# How to respond when someone corrects you, but you aren't wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363 "2005-08-31T00:36:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/61 "2005-08-31T20:35:38Z")
> [@Beadalin](#): > > But… but… I don’t understand how those are pronounced differently. The “aw” is the “o” sound in “knob” or in “Bob.” The “ah” is the “a” sound in “cat” or “fat.” So it’s “nochos” versus “nachos.” ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/62 "2005-08-31T20:35:42Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > I must say that this has never happened. If it did, I’d probably laugh for a moment, since I didn’t think anyone did this seriously. My friends and I do it jokingly all the time: > > “Pass the n-aw-choes.” > “You mean the n-ah-choes?” But do you get them from Badger Fresh (Baja Fresh) ---
**Author:** ![Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/58956e/32.png) [@Hoodoo\_Ulove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoodoo_Ulove)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/63 "2005-08-31T20:51:58Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > The “ah” is the “a” sound in “cat” or “fat.” Cite? ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/64 "2005-08-31T21:00:55Z")
> [@Speaker for the Dead](#): > > The “aw” is the “o” sound in “knob” or in “Bob.” > > The “ah” is the “a” sound in “cat” or “fat.” > > So it’s “nochos” versus “nachos.” Am I being whooshed or is this a regionalism? “ah” is the sound you make when the dentist asks you to open your mouth, as in “say ahhhhh!” Also, as in “RAH RAH RAH!! GO TEAM!” Or the sound of the vowel in the standard American pronunciation of “bar.” “Aw” is the sound you make when you see something extremely cute. Like “Awwww…ain’t that sweet.” It is the sound of the vowel in “saw” or “pause.” ---
**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:** [August 31, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/65 "2005-08-31T21:04:36Z")
I see that your explaining your own spellings. Rendering the short-o sound phonetically as “aw” and the short-a shound phonetically as “ah” is non-standard. I’d write something more aking to “NOTCH-oes” v “NATCH-oes,” if I’m understanding you correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/66 "2005-08-31T22:13:54Z")
Yes, I was simply making my own explanations up. **pulykamell** has it right. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/67 "2005-08-31T22:56:12Z")
Last time it happened, [I Pitted The Fool.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6500678#post6500678) ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/68 "2005-09-01T00:25:32Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > Ah, and that reminds me of the time I called a teacher “pedantic,” and the person I with whom I was talking looked horrified and said “He molests children?” I caused a big stir in my first week of a new job. A co-worker was telling me about how her teenager was under the impression they were going to let him do something or other that they had no intention of allowing. I asked, “Did you disabuse him of that notion?” She got very quiet and bailed out of my cubicle in a big hurry, leaving me scratching my head. Later I discovered that word was going 'round the office that I thought she was beating her kid. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363/69 "2005-09-01T01:58:53Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I just say “irregardless, I stand by my original statement.” You are an evil, evil person. Think of the poor innocent bystanders. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-respond-when-someone-corrects-you-but-you-arent-wrong/319363.md?page=3)