# I might feel no slight delight if I heard "height" pronounced right. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 7, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447 "2006-11-07T17:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/1 "2006-11-07T17:20:50Z")
This drives me a little nuts: it’s length, width, and height. The last one has no “th”, the word is not “heigth”, so it does Not rhyme with lithe, writhe, tithe or scythe. It rhymes with blight, fight, light, might, night, plight, right, sight, tight—you know : a hard “t”, like in byte, cite, kite, mite, rite, site, and white. What is so friggin’ annoying about this is that about 90% of the time I hear it pronounced incorrectly? It baffles me that so many people screw this up, and I’m not talking just your average Joes, I’m talking scientists, doctors, TV newsmen—yes, TV newsmen, people who get paid for (supposedly) being articulate. But what set off this particular rant on this particular day is a conversation I had moments ago with an architect: he wanted to take advantage of the “ceiling heigth” in the kitchen. Arrrrrrgggghhhh. An architect, someone who you think would have a handle on the three dimensions. So, to the 90% of you who were absent during 4th Grade, now you know. It’s “Height”. with the hard “t”. Aight? ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/2 "2006-11-07T17:24:53Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] So, to the 90% of you who were absent during 4th Grade, now you know. It’s “Height”. with the hard “t”. Aight? [/QUOTE] Agreed. Tangentially, I also cringe when someone says “acrosst” (or perhaps “acrossed”), as in “It measures 6 feet acrosst the middle.” Where? How? Why? I cannot fathom. One never hears “downt.” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/3 "2006-11-07T17:32:16Z")
Can I “axe” you why people “itch themselves” when they get “stung” by a mosquito? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/4 "2006-11-07T17:35:14Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Can I “axe” you why people “itch themselves” when they get “stung” by a mosquito? [/QUOTE] Sure, let’s discuss it over breafkas. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/5 "2006-11-07T17:37:08Z")
I can’t recall hearing anyone say height wrong. Granted, I know plenty of people that screw up other words but not that one. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/6 "2006-11-07T17:37:20Z")
Respec. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/7 "2006-11-07T17:39:10Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] I can’t recall hearing anyone say height wrong. Granted, I know plenty of people that screw up other words but not that one. [/QUOTE] Can I trade ears with you? Wow, I hear it the vast majority of the time. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/8 "2006-11-07T17:44:32Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Can I “axe” you why people “itch themselves” when they get “stung” by a mosquito? [/QUOTE] Wait, technically, isn’t that correct? A mosquito has a needle like proboscis through which the blood is sucked up. Like a thorn or a needle. So maybe “bite” is wrong. No? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/9 "2006-11-07T17:47:27Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Sure, let’s discuss it over breafkas. [/QUOTE] Cool, I have some leftover pasketti. Wanna come to Illinoise and share it with me? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/10 "2006-11-07T17:50:08Z")
(You’d get “scratched” by a thorn or needle, and since the proboscis is a mouth piece, I think “bit” is the best term. A “sting” is from a barb in the butt used for defense, like a wasp, bee or scorpion (OK, tail, but it’s still a posterior thing).) ---
**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:** [November 7, 2006, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/11 "2006-11-07T17:56:13Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] I can’t recall hearing anyone say height wrong. Granted, I know plenty of people that screw up other words but not that one. [/QUOTE] I’ve never heard the “heighth” pronunciation, either. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/12 "2006-11-07T17:57:17Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] Can I trade ears with you? Wow, I hear it the vast majority of the time. [/QUOTE] Do you live in the south? I hear “heighth” here a lot, and cannot recall hearing it anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/13 "2006-11-07T18:14:47Z")
I remember it from A Clockwork Orange, where they dressed “in the heighth of fashion”. I don’t think I’ve heard it anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/14 "2006-11-07T18:15:31Z")
My dad is an engineer, and I used to have to type up quotations for him when he got a new work order. Although he never pronounced it that way, he would consistently _spell_ it that way. I was forever correcting lists of dimensions that included width, length, and heighth. It peeved me excessively. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/15 "2006-11-07T18:39:25Z")
Mayber pronouncing it “height **h** ” is a mid-western/southern USA thing. People on the coasts don’t seem to say it that way, and the Brits never do. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Ice\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Machine)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/16 "2006-11-07T18:49:48Z")
I don’t recall hearing it pronounced with the th but maybe I’m blanking it out. This reminded me of something I heard for the first time recently. My wife and I were reviewing a childbrth video to refresh ourselves and the two nurses teaching the course both continually pronounced centimetre with the cent pronounced as in saunter. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/17 "2006-11-07T18:58:42Z")
Well, what about measure? I say MEH-zhure, so it peeves me when I hear people say MAY-zhure. Unless they’re Brits, of course, and then I just heave a lovelorn sigh. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/18 "2006-11-07T19:21:42Z")
The easiest way to mayzhure the heighth of something is to take a pitcher of it. ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/19 "2006-11-07T19:37:38Z")
I enjoy variable pronunciations, and find them interesting. They don’t seem to have anything to do with intelligence that I can tell. But then, neither did 4th Grade. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/20 "2006-11-07T19:47:48Z")
[QUOTE=chappachula] Mayber pronouncing it “height **h** ” is a mid-western/southern USA thing. People on the coasts don’t seem to say it that way, and the Brits never do. [/QUOTE] It’s a _very_ common pronunciation in Ireland. Perhaps this is whence the southern US pronunciation is derived? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447.md?page=2)