There was that great Saturday Night Live sketch with Jimmy Smits.
My roomie pronounces the capitol of Ireland as ‘DOOB-lin’.
“Jag-wire” for jaguar.
We have one lady here who says “speciment” for specimen.
I don’t know if it’s right or not, but I hate hearing “may-sure” for measure. I say “meh-zhur”.
Yes! Unless they’re from England. Then they’re right and I’m wrong, but I don’t copy them because that would just be silly.
I think that may have something to do with confusing that word with the musical term that is spelled the same but which is pronounced “for-tay,” being from Italian rather than French.
Given that the French phrase is correctly “le fort”, pronounced “Luh for,” there ain’t no “right” way to say this one anyway.
I try to remember that I’m speaking English, and so the pronunciation of a word in its mother tongue is irrelevant.
Daniel
You could be right about that.
Of course you are right. :smack: Did I mention that I didn’t do that well in French class? In French, you would not pronounce the T (unless the next word started with a vowel sound, I think). But I guess my point stands that “fort” would be closer to a translated English/American pronounciation standard than “for-tay.”
My feelings about NOOK-YOU-LAR :mad: have been expressed in many other threads.
Here’s one I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet (and I hope I searched this thread thoroughly). I heard the word mispronounced about a zillion times a year ago when Lisa Nowak (the wacky astronaut lady) was in the news. As we all know she was a NASSAU astronaut. Gee, she’s from Nassau County, New York? Is she from the Caribbean? Ohh… maybe they meant to say NASA. :mad:
The folks who read the news get paid unconscionable amounts amount and so is it really that difficult for them to pronounce the rather simple acronym NASA?
What’s next? Are newscasters going to pronounce it “NAY-SAY”? :rolleyes:
There was a very successful local real estate agent who insisted on writing her own advertising copy. She didn’t understand the meaning of the word “pretentious.” She liked to say things like, “You’ll be amazed when you enter the doorway of this pretentious French Colonial!” I actually called on one of the ads once to ask what she meant by that but she did not return my call.
A few years ago her agency merged with one of the national chains and I think she retired. I miss those ads.
I don’t speak French, but according to the American Heritage Book of English Usage the word in French is fort without an -e. So, pick your poison. Either it is a French word that is being mispelled, or it is an Itallian word that is being misapplied. Either solution contains an error. I prefer the second error because it has the distinct advantage that this is what we are already doing. The conflation of the Itallian spelling with the French definition has two centuries of history and we might consider damn well sucking it up and getting used to it. The downside of this is the constant badgering by people who righteously extol the virtues of the first error over the second error. The best you can hope to do is print the explanation on cards and just hand them out to proseletyzers. I plan on publishing a series of cards one day that includes explanations as to why “rule of thumb” has nothing to do with beating your wife, why “buffalo” is a perfectly cromulent term for “bison,” and one that explains why the term “immaculate conception” does not refer to anyone’s supposed virginity.
“Worsh” for “wash”, or really any substitution of “or” for the “ah” sound that seems common around here.
Also, speaking of medical terms, my GP once told me that my dysphagia may be due to a “higher lateral hernia.”
“For-tay” works for me…you are right, it’s helpful when people use language in the same way…so much better for, you know, communication! 
As far as your list, though…I gave up on that last one when I was called a blasphemer when trying to explain it to someone. Not worth it.
I haven’t been called a blasphemer over this, but I do have trouble not coming around to my gripe about how the RCC’s explanation for this doctrine contradicts their stance on abortion. Even here I’m not conforming to what would be one of the first rules of my own style guide: If you must mention abortion, first hit your head against something repeatedly until the desire to mention abortion passes.
For some reason, when I was a kid, I used to get really, just hoppingly, furiously angry at my dad for saying “progrum” instead of “program.” I have no idea why it bothered me so much. It seemed artificial somehow. That’s the best I can say about it.
-FrL-
He’s a fine actor, and I enjoy his work in many films, but where the fuck does RALPH Fiennes get off insisting that his name be pronounced “rafe”? According to IMDB, he has brothers named Joseph, Jacob and Michael. Do they all have strange pronunciations for their very common names?
Almost as annoying is “Topher” Grace. The short version of “Christopher” is “Chris”. Deal.
In my peri-free-ul vision, I saw something sim-yuh-lar.
That’s the original (Saxon) pronunciation, still common in the UK.
“Rafe” is the traditional British pronunciation.
Damn you, Biffy.
Really? Then some one ought to tell the three other Tophers I’ve known.
My pronunciation pet peeve is the Northern pronunciation of “Appalachia” and “Appalachian”.
It’s a perfectly valid way to say the name of the mountain range that stretches from Georgia to Quebec, but my nerves grate just a little bit when I hear someone say “Appa-LAY-chen”.
[QUOTE=John Mace]
It’s common for medical professionals to use that pronunciation.{/QUOTE] re: centimeters/sontimeters
http://www.stoppagingme.com/articles.php?articleId=27 hehe number one on the top 5 most annoying medical terms 
Now for the real kick in the ass, check out the alternative prounciation here: Centimeter Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
But it was first coined in a 2000 song by Paul Barman. Cite.