# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/61 "2006-11-08T22:45:14Z")
If there’s no reason not to say ‘nucular,’ then there’s no reason not to say ‘supposably.’ ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/62 "2006-11-08T22:51:34Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] **GorillaMan** - oh no, ‘nyoo-klee-ar’ is perfectly acceptable too. The important thing is that it keeps the letters in their proper order. As a matter of fact, that pronunciation appeals to my snooty, stuck-up mentality. 😃 [/QUOTE] Heaven forbid you ever hear my dialect-influenced pronunciation of ‘cutlery’. It’s the only word for which I’ve had fellow Brits ask me what the hell I was saying 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/63 "2006-11-08T23:04:46Z")
So, if I have the music for, say _Falling in Love With Love_ in front of me, and I play it so the notes are rearranged to make it sound like _I Got Rhythm_, is that just a dialect thing, too? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/64 "2006-11-09T00:35:08Z")
[QUOTE=yojimbo] What was this mystical think they made sidings from. [/QUOTE] I do not thing that word means what you thing it means. ---
**Author:** ![Ima\_June\_Bugg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Ima\_June\_Bugg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ima_June_Bugg)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/65 "2006-11-09T14:55:29Z")
Here’s another odd pronunciation. A coworker, who is one of the smartest people I know, pronounces the opposite of “maximum” as “miminum.” Strange, that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/66 "2006-11-09T15:23:52Z")
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen some examples of words where the correct pronunciation did actually seem to transpose some of the letters. They weren’t English words though - possibly Polish or something. Does anyone know what I’m talking about? ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/67 "2006-11-09T15:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] What’s even worse is the use of “pacific” when the speaker means to say “specific.” “Could you be more pacific?” :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] I always just assume that the speaker is asking me to be more calm. One of my lease favorites is “choirpractor”. As in, “I seen the choirpractor t’other day, and my back still hurts!” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/68 "2006-11-09T16:18:53Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] And some are correct and some are incorrect. One has simply to look at the spelling of a word in order to figure out its pronoucination. There is no such word as nukular. Period. [/QUOTE] But what about uncomfortable? The letters-mixed-up pronunciation is quite common, probably the most common? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/69 "2006-11-09T16:31:01Z")
For those of you who believe in “correct” pronunciations, when you’re in a different part of the country, do you adapt your speech patterns to match the locals’? Because in my rural Ohio hometown, we say “pop” instead of “soda”, “heighth” vs “height”, “nu-cu-lar” vs “nu-clee-ar”, “barry” vs “burry”, “ain-chent” vs “an-shent”, “ant” vs “ahnt”, “woish” vs “wahsh”, “perfek” vs “perfect”, “ma-tor” vs “ma-chur”, “you-all” vs “yall”, “wy” vs “hwy”, “bar” vs “bah”, “rout” vs “root”, “roof” vs “ruuf”, “i-ern” vs “i-run”, “fi-er” vs “fahr”, etc, etc. It’s not a matter of education; it’s the local language. Everyone who grows up in the area speaks this way, at least until they’re exposed to other dialects. If you don’t use the local pronunciation, the local reaction will range from noticing you’re an outsider, to slight mis-comprehension, to just plain not knowing what you’re saying (depends on the word and the local). So to maximize your communication, you’d need to adopt the local dialect, right? The spelling of a word hardly matters in English. Our spellings were mostly fixed in the early 1600s when the printing press became widespread in Britain. To pronounce strictly according to spelling is to be intentionally archaic. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/70 "2006-11-09T17:28:23Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Hey, gang, superior much? I will say this slowly and soothingly for those of you too high on your horses to catch it: [/QUOTE] Ms. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/71 "2006-11-09T17:39:33Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] 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.” [/QUOTE] Tha does in Yorkshire laddie. 'am gown down’t t’pub, sithee! ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/72 "2006-11-09T17:49:32Z")
[QUOTE=Pleonast] For those of you who believe in “correct” pronunciations, when you’re in a different part of the country, do you adapt your speech patterns to match the locals’? [/QUOTE] No, but where there are multiple pronunciations that seem valid to me, I will adapt to the local one. I’m a Brit living in America and will often, for example, pronounce schedule and tomato the American way as both US and UK pronunciation can be justified based on the spelling. But will not say heighth or nukular because they are clearly wrong. I will aslo say aluminum because that is correct for the spelling that is used here. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/73 "2006-11-09T18:13:34Z")
