# Is that how it's spelled? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426 "2009-12-08T09:22:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/21 "2009-12-08T15:20:32Z")
In memory of the great Jimmy Durante: What a catastrophe! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/22 "2009-12-08T15:35:17Z")
**Annihilate** (You can argue that it’s spelled as it sounds, but to me it’s only “obvious” after you already know the pronunciation) **Colonel** , of course \*\*Synecdoche Syncope \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/23 "2009-12-08T15:39:05Z")
queue - pronouced “q” but looks as if it’s pronouced “kway-way.” Personally I think it’s just cheating at Scrabble. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/24 "2009-12-08T15:39:48Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I just learned how to pronounce victuals. :smack: Yeah, it is kinda unsettling when you realize that Jed, Granny and them were not only using a $12 word, but pronouncing it correctly as well! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/25 "2009-12-08T15:46:27Z")
I’m going to have _hors d’oeuvers_ on _Wednesday_ with _Favre_. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/26 "2009-12-08T15:46:59Z")
From the OP: segue. I always thought it was ‘suh-goo’, and that there was another word ‘segway’ (well … there _is_, I guess). I only found this out quite recently. Also, for the longest time I thought faucet is spelled fosset\*. Oh, and gaol. I always get a kick out of that one. ‘He, look, someone misspelled goal’ 😃 \*[thefreedictionary.com](http://thefreedictionary.com) gives at least one instance in which it is spelled like that, but it’s from 1913 so I guess that faucet is the way to go. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/27 "2009-12-08T16:45:26Z")
**Chitterlings.** ---
**Author:** ![tallcoldone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@tallcoldone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tallcoldone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/28 "2009-12-08T17:24:09Z")
Quay. I was in Sydney, Australia and was given written directions to meet someone at the quay. I mispronounced it several times asking for directions before some kind soul clued me in. With my Midwestern upbringing, it just hadn’t come up. Facade. My sister-in-law once mispronounced this ‘fah-kade’ at least three times in a single conversation; she’s very image-conscious and it sounded like she was trying out this new fancy word to impress us. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/29 "2009-12-08T17:51:14Z")
Debris. Forecastle. Slough. Draught. Waistcoat. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/30 "2009-12-08T18:00:29Z")
English is tough stuff!!! > [@](#): > > Dearest creature in creation, > Study English pronunciation. > I will teach you in my verse > Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse. > … ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/31 "2009-12-08T18:00:52Z")
fnord ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/32 "2009-12-08T18:01:18Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > From the OP: segue. I always thought it was ‘suh-goo’, and that there was another word ‘segway’ (well … there _is_, I guess). I only found this out quite recently. That makes two of us!! Thanks everyone for some superb examples to add to my list of common words whose spellings and pronunciations are at odds. I particularly like suede, colonel, boatswain, and gunswale. I had to check a dictionary for the last two. And I never knew the alternate pronunciation of waistcoat! Consider ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Simmerdown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simmerdown/32/14859_2.png) [@Simmerdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simmerdown)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/33 "2009-12-08T18:10:01Z")
paradigm chimera epoch roux title me (I would say “meh”) I (“ih”) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/34 "2009-12-08T20:48:29Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > English is tough stuff!!! [moderating] We ask that you don’t post entire copyrighted works on the SDMB – especially when someone else already posted a link to it earlier in the thread. I’ve removed most of the lyrics from your post, and placed the link in the edit notes. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/35 "2009-12-08T20:51:27Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Spigot I don’t understand. That’s pronounced exactly as it is spelled–except that the o is a schwa, but pronouncing vowels as schwas near the end of a word is VERY common in English. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/36 "2009-12-08T20:53:45Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:35, topic:520426”] I don’t understand. That’s pronounced exactly as it is spelled–except that the o is a schwa, but pronouncing vowels as schwas near the end of a word is VERY common in English. [/QUOTE] A great many people pronounce it _SPIC-it_. I grew up calling it that. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/37 "2009-12-08T22:26:32Z")
Iron ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/38 "2009-12-08T22:39:02Z")
A friend of mine thought “Au Fait” was spelled “Ofé” ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/39 "2009-12-08T23:07:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Colonel** , of course > \*\* And for that matter, sergeant. And lieutenant in British English. Unless he is the guy who watches over the toilet until you need it. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/40 "2009-12-08T23:18:10Z")
Most of these words are loans of non-English words, and the spelling is entirely consistent with the pronunciation in the original language. The majority are French, most of the rest are Greek, and a _very_ basic understanding of how those languages pronounce words makes almost every word in this thread easy to understand/pronounce. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426.md?page=3)