# Saying it wrong on porpoise **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166 "2011-08-18T14:31:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 18, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/21 "2011-08-18T19:16:28Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > I’m cornfused. I’m [eggcornfused](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn). Are we talking about [mallardpropisms](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism)? ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/22 "2011-08-18T19:16:59Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > Lol. I said Li-Barry for the longest time, and “Stragedy” as opposed to “Strategy.” It caused endless ridicule as a child. ☹ > > Anyhoo, old issues of “American Speech” are a hoot. That’s where I learned everything I ever wanted to know about “Schmaltz,” and other hip happening Jazz slang from the 30s! > > ETA: You can find them on JSTOR, if you’re actually interested. 😛 “Stragedy” is a Bugs-Bunny-ism; so not your fault! Bugs’ writers did this to him a lot. 😛 I like to shop at Low-wee’s, but I hate to go to Home Des-pot. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/23 "2011-08-18T19:32:23Z")
See, the problem I have here is not that it’s annoying (which I think it is) but that some people don’t know it’s wrong. You see, my kids were in a foster home for 2 1/2 years. Bless her, she is a fantastic caregiver but her language skills… We spend a lot of time correcting pronunciation (liberry, sawl (instead of saw), punkin, malk). Why, you say? Cause it affects their reading. They read a word and sound it out right but don’t know what it is. Sorry, this is a big pet peeve of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/24 "2011-08-18T19:37:18Z")
> [@](#): > > She ends with the wistful hope that while “human nature” may be responsible for perpetuating this fad (or these fads–unclear how many causal factors are involved), “surely, in its fullest and most extreme form, the phenomenon is now passing its peak”. I sure hope not! This is one of the _great_ things about the language, that we can be expressive in this extry dimension. They depend on context, but many of those are excellent concise ways to add connotative spin. One of the best ones of recent invention is “strategery.” A couple of those aren’t just variant pronunciations or deliberate mispronunciations (that’s two different things, there), but functionally distinct words. For example, “varmint” means an individual animal of a _vermin_ species (or, metaphorically, a person sharing some characteristic of same). ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/25 "2011-08-18T19:44:27Z")
I like to shout “viola!” but many people seem to think I just don’t know it’s “voilà.” I say it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/26 "2011-08-18T19:46:08Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > It’s not sammiches, Silly! It’s sangiches! I wash them down with a nice chilled glass of peanut annoyer. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/27 "2011-08-18T19:47:15Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > You see, my kids were in a foster home for 2 1/2 years. Bless her, she is a fantastic caregiver but her language skills… People like that oughtta be drownded! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/28 "2011-08-18T20:26:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > \ > ‘Bumbershoot’ surprised me. I’d always assumed it was a Britishism, but [World Wide Words](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bum2.htm) says it is of American origin, and first appeared in print in 1896. ‘It seems to have been yet another of those gloriously facetious bits of wordplay so characteristic of America in the nineteenth century.’ (Incidentally, Seattle’s Music and Arts Festival, called [Bumbershoot](http://bumbershoot.org/), is starting in a couple of weeks.) I thought so too, until I used the term in the UK and no one knew what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/29 "2011-08-18T23:43:47Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I wash them down with a nice chilled glass of peanut annoyer. Peanut annoyer? I used to work in a joint that had a regular customer who resembled Cheech Marin of Cheech & Chong fame. Some employees picked up on that and, obviously having no clue who C & C are, simply called him 'Cheech and Chong". It gets worse. Another employee, who apparently overheard his nickname, said to a new worker (in all seriousness), “he looks like Ching-Ching-Chong”. Anywho, just to pile on: Chimley. Flustrated. Orientate. Ironical. (I know the last two are in the dictionary; they’re still wrong). The only one I consciously use, and only on occasion, is ‘unpossible’. mmm ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/30 "2011-08-19T01:03:33Z")
I was in karate class with a guy who always said “ka-niff” for “knife” which got really old really fast when we did knife moves. My friends eat at Applebees a lot and call it “Assholebees.” I don’t particularly care for the place myself but it’s still grating to hear it called that. I don’t know why. Possibly because it seems so forced? Or it could be that I get irked when people make and use “derogatory”-sounding names for stuff that use or like. Such as “Windoez.” ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/31 "2011-08-19T01:19:47Z")
I worked with a woman who would tell preschoolers that next year they would be in kinneygarden:rolleyes: she really couldn’t pronounce kindergarten. We had a lot of family in-jokes about words, it’s just fun. And outsiders look at you funny, which is always amusing. We eat hors doovers, people are swave, cows chew their crud, we had our own catch phrases culled from books, TV or movies. Good times! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/32 "2011-08-19T01:21:05Z")
Ever wet your weasel? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/33 "2011-08-19T01:32:06Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Peanut annoyer? I’m trying to imagine what kind of sandwich would go well with pinot noir. Then again, I’m not a pinot noir fan anyway. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/34 "2011-08-19T05:36:26Z")
I’d like to drink some Mearlot from Missourah with the kaniggits who say Ni! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/35 "2011-08-19T05:59:15Z")
That’s an interesting questione you axed there. I used to say the town of Stoughton, MA where I lived with a bad French accent on purpose. Amused people at hoidy-toidy dinner parties. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/36 "2011-08-19T06:18:31Z")
My ex MIL would say she was not peculiar, instead of particular. I’ve used it on occasion, but no one gets it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/37 "2011-08-19T07:33:57Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > We use various combinations of swah-VAY and de-boner as the mood strikes. We also eat sketti and sammiches even though we have no kids. > > On mornings when the cloud banks hang low, or on very humid evenings, I am frequently heard to remark on how froggy it is outside. :dubious: I didn’t remember posting this … > [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I worked with a woman who would tell preschoolers that next year they would be in kinneygarden:rolleyes: she really couldn’t pronounce kindergarten. > > We had a lot of family in-jokes about words, it’s just fun. And outsiders look at you funny, which is always amusing. We eat hors doovers, people are swave, cows chew their crud, we had our own catch phrases culled from books, TV or movies. Good times! I have problems with aphasia, and being gifted with the ability to pick up foreign languages fairly easily as is mrAru we have the in family ability to wander through several languages in a sentence especially if I can’t come up with a word in english, Ill simply plug in the word I can come up with. A sentence may start in english and wander through french, german, spanish, japanese and end up with family-speak. Although as a joke we will sometimes throw in zarathustran fuzzy, klingon and dr-whovian. We will also use nicknames for foods - cods eyes and bathwater for tapioca pudding, stuff ripped off from cockney rhyming slang, old thieves cant, diner waitress slang, malapropisms that strike our fancy. Though to outsiders we just speak normal english… ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/38 "2011-08-19T10:44:03Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > “Stragedy” is a Bugs-Bunny-ism; so not your fault! Bugs’ writers did this to him a lot. 😛 > > I like to shop at Low-wee’s, but I hate to go to Home Des-pot. I like to give Target the faux-French pronunciation of “Tar-jhay”. ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/39 "2011-08-19T12:24:44Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I like to give Target the faux-French pronunciation of “Tar-jhay”. If you’re feeling particularly highbrow, you can also shop at “Jacques Pen-yay” (JC Penney). ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/40 "2011-08-19T12:39:11Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > If you’re feeling particularly highbrow, you can also shop at “Jacques Pen-yay” (JC Penney). Or dine at Mac’s Supper Club (you know, the one with the golden arches). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166.md?page=3)