[mojo2]

What are the mispronunciations you detest?

Two of mine are reZource instead of reSource. And deciBELL instead of DECibel.

Ooops, sorry...wrong lounge. Too much coffee while listeningg to Art Bell.

[Artful Dodger]

When people say harrisment for harassment...that just sounds weird. I hear it all the time, at least since I started paying attention, which was during the Clarence Thomas Anita Hill hearings.

[Randman]

When people pronounce forte as "four-tay" rather than "fort".

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by Randman

When people pronounce forte as "four-tay" rather than "fort".

Um, both are correct…

[Randman]

No. Forte is pronounced fort is the first choice. The second one is the one that most people use, but incorrectly.

No paraphrase George Carlin; Forte, meaning speciality, is pronounced fort. Forté in music notation means to play loudly.

Usage: She plays the skin flute and her forte is playing forté. Pronounced: Her fort is playing for-tay.

Common usage doesn't make it correctly.

Another pet peeve is double and triple negatives.

[smacintush]

Originally Posted by Randman

No. Forte is pronounced fort is the first choice. The second one is the one that most people use, but incorrectly.

No paraphrase George Carlin; Forte, meaning speciality, is pronounced fort. Forté in music notation means to play loudly.

Usage: She plays the skin flute and her forte is playing forté. Pronounced: Her fort is playing for-tay.

Common usage doesn't make it correctly.

Another pet peeve is double and triple negatives.

That may technically be correct it seems a little nit-picky, this is American English after all. Butchering imported words is like…part of our history!

To each his own I guess, it don't make no difference to me.

[smacintush]

It's Aluminum, not Aluminium.

[OreoCookie]

Nothing is more annoying then completely ignoring the difference between then and than Even though I do it, too, every now and than.

[iLikebeer]

Originally Posted by Artful Dodger

When people say harrisment for harassment...that just sounds weird. I hear it all the time, at least since I started paying attention, which was during the Clarence Thomas Anita Hill hearings.

Usage Note: Educated usage appears to be evenly divided on the pronunciation of harass. In a recent survey 50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred stressing the first syllable, while 50 percent preferred stressing the second. Curiously, the Panelists' comments appear to indicate that each side regards itself as an embattled minority.

I had the same battle with my advanced comp. teacher in high school. She made me look it up in the dictionary. I said both pronunciations were accepted. Then I nodded to a girl and said "But I prefer her ass." Right over the teachers head.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by Randman

No. Forte is pronounced fort is the first choice. The second one is the one that most people use, but incorrectly.

No paraphrase George Carlin; Forte, meaning speciality, is pronounced fort. Forté in music notation means to play loudly.

Usage: She plays the skin flute and her forte is playing forté. Pronounced: Her fort is playing for-tay.

Common usage doesn't make it correctly.

I'm afraid you're wrong on every count.

From Dictionary.app:

forte 1 |ˈfôrˌtā; fôrt| noun

1 [in sing. ] a thing at which someone excels : small talk was not his forte.

2 Fencing the stronger part of a sword blade, from the hilt to the middle. Compare with foible .

ORIGIN mid 17th cent. (sense 2 ; originally as fort): from French fort (masculine), forte (feminine) ‘strong,’ from Latin fortis.


forte 2 |ˈfôrˌtā|

Music adverb & adjective (esp. as a direction) loud or loudly. noun a passage performed or marked to be performed loudly.

ORIGIN Italian, literally ‘strong, loud,’ from Latin fortis

As you can see, primary pronounciation for the non-musical "forte" is the same as for the musical forte, despite the lack of accent over the second syllable. (I have never heard it pronounced "fort", though I don't doubt that variant's correctness.)

The Italian-pronounced musical "forte", which, being Italian, doesn't need an accent over the second syllable to be pronounced "for-tay" has infiltrated daily life and pronounciation.

Which makes sense, since in both applications, it refers to the same thing: strength in execution.

Common usage doesn't necessarily make things correctly (sic), but correctly it sometimes is.

[analogika]

Originally Posted by smacintush

It's Aluminum, not Aluminium.

Only where it's "to-may-to" and not "to-mah-to".

[analogika]

oh, and: "nucular."

[Doofy]

The American pronunciation of "herbal" ("erbal") drives me nuts.

[mojo2]

Originally Posted by iLikebeer

Usage Note: Educated usage appears to be evenly divided on the pronunciation of harass. In a recent survey 50 percent of the Usage Panel preferred stressing the first syllable, while 50 percent preferred stressing the second. Curiously, the Panelists' comments appear to indicate that each side regards itself as an embattled minority.

I had the same battle with my advanced comp. teacher in high school. She made me look it up in the dictionary. I said both pronunciations were accepted. Then I nodded to a girl and said "But I prefer her ass." Right over the teachers head.

VERY nice!

ROFLMAO!

[iLikebeer]

Originally Posted by Doofy

The American pronunciation of "herbal" ("erbal") drives me nuts.

