# A Guide to Pronouncing Easy Words for Those Who Can't **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 16, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430 "2004-07-16T15:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/61 "2004-07-17T06:00:56Z")
> [@Roland Orzabal](#): > > Neither could I, at first. I sat here for about a minute chanting the words to myself and wondering what the hell **Colophon** was on about. Then I remembered that he’s in the UK. So, I re-read his post with a (mental) British accent. Bingo! If his explanation above doesn’t seal it for you, put on your best Patrick Stewart impression and repeat the words again. That ought to do it. Yeah, it did, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/62 "2004-07-17T06:13:21Z")
> [@Audrey Levins](#): > > There’s a red flag. I bartend at a tourist restaurant so I know many of the small regional clues…and if someone says “I’m all set” at the end of the meal, meaning they’re finished, it’s a 90% chance they’re from New England. > > Around here we say “I’m all set” at the _beginning_ of the meal, meaning that we’ve got everything we need. (You know, when your waiter drops off your food and says “Is that everything?” That’s when we would say “We’re all set, thanks!”) > > New Englanders only say it when they’re finished, but it’s apparently “The Phrase” up there because I hear it all the time from you guys. Huh, that’s interesting. Our family has used that phrase for years. And none of us is from New England, nor ever been near there. I wonder how we got it? My mom was a California girl, and dad was born and mostly raised in the Ozarks, and then moved out to CA. My sister and I were born on the west coast, but raised, for the most part, in Anchorage, where I’ve heard lots of my friends use that phrase too. Mostly it’s used as a way of seeing if someone’s ready to go as in “you all set? let’s go”. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/63 "2004-07-17T14:49:05Z")
It’s “Mis-ur-eee” not “Mis-ur-uh”. It’s “Nev-a-da” not “Nev-ah-da”. Or, even worse, “Nev-ay-da” (although there are certain Midwestern towns named Nevada and that’s how they’re pronounced). ---
**Author:** ![SpectBrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@SpectBrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpectBrain)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/64 "2004-07-17T15:36:26Z")
terrorist tear-roar-rist not terrist. library lie-brer-eee not lie-bare-eee ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/65 "2004-07-17T15:51:48Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > My mother pronounces “Onion” as “Ung-yun”. I don’t know where she got it, b ut we tease her about it. What’s wrong with that? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/66 "2004-07-17T16:00:31Z")
> [@Nutty Bunny](#): > > **Jewelry** is pronounced _jew-el-ry_, not _jew-ler-y_. [Jewellery](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=jewellery), on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/67 "2004-07-17T16:42:32Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > **js\_africanus** MELK > > WTF is melk??? Why, it’s the Dutch word for milk. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/68 "2004-07-17T17:18:41Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > I meant to address this one, too. You’d hate it here in Baltimore, **Colophon**. Or, rather, Bawl’mer. There are so many mis-pronounced words around here (that are just Baltimorisms), you’d be tearing your hair out within five minutes. > > That wet stuff that comes out of the tap? **Woo-der**. > The place where the tap is? The **zink**. > What you do in the zink? **Warsh** the dishes. > Where kids sit in school? A **dest**. > The thing that sticks up out of your roof? A **chimmbley**. > That veggie that’s good mashed? **Buh-tatah**. > That stuff in your car that needs to be changed every 3,000 miles? **Awl**. > What you cut the grass with? A **paramour** (power mower). > Where you go for vacation? **Downey ay-shun** (Down to the ocean). :eek: I have a ‘mongrel’ accent, a mix of English and East Baltimore (from my dad) and God knows what else from living in different places – so in the middle of what some of my friends call posh talk ™ out pops warsh, Warshington, D C, and very interesting place names like Balmer itself (my pronounciation of Susquehenna can strip paint off the walls.) The warsh and Warshington drives my mum round the twist. We must have sounded deranged when I was a child, and she would berate me in public, ‘It’s WAHter, WAHshington, say that, WAH WAH WAH’ and me replying ‘WAHR WAHR WAHR.’ Pair of barking (mad) seals, more like. Not to mention that I went to high school in Wilmminton, Delaware. Or that I say Timonum, Harvey de Graa, Naplis, B’lair, and Toussend. Cos dad does. Oh yes, and the grand champion what makes mum’s ears bleed: ‘The Eastern Sherrrrr.’ And Phildelphia. What’s interesting is that Newark, Delaware, is pronounced New Ark, and with Newark, NJ, being more familiar to people, I can’t tell you how many non Delawareans have corrected my pronunciation of Newark, DE, or laughed when I said it. My dad’s family also says that they’re ‘going down the beach’ for their hols. And so do I . Dad also pronounces ‘shower’ as ‘showr’ (the ow like ‘ow’ in ouch’). The name Laura comes out as Lore, but if you listen carefully, you can hear the second syllable. On the other hand, having spent so much time in central Scotland, I’m told when I say the place names, they come out in a perfect Perthshire accent smack in the middle of the ‘innits’ and ‘noffinks’ and ‘shtupids’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/69 "2004-07-17T17:21:11Z")
