# "Jewlery" vs. "Jewelry" and other commonly mispronounced words. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989 "2004-06-18T04:29:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RitzyRae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@RitzyRae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitzyRae)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/21 "2004-06-18T13:50:10Z")
> [@JuanitaTech](#): > > **wooh-der** -(like the ‘oo’ in wood, not like the ‘oo’ in boo) for water When I was in Delaware it was wood-er, as opposed to wah-ter. It was all quite strange, but I resisted the urge to grab their mouths with one hand, forcing them to make a nice wide “O” with their mouths, and repeat “wah wah wah ter ter ter” over and over again. 🙂 But surely we have to allow for regional differences. I’ve heard some things in Texas that would make your skin crawl… ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/22 "2004-06-18T13:59:02Z")
> [@JuanitaTech](#): > > Who the hell says heigh **th**??? > > My peeves, and here in Baltimore they get petted quite often, are: > > **lie-berry** for library > **tar** for tire > **arn** for iron > **com-poo-ter** for computer > **wooh-der** -(like the ‘oo’ in wood, not like the ‘oo’ in boo) for water… > . I hear “heighth” quite a bit. I think people think it’s more correct. You know, length, width, heighth… :rolleyes: Some other Balti-moron ones you forgot: **Awl.** As in, "I have to change the "awl’ in my car every 3,000 miles. **Warsh.** What you do to the dishes when they’re dirty. **Zink.** That place where you warsh the dishes. With wooh-der. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/23 "2004-06-18T14:04:54Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > It makes me grind my teeth whenever our esteemed President says nook-you-ler. > > A good friend of mine consistently says ‘fustrated’ instead of ‘f **r** ustrated’, which makes me nuts. > > Another one calls it a mute point rather than a moot point. > > Enough people drop the r in Feb **r** uary that I guess I shouldn’t get worked up about it. Ditto with the second t in twenty (‘twenny’). I had a third grade teacher who drilled us on both of those, and I’ve been careful about them every since. > > I actually pronounce ‘jewelry’ as something like jool-ree, which sidesteps your problem entirely 🙂 basketti instead of spaghetti The ol’ cross between frustrated and flustered (Flustrated). God, I HATE that one. I have a friend who calls sequins “Sequences.” I swear t’ gawd. And another one who calls them “seecrins.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/24 "2004-06-18T14:06:42Z")
Oh, well, if we’re going to get into Bawlmerese, that’s a whole udder langwich. I remember when the SciFi channel started showing _Farscape_, I thought, “Ah gots one o’ doase otsode mah winner, in case dere’s a far!” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/45deac/32.png) [@Evil\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_One)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/25 "2004-06-18T14:10:05Z")
“physical” year when they mean “fiscal” year. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/26 "2004-06-18T14:11:18Z")
Note to self: Avoid Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/27 "2004-06-18T14:19:01Z")
Being in real estate, I cringe when I hear “real-a-tor.” Some people even spell it that way. It’s REAL-TOR. Two syllables. I always say “pacific” instead of “specific.” I cannot say “specific.” That is one impossible to pronounce word. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/28 "2004-06-18T15:03:26Z")
> [@Dung Beetle](#): > > Note to self: Avoid Baltimore. Oh, c’mon, **Dung Beetle** , it isn’t that bad. Come visit. We can go ‘downey oshin’ and get crabs. 😃 Only **JuanitaTech** and **Eve** know what I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/29 "2004-06-18T15:50:03Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Not because of what they eat, but how they pronounce “vegan.” Even the dictionary (which is _not always right_) allows the pronunciation “veeeeegan,” rather than the more sensible “veh-jan.” > > After all, you eat “vegetables,” not “veeeegatables.” Am I being whooshed here? Who the heck says “veh-jan”? ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/30 "2004-06-18T15:53:42Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Oh, c’mon, **Dung Beetle** , it isn’t that bad. Come visit. We can go ‘downey oshin’ and get crabs. > 😃 > Only **JuanitaTech** and **Eve** know what I’m talking about. Hey hey, I know too, and don’t want to give up a chance for crabs. Make sure you drop me a line, hon. I’ll bring the Natty Boh. Incidentally, check out Mary Prankster for some good Bawmer tongue-in-cheek fun. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/31 "2004-06-18T15:57:43Z")
