# Pronunciation of noun "insured" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440 "2009-12-16T02:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/1 "2009-12-16T02:48:27Z")
As opposed to how it is pronounced in this link: > **[Free Online English Pronunciation Dictionary | Howjsay | Learn to Pronounce...](https://howjsay.com/index?word=insured&submit=Submit)** > > Learn How to Pronounce English Words | Natural Recordings by Native Speakers Can the noun “insured” be pronounced closer to: in sure ed ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/2 "2009-12-16T02:53:45Z")
Maybe the other way I heard it is more: in surid ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/3 "2009-12-16T03:24:07Z")
I’ve never heard it pronounced like either of your alternatives and I would consider it non-standard. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/4 "2009-12-16T03:28:32Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I’ve never heard it pronounced like either of your alternatives and I would consider it non-standard. I haven’t heard it pronounced any differently than the Web site, which is how I pronounce the word as an adjective as well. The other two sound pretty non-standard to me too. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/5 "2009-12-16T03:29:48Z")
It may depend, obviously, on what variant of English is spoken. The OED gives _insured_ the noun the same pronunciation as _insured_ the past participle, and doesn’t indicate that any pronunciation variants exist. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/6 "2009-12-16T03:54:00Z")
> [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](#): > > As opposed to how it is pronounced in this link: > > [http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=insured&submit=Submit](http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=insured&submit=Submit) > > Can the noun “insured” be pronounced closer to: > > in sure ed With three syllables instead of two? I’ve only heard the two-syllable pronunciation. Your dialect may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/7 "2009-12-16T04:16:02Z")
I have used the three-syllable version in legal contexts, typically where it is necessary to distinguish among parties, one of whom is the insurer and the other is the insured. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/8 "2009-12-16T04:31:00Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I have used the three-syllable version in legal contexts, typically where it is necessary to distinguish among parties, one of whom is the insurer and the other is the insured. Since “insurer” is three syllables, the pronunciation of “insured” is _more_ distinct if it is kept to two syllables. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/9 "2009-12-16T05:21:10Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Since “insurer” is three syllables, the pronunciation of “insured” is _more_ distinct if it is kept to two syllables. True. “Insurer” can often be slurred to “insherrrr,” though. I think “in-sher-ed” as three syllables arises from a desire to emphasize the “d.” One word trails off, while the other has a vocalized stop. ---
**Author:** ![Dandmb50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Dandmb50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandmb50)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/10 "2009-12-16T10:41:18Z")
Here’s another one I often hear mispronounced by nearly all Americans especially the media. It’s the word for the lobby of a building, house. [FOYER](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foyer) A lot of people pronounce it as it looks but it is a french word and is pronounced foy-ay or foy-eh. If you sound it out it would be correct as foyer (foy-er). I remember hearing a lot during the Beatles producer trial where he was found guilty of killing that young women in the foyer of his house. But I hear it all the time said the wrong way on TV shows and CNN although I did hear one CNN crime reporter say it recently, Jean Casaras on HLN (Headline News) And where do British people and some Americans who want to sound British, like Madonna say the word [IDEA](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idea) with an “R”? There’s no “R” mentioned in the pronunciation. And believe me I’m no expert on english language but just always wondered? I always hear it said “iderr”? Where does the “R” come from? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/11 "2009-12-16T11:17:57Z")
> [@Dandmb50](#): > > Here’s another one I often hear mispronounced by nearly all Americans especially the media. It’s the word for the lobby of a building, house. > > [FOYER](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foyer) If you think a word is “mispronounced by nearly all Americans especially the media,” then that pronunciation has probably become a de facto correct pronunciation. Over time lots of words borrowed from foreign languages change pronunciation to an anglicized version, and this is natural. It does not mean that “foy-er” is incorrect, although it might be incorrect in French. Heck, try telling Brett Favre that he mispronounces his own name. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/12 "2009-12-16T11:19:53Z")
Foyer isn’t just French anymore, it’s been naturalized into English, and apparently picked up a more phonetic pronunciation (for English), at least in some parts of the US. I just now realized that foyYAY and FOYyer were even the same word, as it always pronounced FOYyer where I live. The final schwa (the a in idea) often picks up a rhotic (r) in some British accents when it is followed by another word starting with a vowel. Someone else will have to tell you which ones; all I know is that I’ve heard it on Doctor Who. It’s called an intrusive linking R. Read about it more [here](http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/10/you-have-no-idear.html). People like Madonna are overdoing it. Idea is only sometimes pronounced idear. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/13 "2009-12-16T11:25:05Z")
You can pronounce words however you want to. The only thing that matters is whether you are understood by others, or if you care about them thinking you say words ‘strangely’. Once upon a time back in the days of Chaucer you could spell words however you wanted to too, but obviously that comes with far more problems and some sort of standardisation (standardization) makes a whole lot of difference. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/14 "2009-12-16T12:03:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The final schwa (the a in idea) often picks up a rhotic (r) in some British accents when it is followed by another word starting with a vowel. Someone else will have to tell you which ones; all I know is that I’ve heard it on Doctor Who. It’s called an intrusive linking R. Read about it more [here](http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2008/10/you-have-no-idear.html). > > People like Madonna are overdoing it. Idea is only sometimes pronounced idear. We don’t even notice we’re doing it. First time I saw an American asking about e.g. Captain Picard saying “Dater and I”, I had no idea what they were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/15 "2009-12-16T15:09:09Z")
> [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](#): > > You can pronounce words however you want to. The only thing that matters is whether you are understood by others. Aw great. Now ya dun it. This is now destined to become “one of those” threads. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/16 "2009-12-16T15:30:13Z")
> [@Dandmb50](#): > > Here’s another one I often hear mispronounced by nearly all Americans especially the media. It’s the word for the lobby of a building, house. > > [FOYER](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/foyer) Don’t get me started on _forte_ (strength) and _forte_ (loud). ---
**Author:** ![Dandmb50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ba9def/32.png) [@Dandmb50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandmb50)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/17 "2009-12-23T20:14:46Z")
I couldn’t resist it, I just herd another one on CNN today. The group is “en route” to the country. He actually said it “n-route” (as it looks) but I think we all know it’s “on route” because again it’s a french word. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever herd someone say that one wrong. But maybe he’s just filling in for the Christmas break. ---
**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:** [December 23, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-noun-insured/521440/18 "2009-12-23T20:21:31Z")
> [@Dandmb50](#): > > I couldn’t resist it, I just herd another one on CNN today. > > The group is “en route” to the country. He actually said it “n-route” (as it looks) but I think we all know it’s “on route” because again it’s a french word. > I think it’s the first time I’ve ever herd someone say that one wrong. But maybe he’s just filling in for the Christmas break. “N-route” is a common enough pronunciation that I wouldn’t consider it non-standard myself. Same with “foyer” with the English “-er” pronunciation. The “-ay” pronunciation sounds quaint to my ears. I speak a bit of French, but pronounce foyer as “FOY-er” not “fo-YAY” when speaking English.