To expand a little: I admit that “expresso” slightly grates on my ears, but if I tried to use the “correct” pronunciation of “sherbet” around here, it would cause momentary confusion, so what’s the point of using the “correct” pronunciation if it’s an impediment to understanding? I don’t think it was until college or so that I found out “sure-bit” was an acceptable pronunciation, and if I had heard it pronounced that way before that, I would ask the speaker what he is describing if it wasn’t clear from context. And then I’d still wonder if it’s some sort of variation of “sherbert” like “sorbet” or something.
The words are espresso and sherbet, not expresso and sherbert. How are those not errors?
The point is that it’s always better to be correct. Those who say it incorrectly are the ones with a problem understanding, not you.
Because there are english speakers who pronounce them expresso and sherbert which makes them correct english pronunciations. Espresso and sherbet are also correct english pronunciations.
How does one determine what is correct?
I wonder if part of the problem is people thinking of “et cetera” as one word rather than two (“et” followed by “cetera”). I bet some of us could think of plenty of examples of “ets” spanning two words.
I wonder if this is a regionalism. (Same for some of the other pronunciations in this thread.)
To anyone who knows German, it’s obviously Dachs-hund, but for those who don’t, I can understand why they’d try to stick an “sh” sound in there somewhere.
Good question: what determines whether a particular pronunciation counts as an “error”?
Whether it’s used or not. That’s the linguistic definition, however a lot of people operate on a “I don’t care for it, therefore it’s wrong” policy.
My contention is that it is BETTER objectively to pronounce it as “ex-presso”.
Just like many words have roots in similar words and meanings, and therefore makes more sense, the word “express” conjures speed, efficiency, and alertness, all things that the beverage espresso helps. Its a stimulant, and stimulants make one fast on their feet and quick in their mind. “espress” is not a word, it has no meaning outside of itself. But “express” conveys that meaning perfectly. You know, I think based on that, I’m going to purposefully try to change the pronunciation of that word to “ex-presso”, it just makes more sense
However, I do acknowledge that it is wrong, I just think it makes it better that way
Niche rhymes with fish
Mature with a tch sound
Cache cash
Adirondacks: ad-uh-RON-dax
Fetish feh-tish
Cthulhu Kuh-too-loo
Et cetera et cetera
February feb-ru-airy
Sherbet sorbay
Is there a certain number of people who have to pronounce it that way before it’s no longer considered an error? Or is “throat-warbler mangrove” a non-erroneous pronunciation of “sherbet” if even one person says it that way?
Yeah, somewhere between 2 and everyone. If you happen to know that when someone says throat-warbler mangrove, they mean sherbert, what’s the problem?
Niche neesh or nitch, more or less randomly
Mature Ma-chure
Cache cash
Adirondacks adda-RON-dacks
Fetish short E
Cthulhu I don’t expect to ever need to pronounce this
Et cetera et cetera
February feb-ru-airy
Sherbet sherbet. The bert version is a pet peeve.
Do people who add the extra (improper) R to sherbet also add the extra (also improper) I to mischievous?
Just curiosity (for theoretical, not practical, reasons) over where the line is drawn between a variant or alternative pronunciation, and an error or incorrect pronunciation.
If I say that Columbus discovered America in 1942, and you know that I really meant 1492, I still spoke erroneously.
Because to the extent that people think about what they’re saying, when they say /ʃərbərt/ they meant /ʃərbərt/?
Niche: nItʃ
Mature: mǝtʃur
Cache: kæʃ (same as the word for currency)
Adirondacks: ædɚɑndæks
Fetish: fɛtIʃ
Cthulhu: kʔθulhu
Et cetera: ɛt sɛtɚǝ
February: fɛbjuwɛri
Sherbet: ʃɚbɛt
of these, I’m not sure my pronunciation of February is considered correct, but it’s obviously very common; I have no idea what the desired pronunciation of Cthulhu is, I just attack it the way it’s written, with a glottal stop between the k sound and the th sound.
Regarding “cache” versus “cash”;
When you hear someone saying “cash-AY,” that’s an entirely separate word, folks. I’m surprised that no one else picked up on that. They’re probably saying “cachet” unless context indicates the speaker is completely off-base.
Uh, except for the fact that it’s in the OP, and I’m slinking away.
I personally don’t.
As for whether “sherbert” is a regional pronunciation, I’m sure it’s more popular in some regions than others, but it seems to be spread all across the US, from my experience.
I’ve found a few polls online about sherbert vs sherbet, and the majority seems to be in the “second r” side. Like here’s one from a livejournal of a Yale student. I’d venture to guess “sherbert” is the more common pronunciation in the US. And I’ve found lots of posters saying they’ve never heard “sherbet” or wouldn’t know what it was in conversation, but none saying the reverse. So that’s my hunch.
ETA: Heck, there’s even two threads here about it, and the second-r pronunciation seems to be more common.
Aw, stick around. We all do it from time to time.