> [@Padmaraga](#): > > Those people who help you buy & sell property are **reel** -tors, not **ree** -lu-tors. No they’re not; they’re called estate agents. 😃 And I apologise to anyone up in New England who has had to hear me say ‘Massachustetts.’ Really. I’ve tried not to. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/70 "2004-07-17T17:48:57Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > I was taught “Ant” is American, and “Awnt” is British. But then, I’m Dutch, so don’t look at me as an arbiter in all things English. 🙂 Most people around here (California) say “ant”, but it seems to me African Americans are more likely to say “awnt”. That makes me wonder, is it a Southernism, seeing as how there was some mutual influence between African American English and Southern American English? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/71 "2004-07-17T17:57:28Z")
Few Southerners say “awnt”, with a few notable exceptions like Cajuns and Gullahs. Most say “ant”, and many, especially in the Appalachian mountains say it just like “ain’t”. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/72 "2004-07-17T18:08:21Z")
> [@John Mace](#): > > Can you tell us how to pronounce: > February My second grade teacher, Mrs. Kerr, tried to teach us to pronounce it “Feb-roo-airy.” Being at best an indifferent student, I got it sort of half-right, so 30-some years later I’m still pronouncing it “Febber-airy.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/73 "2004-07-17T18:10:05Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Most people around here (California) say “ant”, but it seems to me African Americans are more likely to say “awnt”. That makes me wonder, is it a Southernism, seeing as how there was some mutual influence between African American English and Southern American English? Lamont (Demond Wilson) on _Sanford and Son_ always said “Awnt” Esther. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/74 "2004-07-17T18:17:56Z")
> [@Dr. Rieux](#): > > Lamont (Demond Wilson) on _Sanford and Son_ always said “Awnt” Esther. All of the black people I grew up with (anchorage ak) pronounced it that way too. So, I don’t think it’s a southern thing, as my elementary and HS friends were lifers in AK also. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/75 "2004-07-17T20:53:28Z")
Just thought of another one: **acrossT** The word is across. There is no T at the end. Would anyone care to explain where the hell that T comes from? ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/76 "2004-07-17T22:14:24Z")
It’s roof! Not _ruff_! It’s wolves! Not _woofs_! It’s WASHcloth! Not _WARSHcloth_! You twit. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/77 "2004-07-18T06:05:03Z")
People, please! Just learn to accept that these regional sound changes are just the begining stages of English splitting up into multiple daughter languages. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/78 "2004-07-18T12:49:10Z")
> [@](#): > > People, please! Just learn to accept that these regional sound changes are just the begining stages of English splitting up into multiple daughter languages. Whut? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/79 "2004-07-18T14:07:01Z")
When you have a toothache, you do not use your ‘dennal’ insurance to go see the ‘dennist.’ There is a ‘t’ in both of those words. :rolleyes: When I was a kid, I could not pronounce the word ‘bureau’ to save my life. It always came out as ‘beer-er.’ So I became the only one in my family who pronounced ‘bureau’ as ‘dresser.’ 🙂 (I don’t know when it happened, but I _can_ say ‘bureau’ correctly these days: I don’t go around saying that Mulder and Scully worked for the Federal Beerer of Investigation. I still call a chest of drawers a ‘dresser,’ though.) **harmless** : I pronounce ‘roof’ as ‘ruf,’ but I have no idea why. The rest of my family says it the normal way. I also tend to pronounce ‘tourist’ as ‘turist,’ again for no apparent reason. Regarding the ‘ant’/‘awnt’ thing: I have a white friend from New England who says ‘awnt,’ and so does my black officemate who is from New York (Queens, not upstate or anything). My New England friend’s husband says ‘ant’ (he’s from Ohio), and we’re waiting to see whether their son will call me ‘awnt Misnomer’ or ‘ant Misnomer.’ So far it’s been coming out like ‘ant’ – maybe that’s just easier for a child to say? I say ‘ant,’ but I’m from all over. Like **Ms Boods** , I, too, have a bit of a mongrel accent, but it’s not just Baltimore and England: it’s Baltimore, England, New Jersey, New York, and a bit of a flat ‘newscaster’ American that I picked up while studying voice (singing), acting, and radio broadcasting. So I am another American who distinguishes between ‘Mary,’ ‘marry,’ and ‘merry,’ though I didn’t do so until college. ---
**Author:** ![tanookie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/48db29/32.png) [@tanookie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanookie)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430/80 "2004-07-18T14:12:12Z")
I guess I will have to hide my ignorant self inside and become a mute. these are all regional accents - not willful attempts to offend… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-guide-to-pronouncing-easy-words-for-those-who-cant/255430.md?page=5)