# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/121 "2009-12-16T03:48:15Z")
Alton Brown and the rest of the Food Network consistently mispronounce “plantain”. I’m certain, because I used a dictionary. AB also has a hard time with “astaxanthin”, but that’s almost forgivable (see cation). ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/122 "2009-12-16T04:30:38Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I’m reasonably sure it’s suh-NECK-duh-kee, with maybe a bit of a secondary stress on the last syllable. Kind of like Schenectady, New York. > > On a related note, \*Synecdoche, NY \*was a great film. Wow! The film title makes a lot more sense with your pronunciation than the version I learned in high school: “sin-do-KEE.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/123 "2009-12-16T04:47:20Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I’m going to have _hors d’oeuvers_ on _Wednesday_ with _Favre_. It took me a long time when I was a kid to associate that spelling with orderves. I still enjoy telling guests to help themselves to the horse doovers. ---
**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 16, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/124 "2009-12-16T16:18:19Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Alton Brown and the rest of the Food Network consistently mispronounce “plantain”. Holy shit, I just learned my first pronunciation from this thread. I’m assuming they’re saying it like I thought it was pronounced: plant-ANE. But it’s [PLANT-un](http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?planta02=plantain). Wow. > [@Leiko](#): > > Wow! The film title makes a lot more sense with your pronunciation than the version I learned in high school: “sin-do-KEE.” Might be an alternate pronunciation, but it’s not the one I know. You can hear it [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?synecd01=synecdoche). > [@Colibri](#): > > I still enjoy telling guests to help themselves to the horse doovers. Same in my family. We also like referring to things as the “epitoam of hyperbowl.” ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/125 "2009-12-16T16:48:55Z")
> [@MemoryDump](#): > > Yeah, there’s a law about that, and the spell checker missed it too. The niece had been out of control and moved in with us while she was cleaning up her act. She was very advanced for her age, and just about anything could come out of her mouth. What comes _out of_ her mouth could be the least of your problems. ---
**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 16, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/126 "2009-12-16T17:34:37Z")
> [@TerpBE](#): > > What comes _out of_ her mouth could be the least of your problems. Well, at least if it comes in her _mouth_, they don’t have to worry about another addition to the household… ---
**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:** [December 16, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/127 "2009-12-16T18:07:38Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Most English speakers unfamiliar with German\* hear the German “oe” or umlauted “o” as “er”. Ask any Chicagoan how “Goethe Street” is pronounced and you’ll likely be told “Gerty Street”. Or “Goath” or “Goath-uh,” actually. Personally, I’ve heard “Gerta” or “Gairtuh” more often than the previous, but [the Sun-Times seems to disagree with me.](http://www.suntimes.com/chicago/chicagopedia/451992,CST-NWS-pedia02.article) Must be all the “Hyde Park show-offs” I hang around (I take issues with that, as the “r” pronunciation (which is also “incorrect” if you’re going by the German) is what was drilled into me in my very working-class Catholic grammar school.) > [@](#): > > Goethe / gothe / n. 1. An elegant little street at 1300 north running from 754 west to 86 east. 2. The statue of a buff guy with a bird on his knee at the north end of Lincoln Park. 3. Some German poet. Pronunciation guide: “Gothe” or “Goetha” is preferred by true Chicagoans who work for a living. “Gerta” is used by pointy-headed Hyde Park show-offs. ---
**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 16, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/128 "2009-12-16T18:12:59Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > [QUOTE=Hampshire] > I’m going to have hors d’oeuvers on Wednesday with Favre. It took me a long time when I was a kid to associate that spelling with orderves. I still enjoy telling guests to help themselves to the horse doovers. [/QUOTE] Ideally, you would want to associate not that spelling with orderves, but rather hors d’oeuv **re** s. (It’s ok to be a spelling nazi in a thread about spelling, right?) ---
**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:** [December 16, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/129 "2009-12-16T18:16:27Z")
For me, the chaise **longue** becoming chaise **lounge** for some reason bugs the crap out of me, even though it is pretty well-established by now (first appearance c. 1790.) I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone refer to one (so often as such things are referred to) with the “long” pronunciation or spelling. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/130 "2009-12-16T20:13:22Z")
A little known fact that pertains to this thread…there are three words in the English language that begin with the letters SU, but are pronounced as if the word begins SHU. One, sure, has been mentioned. The other two are… sugar, and sumac. (which, to be fair, can also be pronounced exactly as spelled). ---
**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 16, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/131 "2009-12-16T20:37:07Z")
Something I forgot to mention earlier, of which I was reminded by the \*plantain \*discussion: I once dated a guy whose mother pronounced jicama as “jihCAHMuh.” Hard j. > [@CC](#): > > sumac. (which, to be fair, can also be pronounced exactly as spelled). Huh, I was unaware of that pronunciation. Now I don’t know if it’s a regional thing (i.e., nobody in my area says it as _shu_) or if I always just assumed the pronunciation based on the spelling. Side note: You can put spoiler tags around anything you don’t want people to immediately read, with the same effect you were going for without stretching out your whole post. Demo code: [**spoiler]This is a spoiler.[**/spoiler] Active code: This is a spoiler. ---
**Author:** ![Nuffyfluts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f04885/32.png) [@Nuffyfluts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nuffyfluts)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/132 "2009-12-20T18:51:13Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Ideally, you would want to associate not that spelling with orderves, but rather hors d’oeuv **re** s. (It’s ok to be a spelling nazi in a thread about spelling, right?) As an “intro” to this very interesting discussion, I wish to offer my cringing at all instances when a word ending in “aw” is by pseudo-alchelmy transformed into “ar” such the Beatles " … I never ‘sar’ (sic) them singing" OR for that matter ‘sing-ging’ instead of the more familiar ‘sing-eng’. Could the majority be “rong”? ---
**Author:** ![IntergalacticFootballClub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@IntergalacticFootballClub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IntergalacticFootballClub)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/133 "2009-12-21T15:39:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Any word ending in -gh in English is spelled exactly the way it’s pronounced: enough, knight, tough, cough, dough, etc. > > Or, rather, it’s spelled the way it was pronounced when the word was first written down. “gh” represents the same sound, a velar fricative like the German word “ach” or Hebrew “Chanukah.” The scribes translating the sound used “gh” to represent it. Close, these endings are French, and came into the lexicon after the Norman invasion. Of course our pronunciations have changed since, due to the great vowel shift and such other mechanisms. Most scribes of the time were obviously French speakers, and could negotiate these, but at present they are not spelled exactly as they are pronounced, they are written to be pronounced in French, and as we pronounce them in English, we get confused. Enough does not sound like dough, at least in my New England pronunciation. However Draught beer is the same as draft beer…so there goes the whole idea of having a nice easy phonetic language. The Spanish have it much easier. ---
**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 21, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426/134 "2009-12-21T21:59:05Z")
I had a revelation on Saturday morning, presumably out of fucking nowhere, as it occurred to me as I was lying in bed, having just awoken from a dream: Lascivious is the same as the word I’ve had in my head for a long time: “lavicious.” :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-that-how-its-spelled/520426.md?page=6)