# Very stupid overheard conversations **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2020, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858 "2020-11-30T21:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/301 "2021-02-07T02:51:45Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > (I still mispronounce “Hostil”(Hostile), in my head at least. (It should be pronounded HOStil but I think of it as hosTIL)) Because it ends in a consonant other than n or s, but has no accent tilde anywhere, it’s “aguda” and the stress should be on the last syllable – just that it’s supposed to be only subtly so. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/302 "2021-02-07T13:47:30Z")
There is a road near me called “The Slough”. When the locals heard me say it as if it rhymed with cow, they looked at me as if I was daft. It’s called 'The Sluff" mate. A nearby town called Alcester is pronounced Alster by locals. Very confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/303 "2021-02-07T16:10:43Z")
I had a conversation with an almond grower once and he explained that when they’re on the tree they’re ALLmonds, but when they ripen and fall off it knocks the L out of them. (AMMonds) Just a little almond farmer humor for ya. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/304 "2021-02-07T16:29:50Z")
Like this? ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/305 "2021-02-07T16:31:50Z")
It’s understandable, except perhaps for the failure to check beforehand, but I do remember my -rather stuck up- head teacher reading an announcement to the whole school regarding the date of the school um…the… seel-duh-huh? That would be the [ceilidh](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A8ilidh), if you’re wondering. I do suspect it may have been deliberate trollery on the part of the music teacher to hand her the note last second, as he was the organiser, and made no secret of the fact he thought she was a snob. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/306 "2021-02-07T17:20:01Z")
Now I’m confused, so I was pronouncing it right? I could swear I was corrected on my pronunciation for stressing the second syllabe when I was seven or so. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/307 "2021-02-07T17:36:01Z")
Ricky had some trouble with that whole “ough” thing. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MAL9VD6Lz9Y/hqdefault.jpg "Learning English: "Ough" is tough to figure out") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAL9VD6Lz9Y) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/308 "2021-02-07T17:39:22Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/XamiG6FSWc0/hqdefault.jpg "Cómo se pronuncia Hostil") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XamiG6FSWc0) However, I am also aware that some dialect variations tend to treat it as unstressed, or the “i” is just _extremely_ short so you _hear_ more “o”, as in the example here [https://es.howtopronounce.com/spanish/hostil](https://es.howtopronounce.com/spanish/hostil) /sideline ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/309 "2021-02-07T18:05:09Z")
I think I must’ve remembered wrong then I must’ve been corrected the other way around as a child. (which means I was pronouncing “hostil” in the wrong way NOW, luckily is not a word we use much in colloquial riverplatense spanish). 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/310 "2021-02-08T06:30:17Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > There is a road near me called “The Slough”. When the locals heard me say it as if it rhymed with cow, they looked at me as if I was daft. It’s called 'The Sluff" mate. We used to fish in a marshy slough. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) gives it the pronunciation of /sloo/ with alternate spellings of “slew” and “slue”. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/311 "2021-02-08T08:05:25Z")
In BrE: Slough, the soft or marshy place, is pronounced to rhyme with “how”. A regional variation, rhyming with “slew, through” died out in the 1800s, although it survives to some extent in US and Canadian English, where the word is sometimes spelt slew, sloo or sleugh. Slough, the discarded skin or a snake or lizard or other discarded material, rhymes with “rough, tough, snuff”, as does the associated verb. Slough as a proper noun, the name of a place, is pronounced however the indigenes of that place pronounce it. In the case of Slough in Berkshire, which is the most prominent place of that name, the pronunciation is the same as for the marshy place. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/312 "2021-02-08T08:46:34Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > Heard a couple overlooking a scenic vista and commenting how picture-skew it was. It’s a word that I’ve heard deliberately mispronounced as an ironic joke. But always in the U.K., I think Americans don’t do that kind of silly self-deprecating humor so much. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/313 "2021-02-08T10:17:09Z")
> [@UDS1](#): > > In the case of Slough in Berkshire, which is the most prominent place of that name, the pronunciation is the same as for the marshy place Most people would agree that this is entirely appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/314 "2021-02-08T11:53:34Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > > [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > > > Heard a couple overlooking a scenic vista and commenting how picture-skew it was. > > It’s a word that I’ve heard deliberately mispronounced as an ironic joke. But always in the U.K., If you saw some of my photos, that pronunciation would be entirely accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/315 "2021-02-08T14:12:19Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > We used to fish in a marshy slough. [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) gives it the pronunciation of /sloo/ with alternate spellings of “slew” and “slue”. “The goo in the slough gets mainly in your shoe.” Emaline Fetty, 1964. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/316 "2021-02-08T17:50:48Z")
There’s a nature preserve not too far from us called “Cranberry Slough.” I never know how in the hell it’s supposed to be pronounced around here as “slough” is not a word I’ve ever heard in conversation here. I don’t know if we rhyme it with “cow” or “coo.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/317 "2021-02-08T18:00:27Z")
It’s pronounced “Throatwabbler Mangrove”. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/318 "2021-02-08T18:54:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s a nature preserve not too far from us called “Cranberry Slough.” I never know how in the hell it’s supposed to be pronounced around here as “slough” is not a word I’ve ever heard in conversation here. I don’t know if we rhyme it with “cow” or “coo.” As best I know, US pronunciation is pretty much universally consistent as “slew”. So as in “The knight slew the dragon.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/319 "2021-02-08T18:56:38Z")
Yeah, but we’re in the Chicago area, where “route” is usually “ROWT” instead of “ROOT,” so I never know. My assumption, though, is probably “slew.” ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858/320 "2021-02-08T19:05:17Z")
Since ‘slew’ and ‘slOW’ (like ‘cow’) are both acceptable, I persist in calling it ‘slOW’ since that’s how I first said it in my head when I encountered the word. At the time, I asked my mother how to pronouce and she didn’t know, so we looked it up. We mentioned this to a family friend who is a fairly prominent English professor, and he insisted if was ‘sluff’. We told him that wasn’t listed in the dictionary, and he was incredulous. He pulled out his “best ever, fully complete, absolutely authoritative” dictionary (can’t remember which now, but not one I had heard of at the time) to prove us wrong, and lo and behold, ‘sluff’ just refers to snake skin, and the boggy place is definitely not ‘sluff’. He was mortified, I think, because he had been calling it a ‘sluff’ in college classes on Pilgrim’s Progress for _decades_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/very-stupid-overheard-conversations/926858.md?page=17)