# American English Pronunciation that bugs the bejeezus out of me **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182 "2008-10-09T16:53:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/161 "2008-10-12T16:43:13Z")
> [@Kal](#): > > My British brain sees those sentences as being told to write down the words “Your representative” or “The president”, rather than being told to write to someone. Dropping the ‘to’ makes the sentence odd. > > It’s rare for ‘to’ to be dropped from a sentence in British English. Instead we often drop ‘the’. The hospital one has been mentioned, but others would be “put kettle on”, “I’m gonna pack shopping away”, “put telly on”, etc. George: “Say goodnight Gracie.” Gracie: “Goodnight Gracie.” ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/162 "2008-10-12T17:02:44Z")
Let’s not get started on _Lieutenant_ and how to pronounce it properly… Think I started a thread ages ago asking about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/163 "2008-10-12T17:10:02Z")
> [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > Let’s not get started on _Lieutenant_ and how to pronounce it properly… > > Think I started a thread ages ago asking about that one. You know how rude it is to bring something up, then say “Never mind”? Here in the good old U.S. of A., we usually say Lou-ten-ent. What’s the “proper” way? ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/164 "2008-10-12T17:21:53Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > You know how rude it is to bring something up, then say “Never mind”? > > Here in the good old U.S. of A., we usually say Lou-ten-ent. What’s the “proper” way? Leff-tenant. Not sure why we pronounce it that way. I’ll look it up. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/165 "2008-10-12T17:39:09Z")
Because this is too pointless to have its own thread: There’s a particular way that the English people I’ve spoken to lately, women in particular, say ‘goodbye’. It’s, like four times, very bubbly and high. I can’t explain it properly, but the girlfriend in Shaun of the Dead does it. It’s [here,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXM2EULpC7I) around 2:30. It’s cute enough, but sort of off-putting. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/166 "2008-10-12T18:22:01Z")
> [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > Leff-tenant. Not sure why we pronounce it that way. I’ll look it up. Actually, I think I have heard that pronunciation before, now that you mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/167 "2008-10-12T19:26:51Z")
> [@villa](#): > > The chief of these are Iraq and Iran. I agree with on these. And I’m an American. Some old-timers also say Eye-talian. > [@](#): > > As for words themselves, I can never, despite having raised a child here, find the word ‘diaper’ anything but plain wrong. Sorry, but you get no love from me here. I find the word “nappy” to be unbearably precious. It’s a diaper. Call it what it is. Just to get back on the other side, I can’t stand the words “sachet” and “duvet,” the latter of which seems to have infected the United States lately. > [@SirRay](#): > > This is also how they pronounced it on that bastion of early '90s Middle Class life, ‘Keeping Up Appearences’ (which had a number of odd sounding to me pronouncations such as ‘gay-rage’ for garage). It was more like “garridge.” > [@NinjaChick](#): > > First you Brits need to knock it off with this notional agreement crap. Thank. You. Even when I’m putting on a British accent, I cant’ bring myself to say “the government are” or “England are in the lead.” Blech! (shivers) > [@](#): > > Personally, I don’t like the American pronunciation of “route” and “router” as “rowt” and “rowter”. It’s just grating. Here’s another one in which I side against my fellow Americans. > [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](#): > > The American pronounciation that gets to me is warrior rhyming with lawyer. I say war-ri-yah but I’ve heard woy-er quite often – notably on some programme where the wrestling coach kept telling his squad to be woyers. The mi-er pronunciation of mirror is nearly as bad. Again, I’m anti-American on this. Warrior, mirror, rural. There seems to be a problem with successive rhotics. > [@Sunspace](#): > > I pronounce the names of Iraq and Iran as ‘ee-rack’ and ‘ee-ran’. They don’t rhyme with ‘rock’ and ‘Ron’ at all. Yes, it bugs me that so many of my fellow Americans can’t tell “ah” from “o” sounds. > [@Kal](#): > > Seeing a thread about buoys in GQ reminded me. The American ‘boo he’, as opposed to the British ‘boy’. That’s not the “American” pronunciation. That’s part of the hip-hop subculture. It’s simply for effect. It’s not even the usual pronunciation in American black vernacular. > [@Kal](#): > > One that got me going ‘huh?’ a while back was a mention of Jock Stirrup on the Daily Show - [Video link.](http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=165516&title=Britain%27s-Fallen-Soldiers) The pronunciation of ‘stirrup’ there was just plain mad. I think they’re joking. “Stirrup” is not really pronounced like “strap” or “strop” in American English. > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > You go down to the jail to visit your cousin who is in jail. Here’s one that gets me – sending people to “jail” for years and years. Jails are for short-term holding, usually prior to conviction. If you’re there for a long time, you’re in prison, not in jail. > [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > Leff-tenant. Not sure why we pronounce it that way. I’ll look it up. It’s only “lefftenant” in the British Army. The Royal Navy pronounces it more like the American way. Cite to the Royal Navy - [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3816](http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3816) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/168 "2008-10-12T19:54:17Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > That’s not the “American” pronunciation. That’s part of the hip-hop subculture. It’s simply for effect. It’s not even the usual pronunciation in American black vernacular. It is indeed the American pronunciation for what **villa** was talking about: “buoys” as in those floatie things that mark channels and serve as platforms for meteorological instruments and such. We Americans call them “Boo-eys”. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/169 "2008-10-12T19:55:01Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > That’s not the “American” pronunciation. That’s part of the hip-hop subculture. It’s simply for effect. It’s not even the usual pronunciation in American black vernacular. You are talking about the thing that floats in the sea, yeah? A buoy? That’s what we pronounce ‘boy’. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/170 "2008-10-12T20:04:36Z")
