# How do you pronounce "extraordinary" and "often"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859 "2018-02-15T05:39:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/21 "2018-02-16T01:16:43Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Surely not! I’m pretty sure it’s considered a capital offense in France to pronounce every letter in any word. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/22 "2018-02-16T01:34:21Z")
ex-TROARD-ner-y. Offin. T wilent BTW, It occurred to me that “comfortable” is the only word I can think of in which two consonants are pronounced in reverse order. It is spelled with the R before the T, but pronounces (in casual conversation) with the T before the R. KUMF-ter-bul. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/23 "2018-02-16T01:50:24Z")
Pronouncing the /t/ in often is a classic example of [spelling pronunciation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_pronunciation). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/24 "2018-02-16T02:30:02Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > ex-TROARD-ner-y. > > Offin. T wilent > > BTW, It occurred to me that “comfortable” is the only word I can think of in which two consonants are pronounced in reverse order. It is spelled with the R before the T, but pronounces (in casual conversation) with the T before the R. KUMF-ter-bul. In _which_, _where_, etc, the -h- is voiced before the -w- (in variants of English where both sounds are voiced). _Hwich_ and _hwere_ would be more accurate indicators of pronunciation. Granted, you can quibble about whether they are both consonants. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/25 "2018-02-16T02:59:48Z")
I use the Mercan forms: Strordnary and off’n. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/26 "2018-02-16T04:45:21Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > When I hear people say “extra-ordinary” or “of-ten,” I always want to say, “easy there, Frasier.” > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Totally! I know some people who do this and I know they are trying to sound smart. It doesn’t make them sound smart. Whereas here if you _don’t_ pronounce the T you sound like a hick… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/27 "2018-02-17T08:01:08Z")
Silent T and A. It’s how I’ve always heard them pronounced. Both are the standard pronunciations in any dictionary I’ve ever seen. My understanding is that the change is coming from people who do spelling pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/28 "2018-02-17T14:27:01Z")
Ok, how about “internet”? It’s “innernet” for me, and sounds jarring when some voice over for provider commercials clearly enunciates it with the t. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/29 "2018-02-17T14:46:55Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Ok, how about “internet”? It’s “innernet” for me, and sounds jarring when some voice over for provider commercials clearly enunciates it with the t. It’s common in American English to use a nasalized alveolar flap, [ɾ̃]. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2018, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859/30 "2018-02-17T15:23:22Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Ok, how about “internet”? It’s “innernet” for me, and sounds jarring when some voice over for provider commercials clearly enunciates it with the t. I’m a web programmer and I probably pronounce it innernet but neither pronunciation sounds jarring to me. On the other hand when I have occasion to pronounce “www”, which is rarely these days, I say “wuh wuh wuh” instead of “double u double u double u”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-extraordinary-and-often/808859.md?page=1)