# Pronunciacions that make you seethe with anger! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 27, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978 "2008-03-27T22:06:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/181 "2008-03-31T01:24:06Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] No, the singular is **nachos** , pronounced na-choss (not na-choes). I guess the plural would be nachoses. [/QUOTE] No, the singular is [nacho](http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/nacho?view=uk). ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/182 "2008-03-31T02:23:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] For many years, I had no idea that ‘vittles’ and ‘victuals’ were the same word. I read ‘vittles’ (spelt that way) in books about pioneer times in the West; ‘victuals’ was a lot less common and tended to be in nineteenth-century fiction like that written by Jules Verne. [/QUOTE] I was also stunned the first time I saw a movie adaptation of something I’d read that used the word “victuals” a lot, and it was said as “vittles” in the movie. And the other way around, I was also surprised that the “krik” people kept talking about was really a creek. > [@](#): > > We actually pronounce it closer to ‘JEIG-wahr’. Around here it’s jag-wah, which probably doesn’t surprise people who are familiar with our tendency to to convert “ar” to “ah”. It’s _almost_ what the guy who does the talking dictionary [says](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/jaguar), but he voices the r. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/183 "2008-03-31T03:41:51Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I can’t think of any off the top of my head, to be honest with you. Most of it follows British English, AFAICT. [/QUOTE] “Mite” for “mate”? Or I guess it sounds (to me, at any rate) more like “moight” crossed with “mite” for “mate”. All same like “dye” for “day”? ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/184 "2008-03-31T04:59:49Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] We actually pronounce it closer to ‘JEIG-wahr’. [/QUOTE] I thought this problem got resolved thirty years ago, by balding, hairy-backed men with a predeliction for buttonless silk shirts and heavy gold chains, when they coined the phrase: “Hey, baby, wanna go for a spin in my Jag?” ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/185 "2008-03-31T08:40:08Z")
[QUOTE=vison] “Mite” for “mate”? Or I guess it sounds (to me, at any rate) more like “moight” crossed with “mite” for “mate”. All same like “dye” for “day”? [/QUOTE] Not really, these days. Most of the stuff you mention is said here, but usually by old timers or people from the sticks, especially the substitution of the “oi” sound for the long “i” - it’s a broight noight for a foight alroight. Or Steve Irwin. The only exception is the mite/mate thing, which is also current to a certain degree amongst younger urban residents, particularly those with Lebanese backgrounds. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/186 "2008-03-31T12:06:13Z")
Okay, how about if we accept all pronunciations of jaguar _except_ “jag-wire”? And we get to kill jag-wire sayers. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/187 "2008-03-31T12:35:05Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Not really, these days. Most of the stuff you mention is said here, but usually by old timers or people from the sticks, especially the substitution of the “oi” sound for the long “i” - it’s a broight noight for a foight alroight. Or Steve Irwin. The only exception is the mite/mate thing, which is also current to a certain degree amongst younger urban residents, particularly those with Lebanese backgrounds. [/QUOTE] What about “Let stalk strine?” ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/188 "2008-03-31T13:43:17Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] What about “Let stalk strine?” [/QUOTE] HAITCH! Haitch? The eighth letter of the alaphabet is aitch! Haitch just makes your Aussie show and makes me want slap you. The last letter of the alphabet is ZED not zee. I come from EN ZED. EN ZEE is just wrong, and considering New Zealand is one of the few countries that even uses a Z we should get to decide :). When it comes to words like junta, I stick with (probably the wrong ethnic pronounciation) the pronounciation that that I am given through my media. How would your media deal with Whangaparoa or Whakatane? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/189 "2008-03-31T15:12:46Z")
[QUOTE=Dung Beetle] Okay, how about if we accept all pronunciations of jaguar _except_ “jag-wire”? And we get to kill jag-wire sayers. [/QUOTE] Agreed. Let the cleansing begin. (And noting your location, and that your beef is probably football-related, can we also kill the people who refer to the Atlanta Fall-cons?) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/190 "2008-03-31T15:34:55Z")
Together we shall slay them. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/191 "2008-03-31T15:46:42Z")
My most hated - mentioned in other threads of this ilk - is when British people use the following pronunciations: taco — “tack-o” instead of “tah-co”. pasta – “pass-ta” instead of “pah-sta”. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/192 "2008-03-31T16:40:31Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] Did you hear the Park Rangers shot a woof yesterday? Supposebly it was going through someone’s recycables. [/QUOTE] Who is afraid of Virginia Woof ! (oh! be quiet, doggie). What do you think \*\*woof\_meister \*\*? 🙂 All those mispronunciations by anglophones make me feel much better about my own. (I’m foreign born). ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/193 "2008-03-31T17:31:46Z")
I hate “desert island.” Hate it. “360 degree” when meaning “180 degree”. (not a pronunciation but I had all this free space and decided to use it) ---
**Author:** ![InappropriateHumor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eb8c5e/32.png) [@InappropriateHumor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InappropriateHumor)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/194 "2008-03-31T18:35:04Z")
Gah, the lady who camouflages my gray hair says “flustrate, flustrated, flustrating”, as in, “My 9:00 was late, so it screwed your schedule up. It’s so flustrating!” I’m pretty sure the unholy union of frustrating and flustered isn’t used ironically. My mother says “deesh” for dish, “feesh” for fish, etc. My ex-mother-in-law eats “tor-TILL-ahs”, takes “ass-burn” as a blood thinner, sings in her church “kire” and visits the “choir-practor” for back pain. Jeez, I know she can _say_ “choir”, would it hurt her to use it correctly? Good thing I don’t talk with her much anymore, she was making my eye twitch so fast it was like a frickin’ strobe light. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/195 "2008-03-31T21:26:41Z")