Either I haven’t heard anyone say awl or I did but had no clue what they were saying. Dung Beetle, you don’t have to avoid Baltimore. Just don’t talk to anyone when you visit. It’s what I do! Downey Oshin - band name! ---
**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:** [June 18, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/32 "2004-06-18T16:04:48Z")
I’ll come up and give y’all a dose of my Southern drawl! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/33 "2004-06-18T16:08:56Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Am I being whooshed here? Who the heck says “veh-jan”? No one except me, dammit, but they _should_. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/34 "2004-06-18T17:11:10Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > > [@Colophon](#): > > > > Am I being whooshed here? Who the heck says “veh-jan”? > > No one except me, dammit, but they _should_. Eve, your issue is not with the speakers but with the word itself. G _always_ has the hard sound when followed by A. You want the word to be “vegen.” ---
**Author:** ![Princess\_Ozma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/278dde/32.png) [@Princess\_Ozma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princess_Ozma)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/35 "2004-06-18T17:43:11Z")
“Lie-berry” drives me crazy too. I was a Library Technology major at one point and one of my fellow classmates used to say it this way. ::cringe:: Of course she was also the usual “really annoying person” that there seems to be in every class, so she was _always_ talking. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/36 "2004-06-18T18:00:52Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > Oh, c’mon, **Dung Beetle** , it isn’t that bad. Come visit. We can go ‘downey oshin’ and get crabs. > 😃 > Only **JuanitaTech** and **Eve** know what I’m talking about. um, excuse me, hon? I’ll have you know I spent my formative years in Parkville, with weekly visits to my grandmother in East Balmer, not only helping her rench out the zink after she warshed the dishes, but I helped her scrub her marble steps… 😃 But I don’t have the accent. I can’t even do the Balmer “o” when I try. As to the topic, heighth gets me screaming at the TV or radio every time. And one I only heard one person say - a former boss pronounced the second month as “febby-airy” ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/37 "2004-06-18T18:25:29Z")
**Eve**! I say veh-jan too! Saying “veeeeee-gan” makes me think they’re talking about some being from a planet orbiting the star Vega. ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/38 "2004-06-18T18:25:47Z")
Warsh… where the hell is the R coming from? Pellow… it has an I in it. PILL-ow. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/39 "2004-06-18T18:31:40Z")
> [@Only Mostly Dead](#): > > Y’know. Nuke-u-ler instead of nuclear. Or, as I just realized after a coupla vodka tonics and a boring Tonight Show interview, “jewlery” instead of “jewelry.” What do you usually say? > > And what are other examples? Jewelry and jewellery are both correct. The mispronunciation that drives me mad is LAIR-nix for larynx. PHAIR-nix for pharynx. I’ve had laryngitis and had a doctor say, “You have laryngitis, an inflammation of your LAIR-nix.” GAH! ---
**Author:** ![Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f19dbf/32.png) [@Only\_Mostly\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Only_Mostly_Dead)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989/40 "2004-06-18T18:37:11Z")
> [@ShadiRoxan](#): > > Warsh… where the hell is the R coming from? Not that I’m guilty of it, but I can almost reason it out. The original “ah” sound is not very far at all from “ar.” It’s really the same vocalization, just with an extra little restricting the back of the throat at the very end. Similarly, Monday can become Mondee by not stretching the mouth enough to get the proper vowel. Feels like water turns to wooder in much the same way. True Baltimorons (my dad’s entire family foremost among them :p) are just lazy speakers, I guess. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewlery-vs-jewelry-and-other-commonly-mispronounced-words/250989.md?page=3)