# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/41 "2018-11-23T21:47:16Z")
This one I am unsure of: Deputy. Is it dep-YEW-ty? Or dep-putty? ---
**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:** [November 23, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/42 "2018-11-23T22:03:29Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > The ‘g’ in ‘gyro’ is pronounced like the ‘g’ in ‘garage’ It’s that or a “y” sound, depending on dialect, I think. Here in Chicago, the Greek gyros propaganda says to say “YEE-ros.” (And I assume you meant the first g in garage.) ---
**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:** [November 23, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/43 "2018-11-23T22:06:38Z")
> [@saje](#): > > Vinegrette is NOT vin-eh-gar-rette. It’s also spelled “vinaigrette.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/44 "2018-11-23T22:20:19Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Japanese words are pretty easy to pronounce when written using roman letters, just by looking at them. This one seems to confuse people because of the ao combination. Unlike English, this is not a diphthong but separate syllables. Not hard to say once you wrap your head around it. The last syllable is neither “kay” nor “key” but a short “ke.” Ka-ra-o-ke. I was under the impression that in Japanese, an adjacent a and o will meld together into an “-ow” sound. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/45 "2018-11-23T22:44:18Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > I was under the impression that in Japanese, an adjacent a and o will meld together into an “-ow” sound. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong (not the first or last time) because of my very rudimentary understanding of Japanese, but I believe in the case of karaoke, the ‘o’ is distinct because karaoke is a compound word. Ka-ra = empty and o-ke = orchestra. Oh, and AFAIK, kar is not a phonic. A better explanation. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2018, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/46 "2018-11-23T22:59:17Z")
Something that runs me up a tree is people that drop the ‘ed’ off the end of words; example, calling mashed potatoes… mash potatoes. My mother used to say a lot of words with an O substituting an A… horse became harse, corn became carn, boil became barl… it made me crazy! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/47 "2018-11-24T02:09:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ah, yeah, that one sometimes sticks out to me. That said, “yee-row” or “ghi-row” without the “s” I’ve grown accustomed to, so much so that I’ll even use it, knowing better. It’s the “jeye-row” pronunciation (as in gyroscope) that most grates. I’m not disagreeing with you, but I will note that both words (gyros and gyroscope) come from the Greek word for “going around in circles.” Of course they came to us via very different paths. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/48 "2018-11-24T03:01:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s that or a “y” sound, depending on dialect, I think. Here in Chicago, the Greek gyros propaganda says to say “YEE-ros.” (And I assume you meant the first g in garage.) I grew up in Chicago and called them HEE-rohs or YEE-rohs or (if we were feeling fancy) CHEE-rohs with the CH the sound of the h in huge. Now I live in NY state where everybody calls them JY-roes. Both work for me. In fact I kinda like a little regional variation. When in Rome… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/49 "2018-11-24T07:40:07Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > I grew up in Chicago and called them HEE-rohs or YEE-rohs or (if we were feeling fancy) CHEE-rohs with the CH the sound of the h in huge. > > Now I live in NY state where everybody calls them JY-roes. > > Both work for me. In fact I kinda like a little regional variation. When in Rome… We can argue all day about how to pronounce them, but I think we can all agree that they are DEEEEE-licious! ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/50 "2018-11-24T07:58:52Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Not to mention the “right now”, “now-now” and “just now” variants. Oh, it’s better with [a chart](https://www.goodthingsguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/south-african-time-explained.jpg). The link unfortunately didn’t work for me; however – with the variants you give in your post, and in that from **Riemann** which preceded it: there’s brought to mind, a friend of mine who is a rabid correct-use-of-English pedant – with some passionately-held but very strange ideas about same. One such, is that the word “now” is perfectly sufficient on its own: coupling it with any other word(s) is an abomination, messing-up English’s treasured and unique precision and clarity. (He becomes apoplectic on hearing or reading “right now”.) Would be wiser, I feel, for me not to show him your and **Riemann** ’s posts – reckoned liable to trigger a one-man declaration of war against South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/51 "2018-11-24T08:47:08Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > I was under the impression that in Japanese, an adjacent a and o will meld together into an “-ow” sound. Not sure what you mean by this (link to recording?), but there are no diphthongs in Japanese. cf words like あおい (青い) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/52 "2018-11-24T09:26:05Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > The link unfortunately didn’t work for me; Maybe the [containing page](https://www.goodthingsguy.com/fun/south-african-time-explained/) would be better. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/53 "2018-11-24T09:34:10Z")
