no one killed ... and only one broken leg, on one of the flight crew?

And of his example being a good one for all of us to pursue in our daily lives.

I hope that you're having a fine old week, everyone.

ole joyful
gazania_gw
15 years ago
I just read through this post for the first time and I didn't see these two nearly always mispronounced words.

It is February not Feburary and Wednesday not Wendsday
joann23456
15 years ago
I don't consider a word said with a regional accent to be a mispronunciation. I live near Boston, and hear "buh-day-doh" used all the time for "potato". I don't consider that a mispronunciation, just as I don't consider it a mispronunciation when my friend from South Carolina asks me to pass the "shu-guh". "Warsh" and "Q-pons" are in the same category. The people involved are correctly pronouncing the words, just with a regional accent. Personally, I find that charming, and like hearing regional accents. It's no different than when my friend from Paris, France tells me that, "I adore ze opera!"

But "nu-cu-lar" and "re-la-tor" and the like drive me crazy, especially by people in the public eye. Not nearly as crazy as stuff like "their" when "they're" is meant, though.
coral_ok
15 years ago
How about "for all intensive purposes"? Love that one.

I looked up "coupon" and found that kyoo-pon is an acceptable pronunciation.
Mystical Manns
15 years ago
I grew up in a small city 2 miles from a military base ... so from a very young age I started hearing words pronounced in accents other than my own mid-Kansas one. I learned much tolerance then.

That's helped tremendously during my life in the corporate world, as I now work for a man from VietNam, and interact daily (face-to-face) with people from India, Pakistan, Nepal and Mexico. These folks have native accents, influenced by the region they immigrated to! I can engage one person in conversation fairly easily, but meetings where there are several people from different countries/regions can be difficult to follow ... especially when you add in those who are on the phone.

My boss, for example, pronounces 'management' as ... man-AJE-ment.

For me, it's spelling that is more troubling than pronounciation. Cloths for clothes ... hugh for huge ... those drive me nuts. While I don't correct the original spelling, I will respond using the same words spelled correctly.
FlamingO in AR
15 years ago
Here's a great link to an article about the most-mispronounced words. And I found this passage interesting- since GWB was always picked on for mispronouncing nuclear, I'd say he had good company. (This is just a bit from the lengthy discussion about the mispronunciation of nuclear.)

"Ever since nuclear entered the national vocabulary (a hundred years after entering in the 1840s) it has been mispronounced by millions of educated and otherwise careful speakers, including scientists, lawyers, professors, and presidents of the United States. According to Newman, Dwight D. Eisenhower "could not get it right"; Jimmy Carter, who had been an officer aboard nuclear-powered submarines, pronounced it NOO-kee-ur; and Walter Mondale, in his 1984 bid for the presidency, repeatedly said NOO-kyuh-lur. "The word, correctly pronounced," writes Newman, "somehow is too much for a fair part of the population, and education and experience seem to have nothing to do with it." In The Diabolical Dictionary of Modern English, R.W. Jackson dryly echoes that sentiment by defining nuclear simply as "nucyaler." "

And I think I found one that I mispronounce- mayonnaise. I say it like this- man-aize I'll try to do better!

Here is a link that might be useful: Do you speak American?
marilyn_c
15 years ago
The one that gets on my nerves is saying "spaded" for spayed...as in "I took my dog to the vet and had her spaded."

Two gay women used to board horses at my barn. One time my neighobr asked me, "Marilyn, are those women "lisbons"?" I said, "No, Leslie is from Hawaii and Debby is from California." :))
joann23456
15 years ago
Marilyn, I love it!
cynic
15 years ago
suzieque, are you telling me that Cliff Clavin isn't representative of a Boston accent??? ;) I'm just sharing an experience. I realize one person doesn't represent the millions any more than people who think everyone in the midwest speak like the Gundersons from the movie Fargo! But tell me, how did "bubbler" get started? Did some research on that and it is attributed to the MA area.

The nuk-cue-lur people for the most part seem to be from south of the Manson/Nixon line... I attribute it to the poorer education than a regional dialect.
coral_ok
15 years ago
I know I say February wrong, but I was shocked to hear that I've been mispronouncing Wednesday incorrectly. I looked it up on dictionary.com so I could hear the pronunciation, and thank goodness the first syllable IS pronounced *wenz*. Whewww. Crazy English language.
suzieque
15 years ago
cynic - ha ha! Good ol' Cliff Clavin. Now he was funny (and yes, I think a huge exaggeration).

Funny about bubbler. I thought "bubbler" was a commonly used term - I grew up with it! So thanks for clueing me in that Mass. started it.

Some more "good" ones have been mentioned (not accents or such, but real mispronunciations) - "for all intensive purposed" - yes, I hear that often. Cringe.