**British person** - “So, I took my boys, dropped them off in the water, and left them there for a few years.” **American** - :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/171 "2008-10-12T21:57:44Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > 12-year old text-speak isn’t popular here. you mean i actually have to waste time putting all the commas, apostrophes, caps and all that crap in there when you know perfectly well what i am saying? not trying to be mean sounding, i just wanna clear things up so im not an enemy here ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/172 "2008-10-12T22:27:29Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > you mean i actually have to waste time putting all the commas, apostrophes, caps and all that crap in there when you know perfectly well what i am saying? > > not trying to be mean sounding, i just wanna clear things up so im not an enemy here You don’t have to in that you won’t get banned, but if you check around you will see that pretty much everyone at least attempts to capitalize, punctuate and spell their posts correctly. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/173 "2008-10-12T22:29:57Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s only “lefftenant” in the British Army. The Royal Navy pronounces it more like the American way. Cite to the Royal Navy - [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3816](http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3816) I was aware of the Navy’s pronunciation, they seem to say it halfway in between the two, snipping out the problem syllable. Similar to the British Army pronunciation of Sergeant (more common with older ranks). I had thought, however, that the British pronunciation was more common than simply used by the British Army. I had once been told the the Canadians still pronounce it like us. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/174 "2008-10-12T22:30:44Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > you mean i actually have to waste time putting all the commas, apostrophes, caps and all that crap in there when you know perfectly well what i am saying? > > not trying to be mean sounding, i just wanna clear things up so im not an enemy here No one’s going to force you to do it. But how you write does say something about you, especially on the internet where we have no other input. If you don’t like what it says about you, you have two options: complain that everyone is being narrow-minded and pedantic, or actually write as if you are an adult who knows the English language. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/175 "2008-10-12T22:42:04Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > No one’s going to force you to do it. But how you write does say something about you, especially on the internet where we have no other input. If you don’t like what it says about you, you have two options: complain that everyone is being narrow-minded and pedantic, or actually write as if you are an adult who knows the English language. I’ll just do both. 😃 Man, everyone here is SOOOO narrow minded and pathetic! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/176 "2008-10-12T23:08:45Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > It is indeed the American pronunciation for what **villa** was talking about: “buoys” as in those floatie things that mark channels and serve as platforms for meteorological instruments and such. We Americans call them “Boo-eys”. :smack: Poor reading skills. I was thinking of Flavor Flav addressing his “booooyeeeez.” ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/177 "2008-10-12T23:18:30Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > :smack: Poor reading skills. I was thinking of Flavor Flav addressing his “booooyeeeez.” I kind of thought that was what you were responding about but I couldn’t figure out how you got there! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lynxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e99b99/32.png) [@lynxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynxie)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/178 "2008-10-12T23:57:43Z")
> [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](#): > > I had thought, however, that the British pronunciation was more common than simply used by the British Army. I had once been told the the Canadians still pronounce it like us. The Canadians do say Lefftenant, at least in the Air Force. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/179 "2008-10-13T00:41:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Again, I’m anti-American on this. Warrior, mirror, rural. There seems to be a problem with successive rhotics. The [ruh jur](http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=fldR03e51cw) has a limited release next week. Is it time for another voice sample thread? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182/180 "2008-10-13T03:39:37Z")
> [@jtsPimp](#): > > I’m no expert on English, but I’ve lived in Ireland for most of my life, and the only folk who pronounced Ireland like the way you’re indicating is the Americans. > > And sorry, but to us Irish folk, it just sounds plain wrong! Huh? My British in-laws say “ire-land” (with an “eye” beginning) just like I do, as an American. How do you say it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-english-pronunciation-that-bugs-the-bejeezus-out-of-me/467182.md?page=10)