# Least Favorite Normal Sounding Words **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 28, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262 "2002-12-28T00:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Violin\_D\_Ingrate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/898d66/32.png) [@Violin\_D\_Ingrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violin_D_Ingrate)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/1 "2002-12-28T00:03:44Z")
I do not like “gut” “hanky” or “smarmy” I don’t know why. Especially “gut” when someone is refrring to his stomach (as opposed to his intuition) It just sounds vulgar to me for some reason. Oh, and “tiramisu” sounds like martial arts instead of dessert, and I don’t like that, either. ---
**Author:** ![Kepi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kepi/32/7251_2.png) [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/2 "2002-12-28T00:44:50Z")
I hate **panache**. Hate it! There’s a restaurant in my area called Cafe Panache that’s supposed to be really good. But I’ll never know, because I refuse to eat there since it has “panache” in its name. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/3 "2002-12-28T00:54:52Z")
Peachy, dainty, grandbaby/grandbabies. My dad refers to “Trick-or-Treating” as “ **Tricks** -or-Treating”. It bothers me to no end. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/4 "2002-12-28T00:56:42Z")
Oh, “tasty” and “scrumptious”, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/5 "2002-12-28T01:41:20Z")
_shudder_ **Frisky** ; my ex-boyfriend said that to me once three days into our relationship. It made me picture him screwing a cat. It was a sign that we were predestined for failure. I mean **frisky**. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/6 "2002-12-28T02:12:21Z")
**shallots**. Both ways it is said; shall-its and the shahlahts. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/7 "2002-12-28T03:02:20Z")
scald - ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/8 "2002-12-28T03:24:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Splanky \* > \*\ ***shallots**. Both ways it is said; shall-its and the shahlahts. \*\* I say it “sha-lots”. [hijack] How do you Merkins pronounce “ant” as in little black insect? Because you pronounce “aunt” the way we Aussies say “ant”. Do “aunt” and “ant” sound the same to you? (We pronounce “aunt” like “aren’t”.) [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Adridne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ccd318/32.png) [@Adridne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adridne)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/9 "2002-12-28T03:28:52Z")
Belly and tummy. Can’t stand either one. Or when people say those cute little pun things like “Catch my drift, snowball?” Rhyming ones especially. Ech. ---
**Author:** ![shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/10 "2002-12-28T03:48:02Z")
tuna **Blue Curls** , I’m from Georgia, and I pronounce “ant” to rhyme with pant. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/11 "2002-12-28T05:14:43Z")
‘Either’ pronounced as ‘ee-thur’. If ‘eye-thur’ was good enough for King George the First, it’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/12 "2002-12-28T05:50:33Z")
I hate the word “slacks” (as in pants or trousers). Errghhh…like fingers down a blackboard! I’ve always pronounced “aunt” to rhyme with “taunt” or “awning”. I don’t pronounce it like the little black insect “ant”. “aunt” hijack: Once when I was in grade school, we were all taking turns reading aloud from a book. The portion I was reading had the word “aunt” in it, so I pronounced it, like, you know the way I do. Another girl in class, you didn’t like me (our family had a grand piano and she didn’t, so that automatically made me a bitch) raised her hand and told the teacher that I’d pronounced “aunt” wrong. The teacher kindly informed the girl that either pronunciation was correct. One of my friends suggested that I pronounce it this way because some of my family comes from the UK. My dad used a few UK pronunciations; maybe I picked it up from him. I don’t know if that is true. I doubt that I was the first girl in S. Cal. to pronounce it “aunt” (as in “taunt”.) ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/13 "2002-12-28T05:53:26Z")
I should add, I pronounce “ant” (as in little black insect) to rhyme with “pant”. ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/14 "2002-12-28T05:59:16Z")
Wow. I was thinking of starting this thread just to profess my hatred for the word **fetus.** ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/15 "2002-12-28T06:50:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blue Curls \* > \*\* > [hijack] > How do you Merkins pronounce “ant” as in little black insect? Because you pronounce “aunt” the way we Aussies say “ant”. Do “aunt” and “ant” sound the same to you? > > (We pronounce “aunt” like “aren’t”.) > > [/hijack] \*\* Since I’ve got a Canadian accent: I pronounce ant and aunt exactly the same. I always have to provide a qualifier when I’m talking about my dad’s sister. I hate “cock” used for penis. Also, smegma. And bowels. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/16 "2002-12-28T08:12:29Z")
Not so much a word as the phrase, “we buried my father/mother…” I always want to ask if they used a pick or shovel, and if the dirt was hard… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/17 "2002-12-28T08:49:34Z")
Pussy. And I don’t much care for it when refering to the animal, either. ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/18 "2002-12-28T10:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Adridne \* > \*\*Belly and tummy. Can’t stand either one. \*\* I can tolerate “belly,” but I can’t stand “tummy.” ---
**Author:** ![Kantalooppi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kantalooppi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kantalooppi)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/19 "2002-12-28T11:55:07Z")
Awkward. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262/20 "2002-12-28T12:06:27Z")
The obnoxious use of the phrase “At the…” in real estate. “The Forest Green At The Hills Apartments.” “The Blue Lake At the Range Community Center.” Don’t know why, but it just pisses me off. Agree with **betenoir** about “pussy,” too. Hate that word. It’s just UGLY. _Attache_. It’s a briefcase, people. Not an _attache case._ Pretty much any French, period, that’s worked its way into the modern vernacular. _H’ors de ouvres_, for instance, and _petit-fours_, and _foie gras._ (If those aren’t all French, pardon me, but I hate 'em anyway.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/least-favorite-normal-sounding-words/145262.md?page=2)