It was fun reading Charles Harrington Elster's suggestions (the link that flamingo posted). Not sure who he is or what makes him an authority, but most I agree with and some I don't as much (maybe I'm simply wrong on those!).

Suzieque
FlamingO in AR
15 years ago
I grew up just a few minutes north of Milwaukee, WI and "bubbler" was the name of all water fountains. When we moved to FL and I asked someone where the bubbler was, he looked at me like I was from a different world. The South was a much more polite place to move to, though, because everyone used "ma'am and sir" constantly, something we never heard or used up North.
jemdandy
15 years ago
"Even though technically it's a proper pronunciation, "indices" irks me. "Indexes" is the generally accepted term for more than one index (around here anyway) but in the last 5-10 years the "new" meteorologists, with all their book-larnin' insist on antagonizing us."

My dictionary gives two plual forms of 'index' : indexes or indicies.
*********************

"Coupons....there is no Q in the word. I think it should be pronounced Coop-ons. "

cou-pon. \'k(y)u-pan' There are accent marks above the vowels, 'u' and 'a' which I can not reproduce here (don't know how to display my computer's alternate alphabet).
************************

By the way, I flub my share of words - Its the old home tonge showing through. For example, the word, were, was missing in my mother's vocabulary. The word, 'was', was used for both 'was' and 'were'. It jest was - that's right: jest.
gazania_gw
15 years ago
Coral_ok, congratulations! My eight grade teacher would have been proud of you. You got out your dictionary and looked up 'Wednesday'. He was a stickler for the correct pronounciation of words, and told his students that we should never assume that others are are saying a word correctly, or that the way a word is spelled is the way to pronounce it. "Use a dictionary" he repeated over and over, "the english language in not to be trusted".
coral_ok
15 years ago
LOL gazania! Can you tell I'm a (retired) teacher?
FlamingO in AR
15 years ago
Hey! I pulled out the dictionary, too. I want Gazania's teacher to be proud of me, too!

:)
Rudebekia
15 years ago
I never heard "drug" for "dragged" until I moved to Minnesota. Drives me nuts! I also know a very educated woman who pronounces "apostles" not as "a-pos-els" but as "a-pos-tels" with a prominent "t" sound. I have never heard this before either.
okwriter
15 years ago
The nuk-cue-lur people for the most part seem to be from south of the Manson/Nixon line... I attribute it to the poorer education than a regional dialect.

Ya mean them po southen idiots? Yeah, we is perty stupit.
pkguy
15 years ago
Ann Cherryfizz.. Sarnia here born and raised. About the Michigan nasal A thing.. I'm sweating it's so hat outside. LOL

Well guess what I was living out west for nearly 30 years came back here to retire and just about everyone in this area including Windsor sounds more nasal like that than the rest of the country. It's not as pronounced but it's there. It must be the proximity.
pkguy
15 years ago
I usually watch wdiv for the weather and noticed that neither Devin or Carmen, the announcers nor Andrew the weather guy etc.. have the nasal A at least when they're on the air. Like all tv people they must practice to get rid of it.
Haven't caught yet if they say ruff or roof. LOL
jemdandy
15 years ago
Quote:

"I thought the plural of you was y'all!

Nah! Y'all may be either singular or plural. However, my mother did have a plural form: you'enses.
msmarion
15 years ago
If you are from Methuen MA youth is pronounced yooths.
I grew up just north of Boston and always called a water fountain a bubbler and soda was tonic.
Cherryfizz
15 years ago
Pkguy, when I moved out west in the 1980's I was told I had a bit of an "American" accent. I guess living in a border city it is somewhat expected. I was raised surrounded by British and Scottish accents so I may sound less American than my friends. I don't get the aboot thing. I have never once heard any Canadians I know say aboot or hoose. LOL I never say "eh" either. I've noticed today that British people say "eh" more than anyone. LOL I do have a cousin from the Toronto area that says "eh" all the time and it drives me crazy. LOL Just like "you know" or "huh" does.

How do you like living back in Ontario? It is going to be "hatter" tomorrow you know.

Anne
FlamingO in AR
15 years ago
rofl lol @ Rita. You dope. We're "stoopid", stewpid. Geez. Get it right already.
suzieque
15 years ago
msmarion - I grew up just north of Boston, too, and it was always tonic. Whenever we'd travel as a family people would look at us crazy when we ordered tonic!

I still have a hard time calling it "soda", but have learned not to say tonic.
Jasdip
15 years ago
When we pop over to Michigan for a mini-holiday, I usually comment on the people's accents. I like it. The checkout girls think I'm nuts saying they have an accent, cause they don't think they do. I'm sure we all sound like we have accents to other people.

