# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/61 "2011-08-21T17:18:15Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I mentally translate “reason for being” as “earth grape.” (You know, from the French phrase: _raisin de terre_.) What is that ? I’m francophone (and fairly savvy in lexicology) but never heard it. ---
**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 21, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/62 "2011-08-21T17:20:54Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > What is that ? I’m francophone (and fairly savvy in lexicology) but never heard it. You’re going to :smack: yourself… ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/63 "2011-08-21T18:15:25Z")
I used to have a little dog. She was a Yorkshire Terrorist. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/64 "2011-08-21T18:47:42Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > What is that ? I’m francophone (and fairly savvy in lexicology) but never heard it. It’s a mispronunciation/misspelling of Raison d’être ---
**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 21, 2011, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/65 "2011-08-21T20:15:47Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > It’s a mispronunciation/misspelling of Raison d’être I say ‘raisin detritus’. Slippers: Schleppers Sleeping: Schlepping ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/66 "2011-08-21T22:16:39Z")
> [@Cheez\_Whia](#): > > I like to shop at Low-wee’s, but I hate to go to Home Des-pot. I say Home Despot, but leave Lowe’s unaltered. My daughter stopped by a French cafe last night and brought us home some Creamy Brulie. The wife of friend will arrive at a party and realizing she didn’t bring something with her says, “I forleft it!” ---
**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 22, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/67 "2011-08-22T00:53:03Z")
One of the side dishes I made tonight was ‘all-rotten potatoes’. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/68 "2011-08-22T03:32:49Z")
Once, when drunk, I tried to order a “Case of Dillas” from Taco Bell. My equally drunk friend replied, with genuine surprise, “They sell them by the case now?” ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/69 "2011-08-22T03:41:31Z")
More recently, my father-in-law almost had my daughter convinced that our favorite Thai restaurant was serving us toes. “Didn’t you hear your dad order the ‘toe food’?” She about died laughing when she finally got it, though. ---
**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 22, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/70 "2011-08-22T03:56:03Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I say ‘raisin detritus’. > > Slippers: Schleppers > Sleeping: Schlepping Oh, and ‘schlezzy’. ‘Ze vetter is schlezzy.’ ---
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/71 "2011-08-22T06:24:08Z")
There’s always Kuh-Niffy (knife), and Kuh-Nee (knee), as well as cohm-buh (comb), bahmbuh (bomb), and toombah (tomb). Of course when talking about toombah, my teenager complains about marching rubber bands and pick-at-lowes (piccolos). Fun with words is fun. Adding placing the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble makes for very interesting subversions, especially if one adds dribs and drabs of furriner tungs, well-done, of course (and in sandy witches). ---
**Author:** ![StaudtCJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@StaudtCJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StaudtCJ)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/72 "2011-08-22T06:32:59Z")
In all seriousness, mispronunciation relative to how something is actually spelled, deliberate mistakes in tenses, addition of foreign words, puns, homonyms, antonyms, synonyms, alliteration, onomatopoeia, and so on, add a dimension of fun to the language that may confuse those not in on the game, but truly helped my kids (according to them) gain a depth of knowledge in utilizing proper English. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166/73 "2011-08-22T17:19:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > You’re going to :smack: yourself… I could never have guessed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saying-it-wrong-on-porpoise/593166.md?page=3)