# Mispronounced Words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 20, 1999, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919 "1999-10-20T14:36:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/21 "1999-10-20T18:06:00Z")
Everyone here gripes about the word NUCLEAR, but I can’t recall ever hearing it pronounced the wrong way. * * * “Love given when it is inconvenient is the greatest love of all. Kindnesses that are shared at a high cost to oneself are the most dear.” Don’t know who said it, but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/22 "1999-10-20T18:06:00Z")
The love of my life cannot say “wolves” its always “Wolfs” or “Woovels” I don’t get it either but, it makes me laugh hard! -Frankie -Lovin those woovels! ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/23 "1999-10-20T18:09:00Z")
pluto: What? ---
**Author:** ![wireless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@wireless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wireless)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/24 "1999-10-20T18:09:00Z")
Well here’s a (relatively recent) thread on _others’_ mispronunciations: “Common yet irksome” [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000733.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000733.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/25 "1999-10-20T18:12:00Z")
Oh! There’s one that my husband and I purposefully mispronounce: strategy. We say it “Stragedy” Like tragedy with an “S”. We think it’s cool. Heheheheheheh… ---
**Author:** ![Boris\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Boris\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boris_B)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/26 "1999-10-20T18:14:00Z")
STARK: Funny you mentioned partisan and artesian, since I know lots of people who think artisan is pronounced “artesian”. So you’re not alone. The ones I really don’t understand are the reporter’s patented pronunciation of Grenada (grenade uh? Ya mean cause somebody threw grenades there?) I mean, it’s pronounced this way so consistently that it might even be right, for all I know. It just _sounds_ wrong. ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/27 "1999-10-20T18:17:00Z")
How about “mischievous”? Many people I know, including members of my immediate family, pronounce this “mis-CHEE-vee-us”, whereas I insit that the proper pronunciation is “MIS-chev-us”. Better yet, how about “pronunciation”? I always used to say “pronounciation”, to the great dismay of my English-teacher mother. Probably the best mispronunciations I’ve heard, however, have sprung from the lips of my sister. She used to pronounce “gyp” as “gipe”, and “fiend” as “fy-end”. He giped me, the rotten fy-end! * * * Modest? You bet I’m modest! I am the queen of modesty! ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/28 "1999-10-20T18:32:00Z")
At one point in my life, I believed “centrifugal” was pronounced “cen tre FUJE al”. Well, we call the machine a “CEN tre fuje”, don;t we? Pretty embarassing when I used that word in a science class. pluto - Its’ pronounced “Can the aria” on accounta she doesn’t like classical singers. * * * The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/29 "1999-10-20T18:33:00Z")
I used to pronounce the “S” on short “I” in debris. The first time I did that in front of my friends, they gave me shit for a month. There are plenty of other words I’ve misspronounced, but I can’t think of them right now. * * * You say “cheesy” like that’s a **BAD** thing. ---
**Author:** ![Powers106](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Powers106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers106)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/30 "1999-10-20T18:41:00Z")
How about Truman Capote? Most people I ask freeze up when I ask them if it should be pronounced “ka-pote” or “ka-po-tee”. So, which is it? Most people seem to agree, however, that the first name is pronounced “Trumm-man”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/31 "1999-10-20T18:49:00Z")
My home town is spelled Alvarado. We call it al-vuh-RAY-doh, not all-vuh-RAH-doh. San Jacinto is pronounced san jah-CIN-tuh in Texas. Then, of course, there’s san AN-geh-loh, san an-TOH-nee-oh and others too numerous to mention. IMHO, the local pronunciation of place names is the “correct” one. If you’re a Spanish speaker, I’m sure that Texas pronunciation grates on the ears, but if we all sounded the same, wouldn’t it be boring? My pet peeve? People who say NUKE-u-lur instead of nu-klee-er. But then, I often say “comf’t’ble” instead of comfortable. * * * Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to relive it. Georges Santayana ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/32 "1999-10-20T18:52:00Z")
Michelle said: > [@](#): > > Everyone here gripes about the word NUCLEAR, but I can’t recall ever hearing it pronounced the wrong way. Following the Three-Mile Island incident, President Carter made speeches about NUCULAR power/energy. Ironic, when you consider that he was an Officer on a NUCLEAR submarine during his Navy days. * * * Maybe I should just stick to smart-ass remarks. ---
**Author:** ![keystream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a3d4f5/32.png) [@keystream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keystream)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/33 "1999-10-20T19:03:00Z")
I’m the same as Stark, I read a lot of words before I heard them pronounced. I still have a distinct tendecny to pronounce the word arrogant as beginning with an A as in “are” instead of an A as in “apple.” I know I sound stupid, but I can never remember in time to make the conscious effort to say it the right way. ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/34 "1999-10-20T19:16:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I always mispronounce Canthearya. I always say it “can-the-area” instead of “canther-rye-uh”. * * * “The departure of the church-going element had induced a more humanitarian atmosphere.” Dorothy L. Sayers _Clouds of Witness_ ---
**Author:** ![torq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@torq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/torq)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/35 "1999-10-20T19:18:00Z")
I was in graduate school before I realized that the word I had heard my entire life as “on-ry” or “on-uh-ry” was actually “ornery” and pronounced accordingly. Another of the students in my research group agreed with me that he had never heard the first R pronounced before either. I read a lot, so there are hundreds if not thousands of words that I’ve seen in print and understand, but have never actually heard anyone say. If I were to try to use one of them in conversation, I might guess right, but the odds are pretty good that I’d mess most of them up horribly. ---
**Author:** ![Moms5thKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Moms5thKid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moms5thKid)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/36 "1999-10-20T19:53:00Z")
For some reason I have a hard time saying “specific”, it always comes out as “pacific” (like the ocean). ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/37 "1999-10-20T20:10:00Z")
pluto, please tell me you’re joking so I can marry you because your post just cracked me up. Oh wait, I’m already married. What? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/38 "1999-10-20T21:22:00Z")
Oh, fine, Cant he air yea, pluto makes fun of your name and gets a marriage proposal. I make fun of your name and get ignored. Hmph! See if I ever abuse you again! ---
**Author:** ![Gazelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Gazelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazelle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/39 "1999-10-20T21:34:00Z")
Sorry Doc. I’d heard your joke before. Oh wait, a **doctor**? What the Hell am I thinking?!? Doctor Dear, are you in the market for a slightly-used 30-year-old nymphomaniac? If so, I can give you her phone number. Heheheheheh… ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 1999, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919/40 "1999-10-20T21:42:00Z")
Melatonin: Most dictionaries I’ve seen list both pronounciations of the word sauna. By your own rules, people should not correct me for using a “proper” pronounciation. Besides, there’s definitely regional pronounciations of different words. You can call it regional, you can call it a secondary pronounciation, but don’t ever tell me I’m mispronouncing the word. I’m not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronounced-words/9919.md?page=3)