# There are certain words one shouldn't mispronounce. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 25, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969 "2005-04-25T03:18:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/1 "2005-04-25T03:18:37Z")
Shopping with friends this weekend, trying to find a gift for my secretary for Administrative Professionals’ Day. As she is truly an incredible woman who has saved my bacon on more than one occasion, I wanted to find a great gift for her. This is, of course, impossible, because I am not generally a creative person. But in a certain store, I found some things I thought she might like. As he rang them up, the clerk said that they had a sale on a certain clock, which he pointed out. It happened to be a clock that my secretary had bought for me for my birthday last year. Not only does it tell time, it has a thermometer as well. In fact, during the winter, when the heat broke in my office, that clock was Exhibit A in my discussions with the building’s maintenance personnel. (“See? It’s now 3:00 in the afternoon _and the temperature has finally risen to a balmy sixty point two degrees!_”) So as the clerk extolled the virtues of the clock (which he would sell to us for only _twelve dollars_!), I turned to my friend and said, “It really is an excellent clock.” But of course, because I am an idiot, I didn’t actually say “clock.” I left out one critical letter. Then turned bright red and could not met anyone’s eyes until after we left the shop. ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/2 "2005-04-25T03:28:17Z")
I have been there, my friend. Far too many times. ---
**Author:** ![Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Spatial\_Rift\_47](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spatial_Rift_47)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/3 "2005-04-25T03:32:11Z")
Paging Dr. Freud … ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/4 "2005-04-25T13:42:36Z")
> [@Campion](#): > > But of course, because I am an idiot, I didn’t actually say “clock.” I left out one critical letter. And we all know what ensues after that! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/5 "2005-04-25T13:55:58Z")
Hey, they don’t call you “minute hand” Campion for nothing! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![klintypooh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3da27b/32.png) [@klintypooh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klintypooh)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/6 "2005-04-25T16:49:01Z")
You fool! How silly you must have felt saying lock. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/7 "2005-04-25T16:50:19Z")
I’m laughing outloud. Why? I just thought what would happen if Salavador Dali thought like **Campion**. _floppy_ ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/8 "2005-04-25T16:57:15Z")
> [@Spatial Rift 47](#): > > Paging Dr. Freud … So, was the clerk hot? Hmmm…excellent clock indeed…_wink_ Think of it this way: you probably made his day. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/9 "2005-04-25T18:17:00Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > And we all know what ensues after that! A fine, understanded allusion. Bravo. _golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/10 "2005-04-25T19:24:46Z")
I used to work at an answering service while I was in university. One evening, I did _not_ answer a call by saying **Good evening, Dock & Shipyard Workers.** I messed up _both_ words. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/11 "2005-04-25T20:06:49Z")
> [@captaindoesnotlikeyou](#): > > So, was the clerk hot? > > Hmmm…excellent clock indeed…_wink_ > > Think of it this way: you probably made his day. Yeah, he was hot. For a kid half my age. Who it would be all Mary Kay LeTourneau of me to go for. So if by “made his day” you mean “gave him nightmares about old ladies chasing him talking about cllllocks,” you’re probably right. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/12 "2005-04-25T23:03:34Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > One evening, I did _not_ answer a call by saying **Good evening, Dock & Shipyard Workers.** > > I messed up _both_ words. Shock and Dipyard? ---
**Author:** ![conurepete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a88e57/32.png) [@conurepete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conurepete)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/13 "2005-04-26T00:30:32Z")
At work we were discussing what we would do if we won the Lotto, and my co-worker happily declared “I would open a cathouse!”. It took her a few tries to collect herself and explain “A feline-animal shelter” ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/14 "2005-04-26T01:18:08Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > One evening, I did not answer a call by saying **Good evening, Dock & Shipyard Workers.** > > I messed up both words. Cock and Shityards? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/15 "2005-04-26T06:56:18Z")
Genesis 15:17 describes a vision to Abram in which a smoking “oven” appears. The King James Version identifies it as a _furnace_ while the New International Version translates the word as _firepot_. Jeremiah 36: 22 - 23 describes a scene in which a fire is burning near the throne. The place where the fire is burning is translated as _hearth_ in the King James Version and as _firepot_ in the New International Version. Again, in Zechariah, 12:6, the KJV identifies a _hearth_ while the NIV mentions a _firepot_. However, the New American Bible from which Catholic readings are selected in the U.S., the word is translated in each of those passages as _brazier_. Whenever an inexperienced reader is assigned that passage, we try to be sure that they know the meaning and _pronunciation_ of the word before they proclaim the reading. (We don’t always succeed in being sure they get it right.) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-certain-words-one-shouldnt-mispronounce/300969/16 "2005-04-26T07:19:12Z")
> [@conurepete](#): > > At work we were discussing what we would do if we won the Lotto, and my co-worker happily declared “I would open a cathouse!”. It took her a few tries to collect herself and explain “A feline-animal shelter” My mother thoughtfully bought me this [book](http://www.harbourpublishing.com/book.php?id=139) for Christmas after I announced I finally finished the LOTR trilogy for the first time. She made the book clerk blush when she gave him the title of the book she was looking for. 😛 Hint: replace the r with lit. 😃