Everyone, repeat after me: NEW. Very good. Now: CLEAR. Good job. Now together: NEW CLEAR. Faster: NEW-CLEAR. Faster: NEWCLEAR. That’s it, you’ve done it! I’m so proud of you. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/54 "2018-11-24T11:27:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s also spelled “vinaigrette.” 😉 Well hell, of course it is! I shouldn’t post from my phone - I can’t see what I’m writing :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/55 "2018-11-24T11:46:32Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not sure what you mean by this (link to recording?), but there are no diphthongs in Japanese. > > cf words like あおい (青い) Sorry to jump in, but I sometimes hear the -ow sound in karaoke, as in ka-raow-o-ke even when spoken by native and non-native speakers. I also sometimes hear it in 青い aoi even though I know (or at least I think I know) it’s a-oi. I suspect you don’t hear it because you understand and speak proper Japanese. I think people like me, without any formal education and our basic understanding of Japanese (or Chinese or Korean) is based primarily on what we hear, we just mimic what we think we hear and there’s no one to correct us.This is especially true in Hawaii, where the typical Japanese is spoken without having formal education and is therefore pidgin Japanese that sometimes native Japanese speakers can’t fully understand. The only reason I know the very basics of Japanese pronunciation is because my Mom would sing the Japanese alphabet song to me, ah, ee, oo, aa, oh, ka, ke, ku, ke,ko… when I was young. In the case of karaoke, I don’t say ka-raow-o-ke because I know there’s no (or is there)-ow sound and more importantly I know the ka-ra is the same as in ka-ra-te, and it’s not pronounced ka-raow-te. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/56 "2018-11-24T11:50:31Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Not sure what you mean by this (link to recording?), but there are no diphthongs in Japanese. > > cf words like あおい (青い) Sorry to jump in, but I sometimes hear the -ow sound in karaoke, as in ka-raow-o-ke even when spoken by native speakers. I also sometimes hear it in 青い aoi even though I know (or at least I think I know) it’s a-oi. I suspect you don’t hear it because you understand and speak proper Japanese. I think people like me, without any formal education and our basic understanding of Japanese (or Chinese or Korean) is based primarily on what we hear, we just mimic what we think we hear and there’s no one to correct us.This is especially true in Hawaii, where many local Japanese is learned colloquially from their parents or grandparents with no formal education and is therefore pidgin Japanese that sometimes native Japanese speakers can’t fully understand. The only reason I know the very basics of Japanese pronunciation is because my Mom would sing the Japanese alphabet song to me, ah, ee, oo, aa, oh, ka, ke, ku, ke,ko… when I was young. In the case of karaoke, I don’t say ka-raow-o-ke because I know there’s no (or is there)-ow sound and more importantly I know the ka-ra is the same as in ka-ra-te, and it’s not pronounced ka-raow-te. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/57 "2018-11-24T12:08:35Z")
Ironically, because I have a very basic limited understanding of Japanese, when I watch Japanese movies or TV (with subtitles of course), I pay less attention to the speech patterns and pronunciation than when I watch Chinese or Korean movies or TV. As a consequence when I use Chinese or Korean words or phrases, I pay much more attention to my pronunciation than when I use Japanese words or phrases. And in attempt to to not be on someone else’s mispronounced words list, I don’t use Chinese or Korean words or phrases until I’ve practiced them to enough to be confident I say them correctly. ---
**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:** [November 24, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/58 "2018-11-24T12:26:15Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > My mother used to say a lot of words with an O substituting an A… horse became harse, corn became carn, boil became barl… it made me crazy! My MIL does this also. She’s from Indiana - how about your mom? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/59 "2018-11-24T12:57:25Z")
I learned Japanese in a formal classroom setting. I cannot attest as to regional/dialectical/drunken pronunciations… (and there are things happening to vowels like contractions, even in Tokyo dialect, or pre-modern Japanese. But Japanese is supposed to have pure vowels.) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/60 "2018-11-24T14:42:02Z")
“You welcome.” … been seeing that one more and more lately. Makes me twitch. Then there’s stuff like “it’s a doggy dog world” or “old wise tale.” Dog eat dog. Old wives tale. C’mon, people! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951.md?page=4)