I've heard we Cdns sound like people from Virginia. Both places say "house" and "about" the same, and it's apparently different from other places. I certainly don't think so, and I'd actually argue the fact. But hey, what do I know.
pkguy
15 years ago
Ann , I'm happy about being back. I hated it here growing up but now I quite like it being so central to a lot of places. I got my Nexus card a couple of months ago so I can just zip back and forth across the bridge no lineups. Have only been down to Windsor a couple of times, my nephews wedding last summer, he's in LaSalle. I'm an avid gardener so it's much better here than it was out in Calgary.
I got the same thing about my accent when I first moved out to Vancouver back in the 70's.
Also it's hard to pick out but I think I have a good ear and I can always pick out a person born/raised in Winnipeg. They have the slightest speech difference, not really an accent. Just the way things are said.
bluejeans4ever
15 years ago
No it doesn't bother me. I think that we all have pretty much slaughtered the English language with slang and regional expressions and phrases. I find much of it all mildly amusing.

What bothers ME is when people "correct" you when they THINK you have misprounced a word.

I am Canadian and do not say a-boot! (lol) Although that doesn't bother me when someone says I do. I just say, that they hear it incorrectly.

I am a cronic eh-sayer. I know I say it a LOT, don't need reminding! AND if you are going to mock me for it, make sure you say it in the right context with the proper inflection. You just can't go around slamming an "eh" here and there with no good reason! It has to "fit".

It's a serviette (darnit all) NOT a napkin. I wipe my mouth with a serviette NOT a sanitary pad.

We do not form a line to buy tickets for something. We get in the lineup. One word. Noun

Stan: "Holy mackeral Hank, did ja see how big the lineup was?"
Hank: "Ya, eh?"

'Nuf said.

A case of beer is a two-four. Down east it's a two-fer. We have weekend named for it. It's the May Two Four.

2 Two-Fours = Big party.

It's chocolate bar, not candy bar.
Pop not Soda.

Oh and the biggie. It is Pou-TEEN not Pou-TIN. (poutine). Although either way it's still a heart stopper.

So, I'm goin oot to get some poutine for supper and a 2-4 cuz it's Hockey Night in Canada. I hope there's not a big lineup at the Beer Store. Best pick up some serviettes, cuz that poutine can be messy. Maybe some Aero chocolate bars for later ..

So you all have a good day, eh, and keep your stick on the ice.

BJ
Jasdip
15 years ago
"It is Pou-TEEN"

BJ, My ex-husband was born and raised in Quebec where Poutine originates. It's pronouned Pou-Tsin. Not pouteen.

My SO lived in the US for many years and moved back 7 years ago. He still calls the washrooms "restrooms." Says Ma'am often as well.
susan_on
15 years ago
My MIL just left. She reminded me of something else she says. She says "macaronies" instead of "macaroni". She thinks she needs to add an "s" to pluralize it.
sjerin
15 years ago
Whidbeykathy-- I'm from Washington and never heard anyone pronounce the word with an "r" sound in the middle, but then again, we lived in Seattle (fewer language differences due to larger population?) and I moved when I was eight. However, my friend from Arizona did pronounce it that way. We moved to 'O-re-gun'. My parents also used the word 'crick' for 'creek'.

I love hearing regional dialects; my dd is going to school in RI and I get such a kick out of listening to the natives speak. I mean no disrespect, I just love language and enjoy hearing different pronunciations. I do remember visiting Vancouver, B.C. many years ago and giggling (after the fact,) with my sister when we heard people there use 'oot' instead of the 'owt' we were used to hearing.
cynic
15 years ago
Now hold on thar, Babba Louie... our official source of Frostback pronunciation is Red Green and if you listen to him he does not say "oot and a-boot", he says "oat and a-boat"

I tend to buy Salted Nut Rolls and they don't contain chocolate, course my Texican cousin considers orange, root beer, Pepsi and 7-Up, all "cokes". (Would y'all lock a coke? ... What kind would ya lock?) We all know that collectively, their called pop, not "soda water".

I guess lately I've been buying "three-o's" or "three-sixes", rather than "Two-Fours", but I suppose that could just be the exchange rate!

Never heard of poutine, but have certainly heard of fries & gravy and it sounds good to me. Looking at the poutine snob recipe that gives the requirements for it... hey, I'll all for what he said. Toss me a Molson and I won't argue.
Jasdip
15 years ago
poutine.....fries, cheese curds and gravy. Heart attack, but tasty, believe it or not. It would definitely go with a Molson, Cynic.

Newfoundland fries not only have the cheese and gravy, but also stuffing and peas. That would be an acquired taste for sure.

Does mis-pronounced word bother you?

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