# Ever find a word or name that you just can't pronounce? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024 "2004-10-19T13:39:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Politzania](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ab097/32.png) [@Politzania](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Politzania)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/41 "2004-10-20T19:49:53Z")
> [@auntie em](#): > > Brewery. Me too! My lips go all poochy. 🙂 And thanks to my mom - I stick an extra H in “asphalt” so it comes out “ash-phalt”. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/42 "2004-10-20T20:43:37Z")
I found another word I can’t pronounce. I was on the phone with my boss and my boss’s boss, and I tried to say “Albemarle” (It’s a city in NC), and I just couldn’t. It came out “Arbemarle”, and once “Arbemar”. ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/43 "2004-10-20T20:49:06Z")
Unless I’m extremely careful, tangential always becomes tan genital. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/44 "2004-10-20T20:51:53Z")
Mille-feulle is a hurdle for me at a French patisserie. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/45 "2004-10-20T20:56:23Z")
Mnemonic This is a little ridiculous, but I can’t say “oil” without a Southern accent. Unless, I try really, really hard, it comes out “awl.” If I do try really, really hard, it comes out with two syllables-- “oy-ul.” I don’t have much of a pronounced accent otherwise ---
**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 20, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/46 "2004-10-20T21:56:21Z")
Oh I just thought of another - **horseradish**. It always comes out as “horsh-radiss” unless I conciously think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/47 "2004-10-20T22:18:59Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Her first name is Laure. French-Canadian here 😉 Laure is closer to the english “Lore” than what you’re working with. So - start with “Lore” Then, open up the “o” sound so that it’s closer to the “o” of “box” (in between an “o” and the “ah” sound). Instead of closing the “re” sound, leave it open, and close the “r” at the back of your throat (that’s the Quebec “r”, which is not rolled, nor is it the “errr” sound you hear in english). Work on it, damnit 😉 Elly ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/48 "2004-10-20T22:21:02Z")
… Oh! Extra tip on the “r” – try doing that silly sound people make before they spit (in comedic settings - the Rrrrrr-ptui! thing…) - it’s at the back of the throat, not at the front/pulled like the spanish rolled “r”, or round like the english “r”, which is very similar to the mouth position you use for a “w” sound. … Does it show I teach singing, often to young children who need some speech therapy work? 😉 Tee hee. E. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/49 "2004-10-20T22:26:55Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I, too, always thought `ennui’ was pronounced ENN-you-i, and when I first heard it pronounced I was at a loss to understand it for a few moments. How exactly do you say it then? I’ve always said it like on-oui (oui as in yes in French) Is that right? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/50 "2004-10-20T22:37:28Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > People in my life revel in some great names, all of which I had trouble with for a long time: > Csillaghegyi - KssILLa-GYEG-ye Oo…that one’s Hungarian. In Hungarian it’s pronounced “CHEE-lawg-HED-yee.” (The "ee"s are a bit shorter than in English.) “Csillag” means star. “Hegy” means hill or mountain. “-i” is the adjectival ending. But the name may have been Anglicized by the time you encountered it. > [@](#): > > Szczesny - Ssk-ezz-knee > Radziwon - RAT-chee-von Oo…Polish (my ethnicity.) “SHCHESS-nih” and “rah-JEE-von” (Stress in Polish is almost always on the penultimate syllable, with the exception of some Greek words.) “Szczesny” is an archaic Polish word meaning “lucky or fortunate.” Similar to the modern Polish “szczęśliwy,” Anyhow, I’m not saying your pronunciations are wrong—just that they are different in the original language. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/51 "2004-10-20T22:41:41Z")
At the age of 26, I’m still running into words I’ve only seen and not heard. I recently was corrected on my pronunciation of _solder_. D’oh. Polish names get me. No clue how to pronounce them. La Jolla, CA is pronounced the Spanish way - La HOY-a. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/52 "2004-10-20T22:56:29Z")
Conscientious gives me a lisp. It has too many shushes in it. I want to say con-thee-enthuth or something. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/53 "2004-10-20T23:05:59Z")
Another, very common, Vietnamese name (please help me on this): Ng Also, if I may offer gripes about others’ mispronouncements, in hopes of edifying some perps: coup de grace is coo der grahss, not coop dee grah same with Havre de Grace (Md) (Havre is like (Bret) Favre)-good luck, USA’ers) asterisk is ass ter risk, not ass ter ik et cetera has no k in it and the c is like an s and one should not say “…and et cetera” as the “et” means “and” height does not end in th so it should be pronounced like “hyte” not “hyth” ---
**Author:** ![rinni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f6c823/32.png) [@rinni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rinni)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/54 "2004-10-21T06:44:30Z")
I know a girl with the last name Ng, and she pronounces it just like Ing. Like, running, without the “run” part. I never pronounce “sandwich” correctly for some reason. It comes out something like “sehwich”, with the first syllable being slightly nasal. I can say it if I think about it, but when I’m just speaking normally, “sehwich” is what comes out. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/55 "2004-10-21T08:25:12Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > How exactly do you say it then? I’ve always said it like on-oui (oui as in yes in French) Is that right? Yes, this sounds (to my ears) like how it should be pronounced. > [@rinni](#): > > I know a girl with the last name Ng [Don’t tell me her first name is Ana.](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/t/they-might-be-giants/136400.html) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/56 "2004-10-21T08:35:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oo…that one’s Hungarian. In Hungarian it’s pronounced “CHEE-lawg-HED-yee.” (The "ee"s are a bit shorter than in English.) “Csillag” means star. “Hegy” means hill or mountain. “-i” is the adjectival ending. > > But the name may have been Anglicized by the time you encountered it. Indeed, he was an American by more than one generation. > [@](#): > > Oo…Polish (my ethnicity.) “SHCHESS-nih” and “rah-JEE-von” (Stress in Polish is almost always on the penultimate syllable, with the exception of some Greek words.) “Szczesny” is an archaic Polish word meaning “lucky or fortunate.” Similar to the modern Polish “szczęśliwy,” I have to admit I’m reaching back 20 years with these, so my memory of the pronounciations I was taught is chancy. I certainly paid attention at the time as one was a girlfriend and the other one might have become one if things had gone differently! For those who are curious, Rezakhanlou is Iranian. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/57 "2004-10-21T14:08:15Z")
> [@AndrewT](#): > > Indeed, he was an American by more than one generation. That pronunciation of “Csillaghegyi” is the first time I’ve seen the English version of a name more difficult than the original. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024/58 "2004-10-21T14:15:37Z")
> [@Eyebrows 0f Doom](#): > > Since I’m interested in a lot of the films coming out later in the year, I have recently been seeing the word “biopic” everywhere and in my head always read it as rhyming with myopic. I have to always tell myself that it is “bio-pic.” Holy moley! Thanks! I’ve always said it as “Bi-opic,” too. I know what it means but it’s just never occured to me to pronounce it “bio-pic.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-find-a-word-or-name-that-you-just-cant-pronounce/270024.md?page=2)