# Another pronunciation pitting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 16, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180 "2008-10-16T12:03:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/21 "2008-10-16T19:01:12Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > ('Cause my mama raised me right! ;)) She raised you to be a dialect bigot? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/22 "2008-10-16T19:22:43Z")
Escalator became esculator (with the “u” pronounced - “ess-kyoo-lay-tor”). Percolator/percolates became perculator/perculates (with the “u” pronounced again). Especially became exspecially. Edmonton became Emmonton. Hamburger became hammurger. Whatcha gonna do? (The “realator” thing and “nukeyoolar” still bug me.) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/23 "2008-10-16T19:27:20Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Escalator became esculator (with the “u” pronounced - “ess-kyoo-lay-tor”). > Percolator/percolates became perculator/perculates (with the “u” pronounced again). > Especially became exspecially. > Edmonton became Emmonton. > Hamburger became hammurger. > > Whatcha gonna do? (The “realator” thing and “nukeyoolar” still bug me.) Continue to pronounce words correctly? It’s worked pretty well for me so far. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/24 "2008-10-16T19:31:23Z")
Sherbet, damnit! ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/25 "2008-10-16T19:36:06Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Escalator became esculator (with the “u” pronounced - “ess-kyoo-lay-tor”). > Percolator/percolates became perculator/perculates (with the “u” pronounced again). > Especially became exspecially. > Edmonton became Emmonton. > Hamburger became hammurger. > > Whatcha gonna do? (The “realator” thing and “nukeyoolar” still bug me.) I’ve never heard anyone pronounce _escalator_ as “ess-kyoo-lay-tor.” ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/26 "2008-10-16T19:46:27Z")
And yet the masses still “mispronounce” _iron_ as _iorn_. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/27 "2008-10-16T21:08:01Z")
> [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](#): > > She raised you to be a dialect bigot? Yes. That’s right. :rolleyes: > [@jackmanii](#): > > Pronounce it however you like, just don’t capitalize it as though “Realtor” was a profession uniquely demanding this recognition \ I capitalized the word “realtor” because it was the first word of a(n) (improper) one-word sentence. As were the two other picked-out words in my OP. I swear, it doesn’t pay to be a pedant in the Pit! 😃 Carry on… ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/28 "2008-10-16T21:49:17Z")
If you’re going to give realtor its proper recognition, it’s “REALTOR!!!1!!” I’ve heard people pronounce it “esculator.” Just keep your ears open - I’m sure you’ll hear it eventually. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/29 "2008-10-16T22:22:20Z")
Soooo. What’s the word count for establishing a new dialect? If I pronounce _rascal_ as _rass-kewl_ do I have a new dialect? Or does it take two words? Three? I’m thinking a lot of people are hiding behind the dialect shield to get away with shoddy English. I’d bet the folks who say _sher-bert_ have about 99.9% of their language in common with me, a _sher-bit_ slinger. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/30 "2008-10-17T01:26:45Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Escalator became esculator (with the “u” pronounced - “ess-kyoo-lay-tor”). > Percolator/percolates became perculator/perculates (with the “u” pronounced again). > Especially became exspecially. > Edmonton became Emmonton. > Hamburger became hammurger. The only one of these alternate pronunciations I’ve ever heard is ‘exspecially’ which, as the dumbth of America continues to spread, is becoming as disturbingly common as ‘expresso’. > [@featherlou](#): > > Whatcha gonna do? (The “realator” thing and “nukeyoolar” still bug me.) ‘realator’ kind of grates with me as well. After 8 years of the Dunderhead in Chief, however, I’ve become numb to ‘nukular’. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/31 "2008-10-17T01:33:27Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > Soooo. What’s the word count for establishing a new dialect? It’s number of people, not number of words. The SoCal residents who say “the” before route numbers form a dialect. The speech pattern of a single person is an idiolect. ---
**Author:** ![Cider\_Depot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Cider\_Depot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cider_Depot)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/32 "2008-10-17T01:38:42Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Hamburger became hammurger. Who the hell says “hammurger”? Round these parts it’s pronounced “meat disk”. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/33 "2008-10-17T01:52:44Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > It’s number of people, not number of words. The SoCal residents who say “the” before route numbers form a dialect. > > The speech pattern of a single person is an idiolect. And, what is that “route number dialect” called? ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/34 "2008-10-17T02:04:54Z")
My pet peeve pronunciations: mischevous as mis-CHEE-vee-us sammich instead of sandwich And I will never be OK with nuke-u-lar. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/35 "2008-10-17T02:43:12Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Yes. That’s right. :rolleyes: Hey, :rolleyes: back at you! I’m not the one who started a pit thread complaining about people who dare speak differently than my arbitrary definition of ‘correct.’ Admitting your bigotry is the first step to overcoming it. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/36 "2008-10-17T02:50:22Z")
You’re getting pretty defensive there. Strike a nerve? Arbitrary indeed. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/37 "2008-10-17T02:53:53Z")
See, there are people in your own community that say for example _sher-bit_ or _sher-but_ without adding the imaginary _r_. What do you have to say about them? ---
**Author:** ![A.I.Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@A.I.Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.I.Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/38 "2008-10-17T02:57:14Z")
Descriptivism \> prescriptivism, yo. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/39 "2008-10-17T03:01:23Z")
Why anyone gives a damn how other people pronounce words is beyond me, no matter how popular or not the pronunciation is (though, of course, the usages that get bitched about the most are also the most popular, making the bitching the least reasonable). And in the majority of cases, thinking one can infer significant information about intelligence from pronunciation is highly misguided. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180/40 "2008-10-17T03:04:34Z")
> [@jimpatro](#): > > See, there are people in your own community that say for example _sher-bit_ or _sher-but_ without adding the imaginary _r_. > > What do you have to say about them? They are better than me, for the pronunciation they picked up from hearing people around them happens to correlate a little better with the arbitrary spelling of some isolated word than the pronunciation I picked up from hearing people around me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-pronunciation-pitting/468180.md?page=3)