# 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:** 11
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/201 "2008-04-01T01:12:07Z")
[QUOTE=calm kiwi] How would your media deal with Whangaparoa or Whakatane? [/QUOTE] Probably struggle with the spelling of the first one for starters which, despite common pronunciation, has an extra “a” in there (much to my surprise twenty years ago when I first had to use it for addressing purposes). Even Maori speakers differ as to the pronunciation of the “wh” sound in modern Maori. I’m with the zed speakers, though. Zed rules in NZ – and zee should stay offshore. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/202 "2008-04-01T01:53:04Z")
Negotiate - [n@goUsieIt] “nuh-go-see-ate” instead of “nuh-go-shee-ate” Species - [spi-siz] “spee-seez” instead of “spee-sheez” Processes - [prA-s@-siz] “pro-suh-SEEZ” instead of “PRO-suh-siz.” ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/203 "2008-04-01T02:55:44Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] No, the singular is [nacho](http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/nacho?view=uk). [/QUOTE] Oops. Well I _have_ been labouring under a misapprehension, haven’t I. ---
**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, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/204 "2008-04-01T02:58:00Z")
It’s not so much a matter of pronunciation, but a mannerism? Uptalk? I’m sure you know what I mean? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/205 "2008-04-01T03:00:55Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Oops. Well I _have_ been labouring under a misapprehension, haven’t I. [/QUOTE] Maybe you’re thinking of words like “gyros” (the Greek doner kebab type thing) or “kudos” which are singular but look plural. Speaking of, the “JIE-rose” pronunciation of “gyros” also mildly irks me. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/206 "2008-04-01T05:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] Speaking of, the “JIE-rose” pronunciation of “gyros” also mildly irks me. [/QUOTE] 😕 That’s how I’ve always heard it. How is it supposed to be pronounced? And I agree with everyone who said _axe_ (ask.) SK. It’s S-K! Do people who _axe_ a question also _backs_ in the sun or drink from a _flacks_? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/207 "2008-04-01T05:12:20Z")
[QUOTE=Eyebrows 0f Doom] [QUOTE=pulykamell] Speaking of, the “JIE-rose” pronunciation of “gyros” also mildly irks me. [/QUOTE] 😕 That’s how I’ve always heard it. How is it supposed to be pronounced? [/QUOTE] I suppose I ought to be tentative after my last intervention here, but ah well, here goes: it’s GHEE-ross . ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/208 "2008-04-01T06:16:04Z")
[QUOTE=Vox Imperatoris] I don’t mean ones that just annoy you a little, but ones that inspire (the “late”) VC03-style, smashing your keyboard, impaling your monitor, thowing your most prized possesions into a furnace anger. Mine is pronouncing “Reese’s,” as in Reese’s Cups, in a way that rhymes with feces. :eek: First of all, it sounds horrible, and second, it shows you have no conception of basic grammar. They’re Reese’s, the candies belonging to Reese, not REE-cies! I don’t know if it’s just done in the South (by idiots), but it needs to be eradicated anywhere it is found. [/QUOTE] Wait a minute…that bothers you? Its freaking candy. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/209 "2008-04-01T06:16:36Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Oops. Well I _have_ been labouring under a misapprehension, haven’t I. [/QUOTE] I’d be interested to discover how you came to believe what you did. Did someone teach it to you? Did you read it somewhere? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/210 "2008-04-01T06:19:50Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] I suppose I ought to be tentative after my last intervention here, but ah well, here goes: it’s GHEE-ross . [/QUOTE] I’ve always been told it’s “yee-ross”. That’s what signs in the places serving them have said, anyway. Here’s a relevant [link](http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/6/6-1641.html) Spoken examples: [Gyro Stop Commercial](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-938452571061761057&q=gyros+commercial&total=34&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3) [Gyro Time Commercial](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7097658561220413761&q=gyros+commercial&total=34&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6) \<— w/ purposeful mispronounciations as well! -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/211 "2008-04-01T06:26:15Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] I’ve always been told it’s “yee-ross”. That’s what signs in the places serving them have said, anyway. Here’s a relevant [link](http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/6/6-1641.html) Spoken examples: [Gyro Stop Commercial](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-938452571061761057&q=gyros+commercial&total=34&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=3) [Gyro Time Commercial](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7097658561220413761&q=gyros+commercial&total=34&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6) \<— w/ purposeful mispronounciations as well! -FrL- [/QUOTE] Edit window closed. I wanted to add something about how of course the commercials weren’t meant as _authoritative_ examples. They were just meant as spoken examples of the pronounciation I was talking about–the only ones I could find through google. Also, an ‘s’ belongs at the end of the word ‘gyro’ in my two links. Oopsie. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/212 "2008-04-01T09:19:11Z")