[QUOTE=Maus Magill] What about “Let stalk strine?” [/QUOTE] A fantastic and very funny book, but then again even that was a caricature at the time, and that time is forty years ago now. **calm kiwi** , I’m with you on the “haitch” thing, but the vast majority of Australians DON’T say it. It was always taught to me that that was an Irish/Catholic/working class thing. Hmmm… maybe. It’s always struck me as pretty random. My WAG is that maybe twenty per cent of the population says “haitch”. My pet peeve is “agane” insted of “agen”, and you’re probably looking at half the population there, maybe (big Haitch crossover too). ---
**Author:** ![Martha\_Medea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@Martha\_Medea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martha_Medea)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/196 "2008-03-31T22:47:02Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] **calm kiwi** , I’m with you on the “haitch” thing, but the vast majority of Australians DON’T say it. It was always taught to me that that was an Irish/Catholic/working class thing. Hmmm… maybe. It’s always struck me as pretty random. My WAG is that maybe twenty per cent of the population says “haitch”. [/QUOTE] A lot of my compatriots say ‘haitch’ and this is attributed to the fact that until about a generation ago, the two main secondary schools in Gibraltar were run by Loreto nuns and Christian Brothers from Ireland. > [@](#): > > My pet peeve is “agane” insted of “agen”, and you’re probably looking at half the population there, maybe (big Haitch crossover too). I remember noticing this as a feature of former UK PM John Major’s accent. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/197 "2008-04-01T00:24:08Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog] Not really, these days. Most of the stuff you mention is said here, but usually by old timers or people from the sticks, especially the substitution of the “oi” sound for the long “i” - it’s a broight noight for a foight alroight. Or Steve Irwin. The only exception is the mite/mate thing, which is also current to a certain degree amongst younger urban residents, particularly those with Lebanese backgrounds. [/QUOTE] I felt sorta bad as soon as I thought my post over. Unfortunate, right? I mean, I should have thought it over first! The Australian accent is not “pronunciations that make me seethe with anger!” I like the way Australians talk. I love it, actually. I hope Australians never get to sound like Brits or Canucks. Ever. Up Australia, I say. One day, if I’m lucky, I will see the place for myself. And New Zealand, too. The guy who used to shear my sheep is from New Zealand (_quel surprise_) and I always feel they were better shorn by him than anyone before or since. And I’m not joking, either. They listened when he said, “shake them dags”. We say “zed” in Canada, but that’s fading away, sad to say. My little boys say “zee” and I wince and correct them, but they are also allowed to spell “colour” as “color” and I know thereby that the End Days are upon us. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/198 "2008-04-01T00:34:59Z")
No offence taken **Vision**. I’m a bit of an accent junkie. If there is an intelligent, interesting person being interviewed on the radio, I usually (nay, ALWAYS) am happy to hear something a bit different. You Canucks, for example, have something nice and crisp happening, yet you stilll keep the US-style burr on your R’s. I do likes me some o’ that. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/199 "2008-04-01T00:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] I can’t think of any off the top of my head, to be honest with you. Most of it follows British English, AFAICT. [/QUOTE] It is to laff. 😛 We had two blokes live with us for a few weeks. One was University educated and you’re right- other than a few Aussie slang terms, many would have thought he was British. But the other was “working class” from Sydney. He would say things and I had to turn to the Univ dudes for a translations. I mean “_Wur gunna tayke a roid inna ute_?” was “We’re going for a ride in the Utility Truck?”, that last being a slang term and hardly pronunciation, I’ll agree. Now true, a strong Brooklyn or Deep rural South accent is also hard to understand. But “British English”? :dubious: \*Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it. - 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/200 "2008-04-01T01:01:23Z")
[QUOTE=DrDeth] It is to laff. 😛 We had two blokes live with us for a few weeks. One was University educated and you’re right- other than a few Aussie slang terms, many would have thought he was British. But the other was “working class” from Sydney. He would say things and I had to turn to the Univ dudes for a translations. I mean “_Wur gunna tayke a roid inna ute_?” was “We’re going for a ride in the Utility Truck?”, that last being a slang term and hardly pronunciation, I’ll agree. Now true, a strong Brooklyn or Deep rural South accent is also hard to understand. But “British English”? :dubious: \*Pull the other one, it’s got bells on it. - 😛 [/QUOTE] I think what **ME** says if _half_ true. And your post seems to bear this out. Yes, Australians have their own way of saying some things, and that can’t be denied (nor should it be). The fact is, the modern urban Aussie accent (and we are one of the most urbanised countries on earth) is not much like the stereotypes. I could introduce you to quite a few guys who need subtitles, but I could also introduce you to a lot more who would have some sort of generic Commonwealth accent you’d be hunting for clues for. The short answer is that the long, drawled vowels are gone, and there is a clipped, fast-talking thing that has replaced it. This latter is spoken by the majority of the population and DOES NOT sound like Steve Irwin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978.md?page=11)