French people do it too, but with many more words. hopital, hotel....
Ask a French person to say Herbie Hancock, he'll say it like most Americans say herb. Too bad we can't be consistent.

I live in Prescott, AZ. They pronounce it Preskitt here, "rhymes with biscuit." It gets amusing when people named Scott try to prove a point.

roof/ruf
wash/warsh

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Doofy

The American pronunciation of "herbal" ("erbal") drives me nuts.

We have a store near my house called "Bible and Herbs". Whenever we drive past it my wife rolls her eyes because she knows I am going to say "I didn't know you could sell guys named Herb."

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by iLikebeer

roof/ruf
wash/warsh

Ones I don't like
"fut" for foot
"hill" for heel
"rut" for root

[BlueSky]

eggzit

[Maflynn]

I'm from bahston and we don't mis pronounce anything

[TETENAL]

masterbate

[Randman]

Axe instead of ask.

[Tesseract]

Gyro (like the instrument) for gyro (the sandwich).

[Dork.]

Not really a mispronunciation, but more of a regional accent thing: Even though I've lost the Noo Yawk accent a long time ago, I still think these words should be pronounced differently, where everyone in Rochester pronounces these words exactly the same:

"Mary, marry, merry".
Also the names,
"Aaron, Erin"


Although I think those are shared with more of the Midwest, there is also the infamous Rochester "A", which makes a word like "pants" sound like "pee-ants", except all one syllable.

It bugs me so much that whenever my wife's family is around and want to bug me, they either exaggerate the accent or start deliberately saying it like "pah-nts" to emphasize the fact that I'm weird.

I've reconciled myself to the fact that as long as we live around here, my daughter will talk funny like that. As long as she doesn't marry a Yankee fan, though, I can live with the rest of it.

[mojo2]

Et-cetera = right way. Eck-cetera = wrong way. Et-cetra =wrong way. Eck-cetra = wrong way.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by mojo2

What are the mispronunciations you detest?

Two of mine are reZource instead of reSource.

Both are correct, though I agree voicing the s sounds wrong, and ought to be incorrect.

Originally Posted by Randman

Axe instead of ask.

I loathe this one, though it's historically not a mispronunciation, but a regular formed variety in certain dialects (I forget the details now).

“I was just axing my mother” is NOT the same as “I was just asking my mother”. The second makes you inquisitive; the first makes you a psychotic killer.

Originally Posted by BlueSky

eggzit

Also not a mispronunciation. In fact, historically speaking, ['ɛksɪt] is the mispronunciation, since an x between two vowels (where the x is not the beginning of a new syllable, in Greek loan words) was pronounced as -gz-, not -ks-, in 16th century Latin, which is where the word is taken from.

Originally Posted by Randman

No. Forte is pronounced fort is the first choice. The second one is the one that most people use, but incorrectly.

Common usage doesn't make it correctly.

Unfortunately, it does. [fɔrt] may be the historically correct usage, but ['fɔrtɛɪ] is by far the more common of the two (rarely have I heard anyone use the former), and eventually, this does make the previously incorrect pronunciation the correct one. It's a natural part of the evolvement of any language.



I am sure I have hundreds of these pet pronunciation peeves, but for the moment I can only think of these:

Pronouncing 'afhængig' as 'afhængelig'
People who aspirate and enunciate plosives that are supposed to be unreleased (i.e., pronouncing 'partner' as ['pʰartʰnəɹ], rather than ['pʰaɹt̚nəɹ], or 'apt' as [æpʰtʰ], rather than [æp̚t])
Southern drawls in general (not mispronunciations exactly, but they still manage to make my ears bleed)
Pronouncing 'jalapeños' as [ˌjælæ'peːnos] (Danes) or [ˌdʒælə'pɛnoʊs] (English-speaking people). It's [ˌχala'pɛɲɔs], dammit!

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Oisín

Also not a mispronunciation. In fact, historically speaking, ['ɛksɪt] is the mispronunciation, since an x between two vowels (where the x is not the beginning of a new syllable, in Greek loan words) was pronounced as -gz-, not -ks-, in 16th century Latin, which is where the word is taken from.

Damn dude, you are one resourceful linguini-ist!

[kmkkid]

Not really a mispronunciation, but I hate when people say 'for' instead of 'so'.

ex.
I have to go to work so I can get paid.

Some people say:

I have to go to work for I can get paid.

Makes them sound dumb imo.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by kmkkid

I have to go to work for I can get paid.

Makes them sound dumb imo.

They should say “for to get paid”. Then they'd sound much cleverer (and just slightly archaic).

Originally Posted by BlueSky

Damn dude, you are one resourceful linguini-ist!

Mmm... linguine... *tummy rumbles*

[osiris]

I detest those who use 'looser' when they obviously mean 'loser', as in: 'You is a looser' or 'the horse that be lost the race is the 'looser'.

