# 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:** 6
**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 23, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/101 "2012-10-23T11:50:11Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Similarly, “ourang-outang” from some 19th-C story (Poe?), before the Malay word had fully settled into English as “orangutan”. Actually, that’s an example of the English getting closer to the original- the Malay phrase it came from is ‘Orang Hutan’, ‘people of the forest’. ---
**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, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/102 "2012-10-23T14:14:27Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Actually, that’s an example of the English getting closer to the original- the Malay phrase it came from is ‘Orang Hutan’, ‘people of the forest’. Terima kasih! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/103 "2012-10-23T14:27:18Z")
My father-in-law is a Renaissance man of sorts- highly intelligent, cultured, equally adept at things mechanical and artistic. He’s just good at EVERYTHING. Which is why it’s so funny when, in the course of numerous conversations and book-readings about dinosaurs with my two pre-school-aged boys, he pronounces “diplodocus” with the emphasis on the third syllable. Dip-low-DOUGH-kus. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/104 "2012-10-23T14:43:42Z")
In real life, the words “favorite” and “mispronounciation” do not belong in the same sentence. Few things grate on my nerves more. So when I think of one that actually amuses me, the first that comes to mind was a skit on SNL with Alec Baldwin playing a surgeon who pronounced everything the way it was spelled. To this day, any reference the the bunghole is always _anal canal_ (canal rhyming with anal). The list of things my boyfriend mispronounces is too long to publish in it’s entirety, if you count the differences between British and American English. Which I don’t really; it’s just a fun source of ribbing between us. BUT, the one mispronounciation that gets my goat is “ashfelt” for asphalt. WTF? And he’s a contractor for pete’s sake. Is this a standard British pronounciation?Because it sounds too stupid to be true. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/105 "2012-10-23T15:03:56Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > BUT, the one mispronounciation that gets my goat is “ashfelt” for asphalt. WTF? And he’s a contractor for pete’s sake. Is this a standard British pronounciation?Because it sounds too stupid to be true. I’m not sure if it’s standard, but I have heard Elvis Costello use that pronunciation in a song (“Tart”). I wasn’t sure he was even saying “asphalt”. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/106 "2012-10-23T15:30:50Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > “Excetera” instead of et cetera. I’m not going to name names. I knew a judge who would pronounce it “ets-CHET-er-a”. Drove me crazy. > [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > It’s pronounced KILL-o- meeter, not kil-AH-meh-der. **Doom** , don’t listen to the heathens. You are correct: It’s KILL-o-meeter. Likewise it is not kill-AH-grum, nor is it cent-IH-meh-der. You are not alone. If my listening to CBC radio is any indication, really smart people (nuclear physicists, news anchors) agree with us. A coworker pronounces the word “meme” as two syllables: mee-mee (instead of one syllable, rhyming with “creme”). At first it was jarring, but I kinda like the distinction between the photo-caption-internet-phenomenon and the concept of ideas as replicators. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/107 "2012-10-23T15:31:25Z")
Debaser, you know that quay and key are homophones, right? ---
**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 23, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/108 "2012-10-23T15:36:06Z")
Mike Holmes and other Canadian home-improvement TV-show hosts seem to say “ash-phalt.” I wonder if it’s regional. Which reminds me, I’ve always heard host Scott McGillivray pronounce his last name “mac-GILL-uhv-ray,” but the girl who co-hosted _All-American Handyman_ this past season regularly pronounced it “mac-GILL-vur-ry.” Very strange, since he was standing right next to her most of the time. ---
**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, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/109 "2012-10-23T17:22:25Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > In real life, the words “favorite” and “mispronounciation” do not belong in the same sentence. Only one of those are actually words. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/110 "2012-10-23T17:37:56Z")
One I just heard this morning at a meeting. A guy was raving about a great movie he had just seen - Apo-coly-sip Now. Took me a few minutes to figure it out… ---
**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 23, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/111 "2012-10-23T20:01:38Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Just in from the front lines: > > Orientated. That’s not wrong, just British. My mother pronounces “tiger” the same as “tagger”. That always drove me nuts as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/112 "2012-10-23T22:46:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And she also did “flutterby” for “butterfly” now that I think about it, which I thought appropriate. Again on purpose though. Mmmm, have not thought of her for a while. I’ve seen it argued that, in fact, “butterfly” arose as a simplified (?) mispronunciation of “flutterby”. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/113 "2012-10-23T22:49:52Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > 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. I heard a nurse teaching a childbirth class use that pronunciation. Indianapolis if that is a clue? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/114 "2012-10-23T22:55:07Z")
> [@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 knew a kiddo in junior hi school whose last name was Llamas. He was hispanic, but considered himself to be fully assimilated into American life (and spoke perfectly native English). And we had a English teacher of Hispanic origin (well, actually Filipino, IIRC) who insisted on pronouncing his name Yamas. And he insisted that have an Americanized pronunciation, Lamas. Amusing arguments ensued, in front of the whole class. ETA: And I met a guy in Florida named Patillo who insisted that it be pronounced Patillo, not Patiyo. He claimed the name was of Italian origin, thus the pronunciation. Or maybe he just didn’t want to be mistaken for a Cuban. ETA2: Then there’s Avila Beach, CA. Pronounced AVila, not aVILa. Because the name is of Portuguese origin, where the pronunciation rules are different from Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/115 "2012-10-23T22:57:02Z")
Most of these just seem to be putting the emFASSus on the wrong syLABul. Complaining about this is the epiTOME of hyper bowl. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/116 "2012-10-24T00:16:23Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#): > > Most of these just seem to be putting the emFASSus on the wrong syLABul. Which would be the definition of “mispronounce” (at least in part). ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/117 "2012-10-24T01:11:06Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Then there’s Avila Beach, CA. Pronounced AVila, not aVILa. Because the name is of Portuguese origin, where the pronunciation rules are different from Spanish. The name Avila commemorates Miguel Ávila: the name has lost its accent mark, but not its original pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/118 "2012-10-24T01:20:10Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Only one of those are actually words. Oh look, it’s the typo POlice 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/119 "2012-10-24T01:28:14Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Oh look, it’s the typo POlice 😛 Well, considering the nature of the thread, I thought it was quite apropos. (And you say “typo”, I say “misspelling”) 😉 ---
**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 24, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273/120 "2012-10-24T02:28:51Z")
So, apparently **Ambivalid** is part of the apropos po po. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favorite-mispronunciations-that-you-have-heard/638273.md?page=7)