[QUOTE=Jolly Roger] Wait a minute…that bothers you? Its freaking candy. [/QUOTE] After giving it some thought, I shouldn’t have asked that. Pronounciations aside, its common word mispellings that set my teeth to grinding. Not just the old loose=lose, ridiculous=rediculous stuff either. In another forum I shall not name I saw these gems Payed instead pf paid. By someone who claims to be a legal adult living in the US. How the hell can english be your first language and you can’t spell paid by the time you reach adulthood. Seriously. Grate=great. _sigh_ Screem=scream. Really. These aren’t words that people don’t come by. Children can spell these words or should be able to. I find it hard to take anyone seriously when they can’t spell Paid. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/213 "2008-04-01T13:21:33Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] Oops. Well I _have_ been labouring under a misapprehension, haven’t I. [/QUOTE] Maybe you’re thinking of kudos. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/214 "2008-04-01T13:40:33Z")
Prolly. […wince…] I’ve ended friendships over it. It’s the thing I hate most about Bill Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/215 "2008-04-01T14:00:06Z")
[QUOTE=Askance] I suppose I ought to be tentative after my last intervention here, but ah well, here goes: it’s GHEE-ross . [/QUOTE] Acceptable, although we’ve always been taught YEE-ross here in Chicago (thanks to the Kronos Gyros posters which point out the correct pronunciation, or one of the correct ones. ISTR that GHEE-ross is fine, too.) edit: [Wikipedia just gives the “YEE-ross” pronunciation as the Greek one.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyros) > [@](#): > > The Greek pronunciation is [ˈʝirɔs], but in English, the pronunciation of ‘gyro(s)’ usually follows English spelling rules, giving [ˈdʒaɪɹəʊ(s)]; though sometimes the Greek pronunciation is approximated (the intent of the spellings ‘yeeros,’ ‘yiros’ and ‘Year-Oh’), giving [ˈjiːɹəʊ(s)].[3] I’m fairly certain I remember reading there’s dialectical variations on this matter, and that one of the variants is “GHEE-ross,” but I cannot say this with any authority. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/216 "2008-04-01T14:06:00Z")
“Painstaking” should be pronounced with a voiced “s.” The word comes from “pains-taking,” not “pain-staking.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/217 "2008-04-01T18:03:40Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] “Painstaking” should be pronounced with a voiced “s.” The word comes from “pains-taking,” not “pain-staking.” [/QUOTE] True, but the compulsion to devoice a normally voiced constonant when it directly precedes an unvoiced consonant is pretty natural in English. To say “PAINZ-taking” requires me to slow down to voice the first consonant and not voice the second. It’s just much easier to say “pain-staking.” [Here’s one cite.](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WKT-45K13M1-6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=04240d17d8ec056c8a10ad90e67f137e) > [@](#): > > Voiced fricatives are often taken as an example of sound that is ‘difficult’ to produce. It might therefore be expected that speakers would choose to simplify them. In English, the most common simplification is devoicing, especially for voiced sibilants. > > […] > > **Devoicing was most frequent in two kinds of environments: those where it could be viewed as assimilation to an adjacent voiceless context** , and those where articulatory and aerodynamic effort tends to be reduced. Emphasis added. I know this is a peeve thread, and there’s no need to explain, but I just wanted to point out that it’s very natural, for me and many native speakers of English, to devoice in such a context. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/218 "2008-04-02T00:14:51Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] True, but the compulsion to devoice a normally voiced constonant when it directly precedes an unvoiced consonant is pretty natural in English. To say “PAINZ-taking” requires me to slow down to voice the first consonant and not voice the second. It’s just much easier to say “pain-staking.” [/QUOTE] As a child, I used to wonder what the grown-ups meant when they got cranky and used terms like “God’s ache” or “cry sake”. Then I finally grokked those at about the time my dad would affectionately call me “guts ache”. “Gut sake?” Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2008, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/219 "2008-04-02T00:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] [QUOTE=Askance] Oops. Well I have been labouring under a misapprehension, haven’t I. [/QUOTE] I’d be interested to discover how you came to believe what you did. Did someone teach it to you? Did you read it somewhere? [/QUOTE] I really don’t know. I think it might have been by unconscious analogy with other Spanish words that came my way, such as Los Alamos and Los Angeles - perhaps I extrapolated that Spanish words that ended in vowel-S are not plurals, even when rendered in English. In Australia we don’t come across Spanish words as routinely as USAns must. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2008, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978/220 "2008-04-03T10:04:18Z")
[QUOTE=pulykamell] I know this is a peeve thread, and there’s no need to explain, but I just wanted to point out that it’s very natural, for me and many native speakers of English, to devoice in such a context. [/QUOTE] **pulykamell** , you seem almost apologetic for something that is a fundamental aspect of English phonology. You don’t need to apologize for assimilation any more than for sneezing. Just look at (or rather, listen to) the morphology of plurals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciacions-that-make-you-seethe-with-anger/442978.md?page=12)