# Mispronounced words and descriptions that drive you crazy **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951 "2018-11-22T18:31:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 11
**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:** [December 20, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/201 "2018-12-20T14:54:23Z")
The proper spelling of the convenience store name is 7-eleven. I cringe when I see it spelled 7-11. ---
**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 20, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/202 "2018-12-20T14:55:48Z")
Some people insist on mispronouncing mischievous as miss-CHEE-vee-us!!! This is not a pronunciation found in ANY dictionary! There is NO I after the V!!! arghh!! Get off my lawn!!! ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/203 "2018-12-21T11:38:59Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Ha ha ha! I had a friend that came over freaking out that there were peasants all over her front yard. She was scared to death and couldn’t get out of her front door! The bird, with h – as opposed to the sometimes-aggrieved rural toiler, without – scary?? Does your friend suffer from a rarely-met-with phobia? ---
**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 21, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/204 "2018-12-21T15:21:40Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > The proper spelling of the convenience store name is 7-eleven. I cringe when I see it spelled 7-11. More typically, 7-Eleven with a capital “E,” although if you’re trying to ape the sign, it’d be 7-ELEVEN, though that last “N” is stylized as a lowercase “n” that has its height adjusted to be as tall as the other uppercase characters. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/205 "2019-01-21T22:36:57Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Just watched the latest episode of _Charmed_, and someone just gave as a Christmas present a “hand-carved chess set based on Japanse netsuke.” i had to rewind because a.) I’ve never heard that word used on American TV outside of _Antiques Roadshow_ and b.) I couldn’t believe how badly he mangled the pronunciation: the word is pronounced something like “net ski”–he pronounced it “net su kay.” Just saw a whole episode of _Bob’s Burgers_ centered around finding a hidden netsuke. The character Linda pronounces it variously: netflixy nutsky netsadoodle netslinky napster nescafé ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/206 "2019-01-22T00:46:09Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Just watched the latest episode of _Charmed_, and someone just gave as a Christmas present a “hand-carved chess set based on Japanse netsuke.” i had to rewind because a.) I’ve never heard that word used on American TV outside of _Antiques Roadshow_ and b.) I couldn’t believe how badly he mangled the pronunciation: the word is pronounced something like “net ski”–he pronounced it “net su kay.” To my ears, “ne tsu kay” (根付) is correct. “tsu” is pronounced like ‘sue’ as there is no ‘net’ or ‘ski’ in the Japanese consonants. nah, knee, nu, **nay** , no na, ni, nu ne, no sa, she, **sue** , say, sew sa, shi, su, se, so ca (like Boston car), key, coo (like zoo), kay, co (as is co[ve]) ka, ki, ku, **ke** , ko To my ears, with a quick Google search for “netsuke Japanese pronunciation”, the first pronunciation of the first video and pronunciation are correct. The word ‘suki’ すき (like) sounds like “ski” but are not the characters used in netsuke (根付) _SIGH_ Japanese is so complex! It’s like a variation of defining art for me. I don’t understand it, but I know what it’s supposed to sound like. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/207 "2019-01-22T01:01:05Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > _SIGH_ Japanese is so complex! Huh? Of course there is no “i” as in “ski” or “ay” as in “kay”. The official roman spelling (why do you say it is complex?) is ne-tsu-ke, both e’s being the same mid front unrounded vowel, and “tsu” is not pronounded like “sue”, there is a definite “ts” affricate to it. Perhaps “net-ské” is a basic approximation. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/208 "2019-01-22T01:07:36Z")
[OED is giving two pronunciations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDsh3wikFXc), neither of which are net su kay. Same as with [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBix7e7UeHE). [NHK doesn’t either](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e4AGuzUlxE). ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/209 "2019-01-22T01:13:57Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Huh? Of course there is no “i” as in “ski” or “ay” as in “kay”. The official roman spelling (why do you say it is complex?) is ne-tsu-ke, both e’s being the same mid front unrounded vowel, and “tsu” is not pronounded like “sue”, there is a definite “ts” affricate to it. > > Perhaps “net-ské” is a basic approximation. I used ‘sue’ as the closest approximation to the “ts” sound in “tsu” as it doesn’t exist in English. Argghh…I’m guilty of simplifying the pronunciation! :eek: What I’m saying is complex is translating romanized Japanese (or any Asian language) into something that is closer to the actual pronunciation of the word. I’m fine with “net-ske”, but not “net-ski”. I may have posted this before, but here’s a great video of native Koreans trying to read/pronounce romanized Hangul: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuQEDKZpKsg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuQEDKZpKsg) ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/210 "2019-01-22T01:28:27Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > [OED is giving two pronunciations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDsh3wikFXc), neither of which are net su kay. Same as with [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBix7e7UeHE). [NHK doesn’t either](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e4AGuzUlxE). The first video is the first one I referred to in my Google search link. I was wrong, she says “ne tsu ke” as the second, not the first pronunciation. And I hear ne tsu ke in the NHK link you provided. It’s like backwards masking and hearing “ghost sounds” or the “yanny vs. laurel” video that was making the rounds. Once we hear something one way, it’s hard to hear it another way. I hear “su ke” as “ski”, even though I know there’s no “ski” sound in Japanese. There’s a Korean song that’s been driving me crazy for almost two years now. Even though I know they’re singing “bul” (fire), like bulgogi, and I’ve had the lyrics professionally translated to English, I still hear "pul’ (grass) in certain parts of the chorus. Which doesn’t make sense in the context of the song and isn’t part of the lyrics. I know that in Korean “B” has a “BP” sound, Busan/Pusan, but I hear “bul” clearly sometimes and “pul” clearly at other times in the chorus! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951.md?page=10)