# The Pronunciation of Harassment **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889 "2000-07-17T21:02:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/1 "2000-07-17T21:02:37Z")
I can’t stand it when people say HARRISment. It bugs me, I don’t really know why. So, how do you say harassment? HARRISment, HERassment, HArassment? ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/2 "2000-07-17T21:03:48Z")
Huh–RASS–ment. Thanks for asking. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/3 "2000-07-17T21:18:50Z")
I heard that the reason that the newspeople prounounce it WRONG (aka HARRISment) is because that Anita Hill mispronounced it during the trial and the ‘sensitive’ newspeople didn’t want her to feel foolish. And it stuck. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![jayron\_32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/41988e/32.png) [@jayron\_32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayron_32)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/4 "2000-07-17T21:53:14Z")
Actually, at around the time of the Anite Hill debacle, there were jokes going around that went to the tune of "It’s not harassment unless you grab “her ass.” I’m not sure if it predated the whole “harisment/harassment” crap, but I d remember hearing the joke before I heard the word “harissment” for the first time. Just a WAG really. There are some people who insist that this is the PROPER pronounciation of the word, but no where in common speech had I (or anyone I have ever known) ever heard it pronounced that way until the Clarence Thomas hearings. ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/5 "2000-07-18T06:28:53Z")
This question was once asked on WKRP in Cincinnati. ---
**Author:** ![mega\_the\_roo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mega\_the\_roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mega_the_roo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/6 "2000-07-18T06:42:43Z")
The one word that bothers me more than harrasment is when schedule is pronounced SHEDule. What IS that? Oh, and what about MaTour? RAAR! ---
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/7 "2000-07-18T07:43:46Z")
Don’t forget “ad-ver-tizz-ment” (I’m bad at phonetic spelling) ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/8 "2000-07-18T14:18:32Z")
To quote my wife, who is infinetly more knowlegdable about such things: "It’s pronounced “ha-RASS-ment”. I refuse to “HAIR-ass” someone. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/9 "2000-07-18T15:24:49Z")
In British English, “harass” was pronounced, with regional variation, as both “har-ASS” and “HAR-ass.” “HAR-ass-ment” is a carryover pronunciation from the variant of “harass.” Anita Hill didn’t invent it, fer chrissakes. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/10 "2000-07-18T15:29:36Z")
Just after our Sexual Harrassment Indoctrination, one of my colleagues asked how the word should be pronounced. Another colleague answered: “Let’s put the ASS back in Harassment.” We all had a good yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/11 "2000-07-18T19:15:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kasuo \* > \*\*Don’t forget “ad-ver-tizz-ment” (I’m bad at phonetic spelling) \*\* Bad as you may be, I still know exactly what you’re saying. And yes, it’s very annoying. Although I mostly hear this one on the radio. **Mega the roo:** Yep. These are pretty annoying too. It’s skedg-ual and machure damn it! ---
**Author:** ![mblackwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5fc32e/32.png) [@mblackwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mblackwell)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/12 "2000-07-18T19:25:27Z")
There is an annoying one common around here. People pronounce color “collar.” It drove me nuts when I first moved here. And I drove people nuts telling them the correct way to say it. I think I have enlightened about 3 people as to the correct way to say it (years of saying that a collar is part of your shirt). One that isn’t common around here is saying “axe” instead of “ask.” very annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Tretiak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Tretiak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tretiak)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/13 "2000-07-18T19:38:12Z")
I would be interested to know why these pronunciations bother everyone? Frankly, as long as I know what the person is talking about they can pronounce the words any way they like. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/14 "2000-07-18T21:10:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tretiak \* > \*\*I would be interested to know why these pronunciations bother everyone? > > Frankly, as long as I know what the person is talking about they can pronounce the words any way they like. \*\* Reminds me of the one about the American who had been in England for a few years. One day he was asked why he continued to pronounce the word “Schedule” as “Shedule”. He responded by saying that he never went to an English “Shool” (I hope everyone gets this. It’s not really meant to be a written joke, but rather one passed on by word of mouth) ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/15 "2000-07-18T22:23:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tretiak \* > \*\*I would be interested to know why these pronunciations bother everyone? > > Frankly, as long as I know what the person is talking about they can pronounce the words any way they like. \*\* It’s just not right. It’s like, all your life you’ve known that two plus two equals four and suddenly someone proves that it really equals five. That would take a lot of time to get accustomed to. More and more people (that I know) are starting to say SHEDule. People who have pronounced it skedg-ual all their lives. Why? I don’t know. To sound sophisticated? Maybe. It just bugs me, like a pet peeve. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/16 "2000-07-18T23:28:44Z")
another word I hate when people misproun. is Uranus (7th planet from the sun). At one time it was your-ANUS but it was changed to the more pc YOUR-n-us. now it might sound nicer to say but thats no reason to change the word. I think the name change was started by the people who live there to raise property values ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/17 "2000-07-18T23:53:43Z")
A mentor of mine who was an excellent writer and editor and prided himself on word usage stressed to me many years ago that it’s pronounced HARassment. Because I respected him so and learned so much from him, I was determined to follow his lead, but I had trouble with it. He said, think of the name “Harris” then add “ment.” That helped, and since then that’s how I pronounce it. I just checked my Oxford dictionary (British), and they give only that one pronounciation. My American Heritage dictionary gives it first, and the second pronounciation (harASSment) second. I suspect there’s some Anglo-Saxon snobbism going on here, as is the case with “schedule.” The Brits say shed-ule. “HARassment” and “shedule” sound more, ummm…upper class, if you will. (I confess I’m an Anglophile, and deep down a snob, so I tend to go with the Brits.) ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/18 "2000-07-19T00:00:38Z")
Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Dan Quayle enter a spelling bee. Who wins? Quayle. He’s the only one who knows harass is one word. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-pronunciation-of-harassment/25889/19 "2000-07-19T01:05:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by manhattan \* > \*\*Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy and Dan Quayle enter a spelling bee. Who wins? > > Quayle. He’s the only one who knows harass is one word. > \*\* LMAO! Good one Manny.