The word “extraordinary” contains three Rs. More and more I’m hearing people omitting the second R, pronouncing the word "ex-TRAW-dinary. I find this very distracting. Is that second R so difficult to pronounce?
(And let’s leave out “extra-ordinary” for now.)
Ex-TRORE-dinary is how I’ve always pronounced it.
Ditto. Maybe the OP has been around the same kind of people who pronounce forward as “FOwerd”.
I came to this thread thinking it might be about dropping a syllable, changing from 6 syllables (“extra-ordinary”) to 5 (“ex-tror-din-a-ry”). I consider the 5-syllable very the common one, and 6 syllables are pronounced for emphasis. (Like whether “the” is pronounced “thuh” or “thee”.)
As regards dropping the R, this article from Wikipedia might be of interest: Rhoticity in English
I only say extra-ordinary if I’m singing about heffalumps and woozles.
Ford.
Or singing about L-O-V-E – V is very, very extra-ordinary.
I say it more like 3 syllables: “strawd-nery”
“ex-TRAW-dinary”? I can’t say it that way without getting clear “Georgia peach” vibes.
Are there people who say it that way whose accent is not non-rhotic? In other words, do the pronounce R at the ends of syllables in other words? Like, do father and farther sound different in their accent?
I heard it in a commercial, from a woman who spoke non-rhotic English. That’s why it threw me for a loop. Also in music lectures by Dr. Robert Greenberg. I wouldn’t be surprised if the same people say “FOwerd”.
Do you have a sound recording where I can hear what you mean? Because the way you describe it in the OP is how I would expect it to be pronounced, and I can’t image how I’d pronounce the second R (but then I’m British - we like cropping letters out).
extraordinary - pronunciation (American, British, Australian, Welsh)
The differences between those pronouncing the second “r” or not are fairly subtle to my ear. I probably would get the answer wrong in a quiz.
So I guess I wouldn’t find it distracting since I wouldn’t even notice. I certainly wouldn’t consider either one to be wrong.
Why don’t I ever hear people complaining about those who pronounce “Febuary” with only one R?
Because there’s no loud talking at the “Libery”. Shhhhh!
You obviously haven’t been listening to all my complaints.
Because we’re too busy complaining about those who spell it with only one R 
These are the same pronunciation to me.
It happens all the time on this board.
But, yeah, in general, it’s one of those that has been accepted. People get that saying “bru” in a short, unnaccented syllable is difficult. You mostly either get “FEB-you-air-y” or “FEB-brr-air-y”–the latter essentially flipping the R and U.
Similarly, people don’t complain too much about “surprise” being pronounced quickly without the first R (as s’prize). People get that, when you say that first syllable quickly, you don’t have time for the R. But words like “library” (and apparently “extraordinary”) are words where most people find it easy to say all the Rs, and thus see react like this.
I can entirely see why it would be hard for some people to say. You have a three consonant cluster (/kst/) followed by an /r/ followed by an R-colored vowel (/or/) followed by a dental (/d/). Getting your tongue to do all of that can be difficult.
I just would think that it would be the first R that would get left out, not the second. I find it much easier to say “ex‑TCHOR‑d’n‑air‑y.” than any of the other others.
(I used TCH to indicate the sound at the end of match, not the initial sound in the word chord.)
Except that wouldn’t we often also elide the semi-final vowel to barely a schwa, unless we were being really emphatic?
Even for rhotic accents. pronouncing the second r in extraordinary probably actually is effort. I don’t know if it’s actually dying out, but it wouldn’t be surprising. Like how most people don’t say Wednesday like it’s written.
I’m confused.
Someone saying “ex-straw-dinary” is pronouncing three Rs, because the second r is within the “or” structure which is one way we write a particular vowel sound in English.
It can also be written “aw”, as in “straw”, as in the OP.
Or… Is it that in American English the words “core” and “straw” do not rhyme, with the former having a clear “r” sound?
In which case, Brits like me are pronouncing “extraordinary” with the wrong number of Rs, but we’re also pronouncing any word with “or” in it “wrong”.
I thought the thing being cut from the standard pronunciation of extraordinary was the first “A”.
I get circus ringmaster vibes. Any second now the extrawdinary lion tamer is going to bring his lion, a whip, and a chair to the center ring.
OTOH, I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced that way in real life.