# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/121 "2018-11-26T18:46:49Z")
Most of mine have already been covered, but one that really eats at me: When people pronounce Wisconsin as WESconsin. There is no E in Wisconsin. It’s even worse when TV personalities pronounce the home of the Packers as GREEN Bay, WESconsin. The emphasis is not on the Green. It’s either equally stressed, or the emphasis is on Bay. /rant over. I shall return to my cheese curd eating ways. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/122 "2018-11-26T18:55:29Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Do you mean lie-brairy, with both Rs ? Because otherwise, berry and bairy are the same in my dialect. Yes, both rr’s. brairy instead of berry ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/123 "2018-11-26T18:58:44Z")
> [@lingyi](#): > > Inspired by a thread on another forum about proper way to pronounce certain videogame names in their original form. What mispronounced words and descriptions drive you crazy? > > Here’s the top of my list: > > No. 1 for me…carry-oh-key! I can accept kah-ra-okay, but how in the world do you get carry-oh? In the same vein, how to you get Carry-tee as in Carry-tee Kid? One language may be missing the sounds necessary to accurately replicate sounds from another language. Nothing surprising or annoying about it. How do you pronounce _hors d’oeuvres_? > [@](#): > > Panko bread crumbs. While the ko in panko can be defined as crumbs, flour or power, the pan 100% means bread. So people are saying bread crumbs, flour or powder, bread crumbs. Redundancy is common with borrow words where the exact meaning of the original word is strange to most people. Or even for well-known words–ever have a tuna fish sandwich? ---
**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 26, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/124 "2018-11-26T19:54:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Yes, both rr’s. brairy instead of berry I say “lie-brairy” with both "r"s, but, curiously, February comes out as “FEB-you-airy” instead of “FEB-roo-airy” unless I’m being particularly precise about my pronunciation/speaking in a “higher” social register. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/125 "2018-11-26T20:04:00Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > I’m getting a bit off track here, but stands out even more to me is that the Japanese word _hai_ rhymes with “eye”, rather than being “ha i”. But I’m neither an expert in linguistics nor Japanese, so I could easily be wrong on both counts. I don’t understand your point here. “Eye” _is_ pronounced /aɪ/. If you are thinking it should be pronounced as separate syllables, no, that’s not so. The Japanese alphabet isn’t 100% syllabic. The characters あいうえお are generally not pronounced as separate syllables. They add a vowel sound and basically change a single vowel into a double vowel. In fact, I think that’s the main reason why non-native Japanese speakers sound unnatural. They try to pronounce each letter as a separate syllable rather than joining the sounds smoothly. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/126 "2018-11-26T20:29:10Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I say “lie-brairy” with both "r"s, but, curiously, February comes out as “FEB-you-airy” instead of “FEB-roo-airy” unless I’m being particularly precise about my pronunciation/speaking in a “higher” social register. Another good example. I say it with the b and the ru smooshed together so it sounds _almost_ like Feb YOO airy. But I don’t get too bothered by folks that can’t quite sneak the “r” in there. That’s much better than the dumbass newscaster that say “Feberary”. Grrrrrrrrr. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/127 "2018-11-26T23:29:22Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > My MIL does this also. She’s from Indiana - how about your mom? Yup! Evansville Indiana! ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/128 "2018-11-27T00:23:50Z")
> [@PapSett](#): > > Yup! Evansville Indiana! My dear Mr. CK is from northern Indiana and doesn’t mispronounce vowels like that. He does, however, add consonants at the end of words, such as cousint. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/129 "2018-11-27T01:22:55Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > I think there was another thread here that claimed that even 50% of Greeks will say JHY-ro, so I’m sticking to that. Does Greek even have a J (or “soft G”) sound? I figured the first letter was a Gamma, which a Greek-American told me was always a hard G sound. Is that not true? (He said _"Gear’_-ohss") ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_Fairway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mrs\_Fairway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_Fairway)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/130 "2018-11-27T13:21:00Z")
When people say ying and yang instead of yin and yang. Or Eck cetera instead of et cetera ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2018, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/131 "2018-11-27T15:48:21Z")
This \* is an a **s** teri **s** k. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/132 "2018-11-28T05:45:28Z")
I have one friend who mispronounces several things: Gorgonzola. She says gore-GAHN-zola, accented on second syllable. Ben Affleck: She says Ben Ah-FLECK, accented on second syllable. And then there’s Chipotle. She says… Chi-POLE-tay. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/133 "2018-11-28T06:04:39Z")
One that really bugs me is saying “homogenous” instead of the correct “homogen **e** ous”. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/134 "2018-11-28T06:07:11Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > Ben Affleck: She says Ben Ah-FLECK, accented on second syllable. It sounds like she’s getting him mixed up with Bela Fleck. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/135 "2018-11-28T06:20:38Z")
This retreads some of what I posted before. And I understand accept that there are some vowel sounds that can’t be properly formed without intensive self-practice or training. But I’ve always wondered, do people actually hear words the way they pronounce them or are they aware their pronunciation is incorrect (to whatever extent it may be), but use that pronunciation as a necessary means of communication. For example, I hear gyro as yhe-row and pronounce it that way, but I’m conscious of the distinction. And if I ever get an opportunity to ask a native speaker to teach me the correct pronunciation, I will. Or do some people actually pronounce words the way they do because they actually hear it that way. Most of you have already heard this, but an extreme example is the Yanny or Laurel video (the aural equivalent of blue or gold dress) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDiXQl7grPQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDiXQl7grPQ) I hear Yanny until they change the pitch and if asked to repeat what I heard, I would say Yanny. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/136 "2018-11-28T10:51:06Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > …And then there’s Chipotle. She says… Chi-POLE-tay. I overheard a cow-orker discussing lunch. She wanted chip-ta-LAY. (sorta sounds like Chik-fil-A) mmm ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/137 "2018-11-28T17:58:37Z")
Wreck havoc. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/138 "2018-11-28T18:02:07Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Wreck havoc. Is that almost a mondegreen? Those are fun. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/139 "2018-11-28T19:14:00Z")
Two others that I just thought of, that hasn’t been mentioned yet– Over the the years, I’ve heard an astonishing number of traffic reporters on the radio talk about a highway “eggsit.” The word that they’re looking for is _exit_. Radio people, of all people, should be aware of proper diction. I’ve also heard certain people talk about “lugsury” goods. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951/140 "2018-11-28T19:53:25Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Two others that I just thought of, that hasn’t been mentioned yet– > > Over the the years, I’ve heard an astonishing number of traffic reporters on the radio talk about a highway “eggsit.” The word that they’re looking for is _exit_. Radio people, of all people, should be aware of proper diction. > > I’ve also heard certain people talk about “lugsury” goods. There is fine line between the mispronunciation of a word and the evolution of pronunciation. People from 1100 would think we’re idiots for how we say “Wednesday.” In the two examples you give, people know exactly what word they are pronouncing and how it is spelled. We’re just getting lazy about it. The only difference is that they leave the “x” voiced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words-and-descriptions-that-drive-you-crazy/824951.md?page=8)