In the equivalent of 9th grade ESL, I was told by the teacher that the word “idea” is pronounced “I-Dee” and that “I-Dee-A” is giving oneself airs.
- I-Dee
- I-Dee-A
0 voters
I pronounce it as “I-Dee-A”. You can hear the final A sound when I say it.
What you were told was incorrect. It’s ī-dē′ə.
I pronounce it “I-dee-uh”, with a schwa rather than an enunciated “a” at the end. But the only way I could even see that it might be pronounced vaguely like “i-dee” is when it is followed by a word that begins with a vowel, because, for instance, in the phrase “i have no i-dee-uh uh-bout [about] what I need to do”, the two “uhs” could sort of blend in together. But not every speaker would do this every time.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced “I-dee.” That sounds so odd.
I’ve heard “i-DEAR” more often than “I-dee,” that just sounds super weird.
Nor have I.
In New England fashion, I of course pronounce it I-dee-ah.
Was the ESL teacher’s recommendation pronounced the same as I.D.? (The same as saying the letters I and D)
I have trouble believing that that routinely occurs across the US. I can believe that when people talk rapidly the third syllable gets slurred into inaudibility – “What’s the idea of coming here?” (As Ludovic said above)
But as a standalone word, I have trouble saying it without a third syllable. I-duh? I-deh? It does not seem to work.
Always i-dee-uh.
Here in Rhode Island it’s usually ‘eye-deer’. I stick to the more common ‘eye-dee-uh’.
Never in my life have I heard it as “eye-dee.”
“I.D.” Is an abbreviation for “identification” as far as I’m aware. “Idea” is pronounced “eye-dee-ah” at least around here.
“I lost my Idy too but not in a flood.”
If you say, “I have a thought…”, that would be putting on airs.
Your ESL teacher needs to study EFL.
Bizarre pronunciation aside, teachers should encourage their students to put on airs.
I-dee-uh for me. I-dee-er for a friend of mine from Eastern PA. But then he does the warsh, so loves to throw in Intrusive Rs…
OP, are you reading these posts? What do you think?
Where are you from? More importantly, where was your teacher from? Is there a regionalism, or class distinction that would account for the “i-dee” pronunciation?
eye-deer for me but have been starting I-Dee-A
The only time I’ve ever heard “i-dee” is with some Foghorn Leghorn type faux southern accent.
Hey, you know what you got if you got a deer with no eyes?