# Mispronunciations that amuse **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 5, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059 "2017-02-05T13:22:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/1 "2017-02-05T13:22:22Z")
A local TV reporter the other day reported on an incident that happened at a famous French museum. She called it ‘The Loover’. Another woman on television recently spoke of someone else harassing her online by posting memes about her. She pronounced it ‘me-mes’. I’m guilty too. Back in the day I used to refer to ‘Green-Witch Village’, until I was called out on it. Whatta ya got? mmm ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/2 "2017-02-05T13:26:28Z")
My inner reader still reads “aw-ree” until I realize the word is “a-rye”. Some time ago, a local politician was complaining about all the “derbies” in the river. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/3 "2017-02-05T13:33:31Z")
A young guy at my firm described some musician’s ambitions as “gran-doyce.” I was caught short and asked “do you mean ‘grandiose’?” Yes he did. ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/4 "2017-02-05T13:38:59Z")
I once heard someone pronounce Llanelli as though it were a Spanish name. Also, the Italian chap trying to say Worcestershire Sauce:D ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/5 "2017-02-05T13:57:28Z")
I mentioned this in a thread some time back, but there was a guy being interviewed who mentioned something about a “puh-RIH-dih-gum” - it took a few seconds to figure that he meant _paradigm_. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/6 "2017-02-05T14:36:39Z")
And a cow-orker once referred to Copernicus as “copper-NICK-us”. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/7 "2017-02-05T15:26:53Z")
When my brother returned from Hawaii, he kept talking about “commie - hommie - ha”. I finally figured out he meant “Kamehameha”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/8 "2017-02-05T15:36:28Z")
A cow-orker had a friend that enjoyed “saLmon from PuGet Sound”. (Pronouncing the “L” and using a hard “G”.) We’re semi-binge watching _WKRP_ now and the mispronunciations of Les Nessman are classics. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/9 "2017-02-05T15:39:00Z")
Thought of a couple more. A cow-orker considered whether to go to Chipotle for lunch. She pronounced it Chip ta-LAY. I remember being in 4th or 5th grade studying math. The teacher asked a question (to which the answer was ‘perimeter’). I proudly shot up my hands and announced, "Perry-Meter’. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/10 "2017-02-05T16:24:35Z")
I wasn’t there but a good friend of mine swears it happened. A speaker at a math colloquium went through a complicated argument and when he got to the end, he said, “Viola!” I used to think there was a word “VIK-tu-als”. I knew the word but thought this was a different one. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/11 "2017-02-05T16:31:25Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > My inner reader still reads “aw-ree” until I realize the word is “a-rye”. > > Some time ago, a local politician was complaining about all the “derbies” in the river. Hah, derbies in the river took me a while. My brother, who at the time was old enough to know better, asked if anyone wanted to go to the Bob DIE-lan concert. The Louvre one is a hoot. Especially for someone on the air. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/12 "2017-02-05T16:40:44Z")
I tried to add this as an edit but the stupid window expired. I don’t think I even had 5 minutes. Anyway, a woman I dated a few years ago insisted that meme is pronounced mee mee. She was high maintenance anyway and that was one of many things I let slide. Thanks for reminding me Mr Mustard. Thanks a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/13 "2017-02-05T16:49:33Z")
I had a patient with a high anus hernia. Which is most of them, when you think about it. Since hiatus hernias involve the stomach, it’s pretty high. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/14 "2017-02-05T16:50:44Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > A cow-orker had a friend that enjoyed “saLmon from PuGet Sound”. (Pronouncing the “L” and using a hard “G”.) > > We’re semi-binge watching _WKRP_ now and the mispronunciations of Les Nessman are classics. Some friends of mine are raising their two grandsons and I keep referring to one of their dogs as a CHEE - WHO- uh - WHO - uh. The little guys don’t get it but do think it’s funny. I love that show. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/15 "2017-02-05T17:12:49Z")
I worked for a while in a grocery store, which sold alcohol, including spirits which were kept behind the counter; we had a regular (Eastern European) guy who, every time he came in, would request a bottle of ‘Fa-Moose Groose’ whiskey. Since then, I have been unable to call it anything else. ---
**Author:** ![CoastalMaineiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@CoastalMaineiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoastalMaineiac)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/16 "2017-02-05T17:15:45Z")
The cities of Bangor, Maine and Calais, Maine are probably the two most oft-mispronounced cities in the state, I think. As for Bangor, I blame that one on Roger Miller’s mispronunciation of it in “King of the Road.” It’s /ˈbæŋɡɔːr/ (with or without the final /r/ sound, depending mostly on the speaker’s age), _not_ /ˈbæŋər/. Calais gets confused with the French city, but the two are not pronounced the same. The Maine city is pronounced /ˈkælᵻs/. The one I hear most often around here though is /ˈlaɪbɛri/ for _library_. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/17 "2017-02-05T17:39:14Z")
I knew a woman whose grandson was born with a congenial heart defect. That does sound a lot friendlier than a congenital one. Fortunately it was quite benign, because every time she mentioned it I had to hide a smile. ---
**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:** [February 5, 2017, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/18 "2017-02-05T17:45:55Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > …“derbies” in the river. > [@Filbert](#): > > …‘Fa-Moose Groose’ whiskey. I’m afraid I need help with both of these. mmm ETA: Oh, _debris_ in the river? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/19 "2017-02-05T17:48:21Z")
It’s a generfational thing. Our local 20-something news anchorette the other day, referring to ancient history, spoke of Christa McAwful. But I bet a 50-year old news anchor might not know about memes. There has been a linguistic collapse in intergenerational continuity. People of different generations can’t talk to each other anymore. By the way, in poetry and music lyrics, the French pronounce “Louvre” with two syllables. Loover. When speaking, there is a phoneme after the V, which English speakers cannot hear. If you say “loov”, you are also wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059/20 "2017-02-05T17:57:40Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > The cities of Bangor, Maine and Calais, Maine are probably the two most oft-mispronounced cities in the state, I think. > > [snip] > > Calais gets confused with the French city, but the two are not pronounced the same. The Maine city is pronounced /ˈkælᵻs/. Well; the French Calais, was English territory for a long while: England’s last holding in France – taken by the French in 1558, to the great grief of Queen Mary Tudor. While it belonged to England, the English happily went ahead and called it “Callice” (I take it, pretty much as per in International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation above.) Stupid Frogs – why should they know how to pronounce the place, just because they lived there; and why should we care how they said the name? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mispronunciations-that-amuse/779059.md?page=2)