# Pronunciations I have learned... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2007, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995 "2007-11-19T03:03:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/21 "2007-11-20T11:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] Front room is common enough here. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=thirdwarning] I’ve seen this posted here before, but even though I grew up forty miles from the city I never heard it until last week. One of my brother’s guests at early Thanksgiving said it. [/QUOTE] Hmm… **thirdwarning** , forty miles north or south? (Or west?) Maybe it’s an Irishism kept active on the south side and suburbs by the South Side Irish. I grew up in the south suburbs, and it was/is ubiquitous. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/22 "2007-11-20T11:48:59Z")
When I move to NYC, it took a while to learn to say “merry,” “marry” and “Mary” differently. Then, when I relocated back in Ohio, I had to re-learn to pronounce them all the same (merry). ---
**Author:** ![hekk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@hekk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hekk)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/23 "2007-11-20T12:08:52Z")
I learned awhile ago on this board that "bag"and “vague” **don’t** rhyme to most people. My head still kinda reels about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/24 "2007-11-20T13:20:53Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] Sunduh? That’s a corrupted pronunciation! The real pronunciation, especially on the **South Side** , is zunduh. [/quote] Ah, well there you have it. Mom grew up on the North Side. You South Siders are all wrong, naturally. Let’s discuss the finer points over a Ted Drewe’s > [@](#): > > After you eat one, probably with a fark, you put the dish in the zink and warsh it. My grandfather said “zink”. He claimed it was because sinks used to be made out of zinc. I have no idea if that’s true. > [@](#): > > Another St. Louisism is to pronounce perfectly good French words with perfectly non-French pronunciations. Gravois (grav-oy), \*\*Des Peres (day-pare), \*\* Carondolet (kuh-ron-duh-let), Sainte Genevieve (saynt gen-eh-veev). Ahem. That’s \. > [@](#): > > To give the Italian heritage in St. Louis its props, we also have a pasta dish served at virtually every wedding reception and buffet. It’s spelled mostaccioli and pronounced musk-uh-CHO-lee. That one’s great. I thought everyone pronounced it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Pocito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f04885/32.png) [@Pocito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pocito)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/25 "2007-11-20T14:04:19Z")
My husband’s family would eat “bref-dist” every morning, saluted the “fleg”, “warshed” their clothes, and used “warplers” to ply wires. I spent a good amount of the beginning of our relationship just trying to decipher his family’s conversations. At least DH can say breakfast now. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/26 "2007-11-20T14:16:02Z")
Add “turlet” to the list of St. Louisisms. That’s what you use just before you wash your hands in the zink. There’s also greazy for greasy, which is what my wife says. I have no idea if that’s a regionalisms or a personal idiosyncrasy. She claims that there’s a difference between “greasy” and “greazy”: “greasy” is just “with grease”, while “greazy” is “greasy spoon diner food”. I think she’s nuts, but that’s another thread altogether. (And in case she’s still occasionally lurking: just kidding, honey!) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/27 "2007-11-20T14:33:12Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] Here in the South, a suite of furniture is pronounced a “suit” (“soot”). When I was buying my house, a couple different people asked me if I was buyiing a new bedroom suit. I had no idea what they were talking about. (Is is like a birthday suit?) [/QUOTE] That’s an Appalachianism, too. I hate to say suit and no one understands suite, so I just say “furniture.” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/28 "2007-11-20T14:47:01Z")
[QUOTE=jsgoddess] That’s an Appalachianism, too. I hate to say suit and no one understands suite, so I just say “furniture.” [/QUOTE] Oh lordy, that must be the rich areas of Appalachia like Asheville. We just called them “stumps” or “logs”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/29 "2007-11-20T14:52:24Z")
Jay Stewart was saying “living room suit,” “bedroom suit,” and “dining room suit” all over the place back on _Let’s Make a Deal_. Wiki sez he was from Indiana. Edit: Maybe [this](http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/suite) will help clarify for us all. Notice that it says for this definition, the “suit” pronunciation is also correct. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/30 "2007-11-20T16:27:10Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] In Kansas City, they take a shar every 24 ars. [/QUOTE] Don’t they also do that in “Balmor”? This pronunciation, btw, is a case of de-emphasizing the second vowel sound of a diphthong in favor of the first. I wonder if this particular pronunciation effect runs in a swath from Missouri all the way to the East Coast? ---
**Author:** ![born\_too\_late](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba9def/32.png) [@born\_too\_late](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/born_too_late)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/31 "2007-11-20T16:39:47Z")
I’ve heard ‘measure’ pronounced as \< **may** -zher\>. I think most people say \< **meh** -zher\>, though. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/32 "2007-11-20T16:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=hekk] I learned awhile ago on this board that "bag"and “vague” **don’t** rhyme to most people. My head still kinda reels about that one. [/QUOTE] Which one do you mispronounce then? 😉 Seriously though, is a bag a baig? Or is vague, vag? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/33 "2007-11-20T16:51:28Z")
A friend of mine has a funny story from buying shoes in Buffalo a few years back. The clerk asked him if he wanted the “backs?” The backs? Yes, the backs. Right there. There! The backs! Do you want the backs? In front of you! Right there! THE BACKS! . . . . . . . Ohhhhhh, the box! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/34 "2007-11-20T16:54:13Z")
I used to know an announcer from Southern Ontario who was hired to voice some spots for Western New York. He submitted his work, and then was required to redo it, to pronounce “dollars” as “dallahz.” ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/35 "2007-11-20T16:56:12Z")
[QUOTE=Leaffan] Which one do you mispronounce then? 😉 Seriously though, is a bag a baig? Or is vague, vag? [/QUOTE] “bayge” \<=\> "“vayge” in Weescahnsin. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/36 "2007-11-20T17:24:00Z")
Here, it’s a “sack”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Goddess\_Kalea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Goddess\_Kalea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goddess_Kalea)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/37 "2007-11-20T17:41:49Z")
My FIL always says he loves the kwee-shuns on our couch. He was born and raised in Eastern Warsh-ington. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/38 "2007-11-20T17:58:52Z")
It was sadly recently that I learned a movie about someone was a “Bio-pic” rather than a “Bi-op-ic” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/39 "2007-11-20T19:23:21Z")
> [@](#): > > In Wisconsin “Drinking fountain” is pronounced “Bubbler” Here in Massachusetts it’s a “bubblah”. Massachusetts pronunciations are a riot. One time someone was telling me to go to what I thought was “Weston Ave.” I couldn’t find it on the map. “Weston? Like W-E-S-T-O-N?” “Noooooo! ‘Weston’! W-E-S-T-E-Ahh-N” Or the time someone came running into the lab, yelling “[CalMeacham]! The Lay-zahh! It’s Ocking!” “The What?” I asked “The Lay-zahh! It’s Ocking!” It suddenly hit me. [spoiler] “The Laser! It’s Arcing!” And so I ran off to stop the Laser from forming an Arc.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995/40 "2007-11-20T19:45:34Z")
[QUOTE=fachverwirrt] I will however, never stop chuckling at the pronunciation of Japan, MO. [/QUOTE] There’s Arab, Alabama, which is pronounced like “Ahab”. (Their high school mascot is an “Arabian Knight”, except that he’s wearing a suit of armor instead of wielding a scimitar.) One of my favorites is the word “curious” pronounced using only one syllable. My husband says he was half grown before he realized that’s what his family meant when they said that something was “cyurs”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciations-i-have-learned/426995.md?page=3)