[Eug Wanker]

Beijing

For some stupid reason North American journalists refuse to pronounce it like it's spelled, despite the fact that its spelling's obvious pronunciation is the proper pronunciation.

ie. It's Bay-Jing. It's not Bay-jjjjjing (although I will admit some Chinese people slur it this way when speaking quickly).

Also:

Febuary
libary
punkin
prostrate gland
supposibly

P.S. I was wondering why I couldn't find this thread, even though it was on the main thread page as the last post in the Lounge... Can the mods move it to the non-political lounge?

Or should I just add some politics? OK Democrans U suxors!!! Republicats U suxors 2!!!

[osiris]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Also:

Febuary
libary
punkin
prostrate gland
supposibly

You forget Wedness-day!

[Randman]

Does "irregardless" count?

[Dork.]

Originally Posted by Randman

Does "irregardless" count?

No, because they are pronouncing the word correctly, irregardless of whether it's actually a word to begin with.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Beijing

For some stupid reason North American journalists refuse to pronounce it like it's spelled, despite the fact that its spelling's obvious pronunciation is the proper pronunciation.

ie. It's Bay-Jing. It's not Bay-jjjjjing (although I will admit some Chinese people slur it this way when speaking quickly).

Huh? What, in your mind, was the difference between 'J' and 'jjjjj'?

Oh, I think it just hit me: you mean 'J' as in 'Jack' and 'jjjjj' as in measure? I.e., [dʒ] vs. just [ʒ]?

I never say 'Beijing' in Danish, 'cause I can't help pronouncing it in Chinese, with tones and all, which people tend to find very odd-sounding indeed. I usually just say 'Peking' (which is more commonly used in Danish, anyways).

What really annoys me, though, is when people pronounce it as though it were a perfectly normal Danish word (or Swedish, for the Swedes do it too, except it's the standard pronunciation for them, not a stupid mispronunciation). Many Danes (and Swedes) pronounce it as [baʲ'jɪŋ] [for anyone not completely familiar with IPA, that's very close to the word 'buying' in English, but with the stress on the second syllable; like 'by Ying' would be pronounced in English]. Argh!

[Eug Wanker]

Huh? What, in your mind, was the difference between 'J' and 'jjjjj'?

"jjjjj" as in "je suis" in French.

The textbook pronunciation is basically the same as the "Jing" in "Jingle bells".

[Randman]

It is funny to hear people try and pronounce Phuket, Thailand. Most people say Fook-et (or something a little more crass) rather than the correct Pooh-ket.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

"jjjjj" as in "je suis" in French.

Yeah, that's what dawned on me after a while of simulating various American/Canadian people saying 'Beijing' in my head

[Eug Wanker]

I must admit I wasn't sure how to pronounce Phuket either. But at least I knew I didn't know.

I was a little misled by the way Vietnamese Pho noodle soup is pronounced, which I'm told is close to "fuuh".

[Randman]

It's pronounced like "foe" (for the soup).

[jcadam]

when people pronounce the word 'fµck' as 'sex'

[Tesseract]

jjjjjjj? is that like zh?

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Randman

It's pronounced like "foe" (for the soup).

Well, two Vietnamese friends told me it's closer to "fuuh", but it's sort of in-between.

[Randman]

Hmmm. I spent a couple of weeks in 'Nam and heard most of the locals says "foe". Of course, unlike most of the rest of Asia, most Vietnamese speak broken English with a decidedly American twang.

[rickey939]

gorickey...not goricky.

[Eug Wanker]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

jjjjjjj? is that like zh?

Note quite. If you know some French, what I mean is the sound for "J" in "Je m'appelle Eug Wanker". (I don't know much French either so don't crucify me if I'm a bit off there.)

Originally Posted by Randman

Hmmm. I spent a couple of weeks in 'Nam and heard most of the locals says "foe". Of course, unlike most of the rest of Asia, most Vietnamese speak broken English with a decidedly American twang.

OK, it could be a dialect thing.

[brink]

What bugs me is when people pronounce the 't' in 'often'.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker

Well, two Vietnamese friends told me it's closer to "fuuh", but it's sort of in-between.

Closed o, [o], I believe. More or less same sound as -eau in French.

Originally Posted by Tesseract

jjjjjjj? is that like zh?

Depends on which zh you're talking about. Zh is often used in English phonetics (note: not the IPA) to denote the voiced equivalent of sh (i.e. [ʒ]).

In the Pinyin transcription system, used to transcribe Chinese (which this is), however, zh is used for an unvoiced, unaspirated retroflex plosive, [dʐ].

So, yes and no.

[BlueSky]

Near where I live there's a restaurant named Phuket Tai. They sell a t-shirt with their logo on the front, and on the back it says" Pronounce it pook-et, don't ask us why."

[davesimondotcom]

I think the one word that really drives me nuts would be "irregardless." I hate when people say that. It's just "regardless."

The Phuket thing is pretty funny though, BlueSky!

[BlueSky]

height/heighth

I used to pronounce it heighth until I happened to be writing it one day and said hey, that can't be righth.