# Share your favorite mispronunciations that you have heard **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 19, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273 "2012-10-19T20:55:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/61 "2012-10-22T04:53:56Z")
My wife uses “ideal” for “idea”. (That’s the ideal!) I’ve tried to correct her a few times, even though it’s cute, but she persists. I think at least a tiny percentage of the reason why is just to bug me. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/62 "2012-10-22T06:14:44Z")
“Excetera” instead of et cetera. I’m not going to name names. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/63 "2012-10-22T06:15:16Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > LOL Why on Earth did you edit out the words “Vienna sausages?” ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/64 "2012-10-22T06:47:41Z")
The day that I can convince people that **llama** is NOT pronounced as **L** ama, it will be a happy day. In Spanish the double **ll** is completely different sounding - it is the sound of the English **Y** as in “ **Y** es.” Some folks say, “Yeah well in English it is pronounced as an L…” Wrong. Do you say the word “quesadilla” as if it had only one L? Nope, I can bet you don’t. Please Dopers, say Llama like this: \. That is the correct way to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/65 "2012-10-22T06:52:03Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > Do you say the word “quesadilla” as if it had only one L? I have heard this. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/66 "2012-10-22T06:58:57Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have heard this. Well, me too, and it drives me insane. Here is another: Let’s go to the liberry to borrow some books. Good god people! It is Li **BRARY**. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/67 "2012-10-22T09:59:48Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > The day that I can convince people that **llama** is NOT pronounced as **L** ama, it will be a happy day. In Spanish the double **ll** is completely different sounding - it is the sound of the English **Y** as in “ **Y** es.” Some folks say, “Yeah well in English it is pronounced as an L…” Wrong. Do you say the word “quesadilla” as if it had only one L? Nope, I can bet you don’t. Please Dopers, say Llama like this: \. That is the correct way to say it. I hate to be pedantic, but I can’t resist passing up this tiny teaching moment… The Spanish double-l (and y) sound’s closest English equivalent is our consonantal “y”, so you’re right about that. But tha actual sound is somewhere between o English “y” and the French “j” (the sound which appears in just a few English words, like “azure” and “pleasure”.) Thus, when we pronounce, say, the word “Maya”, or the word “llama” to a Spanish speaker by using a purely English “y” sound, the listener hears it as a bit oddly “soft,” because we give it none of that hint of French “j”. Now…Most would agree that the word “llama” is now solidified as an English word, pronounced “lama”. In nearly any English-speaking situation I can think of, you will be given strange looks if you pronounce it “yama”. You don’t say “tahbl”, do you? (It was borrowed from French – a thousand years ago, that’s true…) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/68 "2012-10-22T10:02:52Z")
ETA: The English word Borrowed from French I was referring to at the end of my last post was “table”. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/69 "2012-10-22T10:29:08Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I believe that’s a British practice. IIRC, it does not apply if the accent of a word falls n the first syllable. For instance, “a history” but “an historian.” (Brits, feel free to correct me on this if I’m wrong.) Huh, I always thought of it as American. ‘An herb’ is the one I always notice- we pronounce it with a much harder ‘h’, so that really sounds wrong to me. I’ve met the odd person in England who says ‘an historic occasion’, but it sounds really pretentious, and I was certainly never taught it as correct at school in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/70 "2012-10-22T16:04:26Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > The day that I can convince people that **llama** is NOT pronounced as **L** ama, it will be a happy day. In Spanish the double **ll** is completely different sounding - it is the sound of the English **Y** as in “ **Y** es.” Some folks say, “Yeah well in English it is pronounced as an L…” Wrong. Do you say the word “quesadilla” as if it had only one L? Nope, I can bet you don’t. Please Dopers, say Llama like this: \. That is the correct way to say it. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > I hate to be pedantic, but I can’t resist passing up this tiny teaching moment… > > The Spanish double-l (and y) sound’s closest English equivalent is our consonantal “y”, so you’re right about that. But tha actual sound is somewhere between o > English “y” and the French “j” (the sound which appears in just a few English words, like “azure” and “pleasure”.) > > Thus, when we pronounce, say, the word “Maya”, or the word “llama” to a Spanish speaker by using a purely English “y” sound, the listener hears it as a bit oddly “soft,” because we give it none of that hint of French “j”. > > Now…Most would agree that the word “llama” is now solidified as an English word, pronounced “lama”. In nearly any English-speaking situation I can think of, you will be given strange looks if you pronounce it “yama”. You don’t say “tahbl”, do you? (It was borrowed from French – a thousand years ago, that’s true…) You are absolutely right with your explanation of the sound of the letters mentioned, **JKellyMap** , though perhaps for me, it just does not ring right in my ears being that Spanish is my native tongue. I did not learn English until I was 12 years old. The strange looks do not bother me, and by the way, I have a kid named Maya. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/71 "2012-10-22T17:23:57Z")
> [@hrhomer](#): > > Why on Earth did you edit out the words “Vienna sausages?” I was making a dirty joke. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/72 "2012-10-22T17:37:22Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Actually that was the only one I could think of myself. I can’t think of any more. In older books, I’ve seen “an hotel” many times. [This article also suggests “an horrific [XYZ]” as well.](http://oxforddictionaries.com/words/a-historic-event-or-an-historic-event) ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/73 "2012-10-22T17:57:55Z")
youtube warning: [Atbout the 2:15 mark](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAAiSHSPk_w) there is a wordburgering of the word\*\* difficulty\*\* that is just wonderful. My wife and I intentionally mispronounce it so often that now I have to really think about saying it correctly at work. The whole video is only 3 minutes or so, it’s a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/74 "2012-10-22T17:58:36Z")
I know several people who say “acrosst” instead of “across.” ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/75 "2012-10-22T18:11:07Z")
> [@Herbal\_Lady](#): > > Once had a neighbor who needed his chimley cleaned every Fall. How do you get chimley out of chimney? > [@Sternvogel](#): > > I don’t know, but [_chimbley_](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/chimbley) is also fairly common. Chimney has a lot of variations across British dialects, including chimbey, chimbley, chimdey, chimmock as well as the aforementioned chimbley and chimley. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/76 "2012-10-22T18:14:41Z")
So you’re saying there are lots of ways to pronounce it in the British dialect fambly? ---
**Author:** ![svd678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@svd678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/svd678)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/77 "2012-10-22T18:55:40Z")
People I knew who visited the choirpractor also knew southmores, in their second year, and PutMAN rather than PutNAM. You also can tell when a well-read person has only seen an unusual word in print but never heard it spoken. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/78 "2012-10-22T19:19:57Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > So you’re saying there are lots of ways to pronounce it in the British dialect fambly? Well played. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/79 "2012-10-22T19:29:40Z")
Queue pronounced as quay. “Where’s my document that I printed? It must be in the print quay.” It actually got picked up for a while as a running joke in my office. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/80 "2012-10-22T19:34:47Z")
I’m not saying it’s my favourite, but the one I hear all the freaking time, and it bugs the heck out of me, is kilometer. It’s pronounced KILL-o- meeter, not kil-AH-meh-der. Words that end with -meter, that are pronounced \_\_\_\_\_ -meh-der, are _measuring devices_ for something or another. Words that end with -meter and are _units of distance_, are invariably supposed to be pronounced \_\_\_\_\_\_-meeter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=5)