# Oh, did I hurt your widdle feelings? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 29, 2001, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364 "2001-10-29T20:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/21 "2001-10-30T03:36:29Z")
Why does someone always have to incarcerate on these Boards? Rediculate-emboss ---
**Author:** ![croaker67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@croaker67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/croaker67)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/22 "2001-10-30T03:42:11Z")
Whaaat are you people talking about? Wait, nevermind , I don’t want to know. Continue the gibberish 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/23 "2001-10-30T14:00:38Z")
This happens to me every once in a while, particularly at work (since I work in a field where a driver’s license is more important than a edumacation). One of the women answering the phones was put off by a customer’s foul language. She was writing a note to the manager, letting her know of it, and she asked how to spell “profound.” Then when she read the note out loud, she referred to the customer’s using “profound language.” I had to tell her that, unless the customer was expounding on the finer points of quantum physics or engaging in a theological discourse, then the phrase this woman was looking for was “profane language.” Thing is, most of the people I work with don’t really care if they’re ignorant or not, so they giggle at themselves, look up to me with awe for knowing basic English, and go forth with no desire or intent to better themselves. ---
**Author:** ![rushtopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47774/32.png) [@rushtopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rushtopher)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/24 "2001-10-30T20:55:40Z")
Having spent a good 15 years of my life thinking that hours d’ overues (oh forget it on the spelling) was a French word pronounced LIKE IT IS SPELLED and meaning the same thing as ordurves (which of course does not exist) I can empathise with the people described in this thread. I also made the epitome mistake. Maybe I just can’t read. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/25 "2001-10-30T21:30:11Z")
I’m a Role-Playing Gamer, and we have now twice had Game Masters tell the group that there were either smoking or flaming brassieres in a room. Of course, they mean Braziers, but you know… Epitome is one of the most mispronounced words in the language, largely because it is most often used by people who read a lot, but don’t necessarily use the words they know in speech. And I, for one, am not going to a dictionary every time I need to pronounce a familiar but unspoken word. Like eschatological. Which keeps killing me. ---
**Author:** ![bagkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ab992/32.png) [@bagkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bagkitty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2001, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/26 "2001-10-30T22:35:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SisterCoyote \* > **I’m a Role-Playing Gamer, and we have now twice had Game Masters tell the group that there were either smoking or flaming brassieres in a room.** Maybe the Game Masters were old-line feminists reliving their glory days in the 60s. Also, if you ever visit Montreal, please be aware that all the signs for “Brasseries” are for beer halls, not lingerie stores… we had great fun at the expense of someone who was up from Rochester NY over that one. (Sorry matt\_mcl, but I beat you to that one) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/27 "2001-10-31T17:21:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bagkitty \* > **Maybe the Game Masters were old-line feminists reliving their glory days in the 60s.** That’d be a real trick, considering both were male…and so far as I know, neither has been to Johns Hopkins. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/28 "2001-10-31T19:20:45Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*clem_ent (adjective) > > [Middle English, from Latin clement-, clemens] > > First appeared 15th Century > > 1 : inclined to be merciful : LENIENT \ > > 2 : MILD \<~ weather for November\> > > – clem_ent_ly (adverb) \*\* Whoops! Well slap my ass and call me Judy! I had no idea clement was a word - although I admittedly can make heads or tails of it now. Obviously, my vocabulary is something you can hold a candle to. I won’t bunk any more myths about the word, that’s for sure! I’m quite gruntled. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/29 "2001-10-31T19:43:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > \*\*Inclement is one of those words that sounds like it ought to have an opposite - ‘clement’ - but there’s no such word. > > I like those - you never hear about kempt hair, sung heros, or being corrigible. > > - Rick \*\* My favorite of the “missing opposite” words is _ruth_, a beautiful word which means compassion. Of course the only time we ever hear it is in its antonym, _ruthless_. If you want to hear about _sung_ heroes, try Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/30 "2001-11-01T02:23:40Z")
> [@](#): > > “I do not think that word means what you think it means.” Would someone _please_ be kind enough to tell me where this is from? It’s driving me up a tree. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/31 "2001-11-01T02:46:17Z")
It’s from _The Princess Bride_. ---
**Author:** ![drpepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drpepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drpepper)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/32 "2001-11-01T05:09:16Z")
Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![k.os](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@k.os](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k.os)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/33 "2001-11-01T05:38:56Z")
The word I mispronounced the most was lettuce. I am a francophone. I was working for Mike’s, a Pizza and Sub restaurant chain, and every time I said lettuce, I pronounced it Let-Yousse. My supervisors heard me, but didn’t tell me for months. They found it funny to hear me say it that way. No need to tell you, when I found out, I was oh-so-red-in-the-face… ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/34 "2001-11-01T06:08:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rushtopher \* > \*\*Having spent a good 15 years of my life thinking that hours d’ overues (oh forget it on the spelling) was a French word pronounced LIKE IT IS SPELLED and meaning the same thing as ordurves (which of course does not exist) I can empathise with the people described in this thread. > > I also made the epitome mistake. Maybe I just can’t read. \*\* I have a friend who calls them “horse doovers, or horse dovers” I had to ask wtf she was talking about the first time. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364/35 "2001-11-01T06:23:50Z")
Something I wish I could say: No, dear, the word you’re looking for is ‘ultimate’ not ‘penultimate’. But I’m flattered. Really. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oh-did-i-hurt-your-widdle-feelings/90364.md?page=1)