[QUOTE=magellan01] : 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? . So, to the 90% of you who were absent during 4th Grade, now you know. It’s “Height”. with the hard “t”. [/QUOTE] So why do dudes fight so hard to keep it spelled “Height”, instead of “hite”? ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/74 "2006-11-09T18:17:00Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] But will not say heighth or nukular because they are clearly wrong. [/QUOTE] How so? Spelling is poorly correlated with pronunciation in English. Not a very compelling argument. How do you pronounce the word “iron”? Or, “colonel”? Or, even “one”? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/75 "2006-11-09T18:29:07Z")
[QUOTE=tdn] And some are correct and some are incorrect. One has simply to look at the spelling of a word in order to figure out its pronoucination. There is no such word as nukular. Period. [/QUOTE] If one looks at it, one would pronounce “nuclear” as “new- clear”. “Nu” is always pronounced “new” , and “clear” is a common word. Thus “nuclear” would be pronounced “new-cleer”. “NOO-KLEE-AR” just plain doesn’t make sense. Or, one could look at the word as “nuke- leer”. I don’t know where the hell both commonpronunciations came up with 3 syllables! Dictionaries usually list 'nü-klE-&r, 'nyü-, ÷-ky&-l&r, or "noo-klee-ar, Nyew-klee-ar and noo-que-lar. I have never heard it with the “nyew” first syllable. However, let’s please not get into a battle about which is “right”- all three are “right”, no matter which one you _prefer._ ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/76 "2006-11-09T18:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=Pleonast] How so? Spelling is poorly correlated with pronunciation in English. Not a very compelling argument. How do you pronounce the word “iron”? Or, “colonel”? Or, even “one”? [/QUOTE] You misunderstand. Nowhere did I say that I will only pronounce words as they are spelled. I said that I will not change my pronunciation to match a local version that to me seems clearly at odds with the spelling. So: [ul] [li]there is no way to justify a “th” sound at the end of “height”, so I will not say it[/li][li]schedule can begin with a soft “sh” as there are other words spelled this way that have a soft sh, so I am happy to say shedule.[/li][li]I know of no words where “uc” is pronounced “uku”[/li][/ul] Although raised to say leftenant, I am happy with lieutenant as it makes sense. I imagine if “colonel” were routinely pronounced kuh-lone-uhl or colon-ell in the US that I could adapt to that. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/77 "2006-11-09T18:36:33Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] If one looks at it, one would pronounce “nuclear” as “new- clear”. “Nu” is always pronounced “new” , and “clear” is a common word. Thus “nuclear” would be pronounced “new-cleer”. \ Dictionaries usually list 'nü-klE-&r, 'nyü-, ÷-ky&-l&r, or "noo-klee-ar, Nyew-klee-ar and noo-que-lar. I have never heard it with the “nyew” first syllable. [/QUOTE] To me (and I suspect anyone else from the UK and possibly the Commonwealth), “new-cleer” would be pronounced as “nyew-cleer”. ---
**Author:** ![Ima\_June\_Bugg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71e660/32.png) [@Ima\_June\_Bugg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ima_June_Bugg)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/78 "2006-11-09T18:40:06Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] Tha does in Yorkshire laddie. 'am gown down’t t’pub, sithee! [/QUOTE] Here in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, “goat” is often used as a verb, as in “let’s goat the store.” ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/79 "2006-11-09T18:41:01Z")
For the record, pop is pronounced “pop” and soda is pronounced “soda”. They are two different words, not two different pronuciations of the same word, and don’t even belong in this discussion. (and anyway, they’re “soft drinks”!) ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447/80 "2006-11-09T18:42:53Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] You misunderstand. Nowhere did I say that I will only pronounce words as they are spelled. I said that I will not change my pronunciation to match a local version that to me seems clearly at odds with the spelling. … Although raised to say leftenant, I am happy with lieutenant as it makes sense. I imagine if “colonel” were routinely pronounced kuh-lone-uhl or colon-ell in the US that I could adapt to that. [/QUOTE] Ah, clarification understood. So you should be able to accept others using their own local variants, such as “heighth” and “nucular”, even if you don’t use them yourself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-might-feel-no-slight-delight-if-i-heard-height-pronounced-right/379447.md?page=5)