# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/81 "2012-10-22T19:50:58Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > 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. [Yeah. Right.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kilometer) ---
**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, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/82 "2012-10-22T19:51:30Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > 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. Sorry but I _never_ hear anyone pronounce it the former; always the latter. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced that way once in my life. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/83 "2012-10-22T19:59:27Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Sorry but I _never_ hear anyone pronounce it the former; always the latter. I don’t think I’ve ever heard it pronounced that way once in my life. I’ve heard it both ways plenty of times. I consider both correct, but I use the latter. That reminds me of a former supervisor. She says sonnometer all the time. Apparently that’s a unit of measure. There are 2.4 sonnometers in an unch. ---
**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, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/84 "2012-10-22T20:04:32Z")
> [@scootergirl](#): > > 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. Ah! That makes sense. Kind of how, when I lived in Mexico, I couldn’t bring myself to pronounce “Popeye” as “poe-PAY-yay,” even though that’s how my Mexican friends pronounced it. ---
**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, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/85 "2012-10-22T20:14:49Z")
Damn you people all the way to the fiery pits of hell. **Earl Snake-Hips Tucker** , **Ambivalid** , I suppose I was either wrongly taught, lo these many decades ago, or modern usage has screwed yet another innocent word. How about micrometer? 🙂 I suppose kilometer is just so much more difficult to pronounce than millimeter, centimeter, nanometer; all words in vast everyday worldwide use. _grumble_ ---
**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, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/86 "2012-10-22T20:16:30Z")
_Has hurt-attack from eating too much pasghetti and needs ambliance ride to research at the libary._ In Febuary. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/87 "2012-10-22T20:16:46Z")
A colleague of mine pronounces Travelocity as _Travel O’City_. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/88 "2012-10-22T21:30:33Z")
Just in from the front lines: Orientated. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/89 "2012-10-22T21:44:33Z")
One that continually pisses me off is the common medical pronunciation of “centimeter” as SOHN-ti-meter. ---
**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:** [October 22, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/90 "2012-10-22T21:53:11Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > 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. Someone (possibly here on the SDMB) was telling me about someone pronouncing _queue_ as _check_. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/91 "2012-10-22T23:13:28Z")
As a kid, I saw the word “queue” written somewhere and thought it was “kwa-yoo-ee-oo-ee”. Other than that…once a student in a high school computer class pronounced the CTRL key on a keyboard as “Sitrull”. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/92 "2012-10-22T23:21:52Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > A guy I knew used to to like “JAAL-AH-pin-o” peppers (with heavy emphasis on 1st and 2nd syllables). > > I heard it pronounce like that so much I have to think about it before I pronounce it. What a goon. How hard is it to say ‘hap-a-LEYN-yo’? Shees. ---
**Author:** ![Rich\_Mann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ce73a5/32.png) [@Rich\_Mann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rich_Mann)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/93 "2012-10-23T00:44:04Z")
> [@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 had a Mexican coworker who always said ‘jes’ for yes. I wrote “lles” and asked him to read it. From then on he said it pretty much the right way. 🆒 ---
**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 23, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/94 "2012-10-23T02:05:52Z")
> [@Rich\_Mann](#): > > I had a Mexican coworker who always said ‘jes’ for yes. I wrote “lles” and asked him to read it. From then on he said it pretty much the right way. 🆒 I had written about how the Spanish “y/ll” sound is made by placing your tongue midway between the English “y” and the English “j” – but your data point indicates that, for some native Spanish speakers at least, whether it’s written “y” or “ll” can influence where exactly the tongue is placed (or at least is preceived by the speaker to be placed.) (The “ll/y” distinction is certainly big in Argentina, where “ll” sounds like an English “sh”. Say “Como te SHAmas?” with an Italian lilt, and you’ll sound like an Argentinian.) ---
**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 23, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/95 "2012-10-23T03:33:06Z")
Just remembered my grandmother would say “warsh” instead of “wash.” That seemed to be common in her corner of rural Arkansas. I loved my grandmother and would give a lot to hear her say it again. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/96 "2012-10-23T03:37:04Z")
Has “fustrated” instead of “frustrated” been mentioned yet? If not; “fustrated”. Fuckin’ a. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/97 "2012-10-23T04:09:51Z")
I had a supervisor who wrote things down with a ‘pilcil’. I always wondered if the writing instrument with ink in it might be a ‘pil’. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/98 "2012-10-23T06:49:16Z")
If “an hotel” is good enough for the [**unhappy John Hector McFarlane**](http://www.gutenberg.org/files/108/108-h/108-h.htm), it’s good enough for me. > [@JKellyMap](#): > > The Spanish double-l (and y) sound’s closest English equivalent is our consonantal “y”, . . . If cañon for canyon is good enough for Arthur [del]Coñan[/del] Conan Doyle, it’s good enough for me. Sorry, no link. Every search for that one turned up the Sherlock Holmes “canon,” and I suspect online editing and/or the North American market has changed everywhere it should appear to canyon. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/99 "2012-10-23T08:04:20Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Now…Most would agree that the word “llama” is now solidified as an English word, pronounced “lama”. I agree. Even my long-ago, Spanish-as-a-first-language girlfriend (from Spain) pronounced “llama” in English as “lama.” That’s what she called them when we visited the zoo. With me speaking only English, she never failed to call the animals, “lamas” when we were looking at them and speaking English. > [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > It’s pronounced KILL-o- meeter, not kil-AH-meh-der. I’ve found that most Canadians just say K (pronounced “kay”). I don’t know why; but I can offer that many Canadians will say that it is “eighty K” to the next town (meaning, it is 80 kilometers to the next town), or their car does “10 l per hundred K” (meaning their car burns ten liters of fuel per hundred kilometers). Certainly, it is not uncommon to hear that “it’s 720 K to Sault Ste. Marie,” or similar, when discussing distances. ---
**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 23, 2012, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/100 "2012-10-23T10:18:46Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Sorry, no link. Every search for that one turned up the Sherlock Holmes “canon,” and I suspect online editing and/or the North American market has changed everywhere it should appear to canyon. I remember “cañon,” too, from an old print edition of the Holmes stories. Well, they were written when cowboys still roamed the West, and the Spanish word hadn’t yet been fully incorporated into English. Similarly, “ourang-outang” from some 19th-C story (Poe?), before the Malay word had fully settled into English as “orangutan”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=6)