# What other "words" have disagreements on pronunciation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 26, 2011, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178 "2011-11-26T19:57:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/21 "2011-11-29T15:01:16Z")
Wait, some people pronounce it “Care”?! I’ve never heard that 😮 I pronounce it basically “karr” (like the first syllable of character) I’ve heard char like charcoal before, but never care. Is this a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/22 "2011-11-29T20:49:07Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > Wait, some people pronounce it “Care”?! I’ve never heard that 😮 > > I pronounce it basically “karr” (like the first syllable of character) > I’ve heard char like charcoal before, but never care. Is this a regional thing? I pronounce the first syllable of “character” like “care”. Is “karr” the same as how you pronounce “car”, or something else? I’m in the US, midwest. Where are you. I’ve never heard someone say car-ack-ter, only care-ack-ter (the “r” sort of rolls into the next syllable, but whatever). ---
**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:** [November 29, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/23 "2011-11-29T20:52:50Z")
There’s also “kludge” which true (Scotsmen) geeks pronounce with a long “u” instead of a short “u” a la “sludge”. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/24 "2011-11-29T21:08:54Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I’ll ignore the silly digs at typos to say they pronounce it Harris-ment (I think that’s more accurate than HERRismnt) more specifically in order to avoid saying “her ass.” Everyone who pronounces Harris-ment is jerk, btw. They are the same people who pronounce “advertisement” as adVERTISSment and “mature” as ma-tour. Bastards, all of them. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2011, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/25 "2011-11-29T23:29:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > There’s also “kludge” which true (Scotsmen) geeks pronounce with a long “u” instead of a short “u” a la “sludge”. I Pit those who spell it “kludge”, common though this is! The only pronunciation I know of, has it rhyming with “stooge” or “huge” or “subterfuge”. Thus, the only acceptable spelling is “kluge” (or possibly “klooge”, which I’ve seen less often). If “kludge” were the right spelling, it should rhyme with: [ul] [li] budge[/li][li] fudge[/li][li] grudge[/li][li] judge[/li][li] nudge[/li][li] sludge[/li][li] trudge[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/26 "2011-11-30T12:12:29Z")
I have heard html pronounced as “hotmail” which I found confusing. I pronounce it “aitch-tee-em-ell.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/27 "2011-11-30T16:04:16Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I have heard html pronounced as “hotmail” which I found confusing. I pronounce it “aitch-tee-em-ell.” I thought it was pronounced “hotmetal”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/28 "2011-11-30T16:26:55Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > They are the same people who pronounce “advertisement” as adVERTISSment and “mature” as ma-tour. Bastards, all of them. Or “details” as “de-TAILS.” Gah! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/29 "2011-11-30T18:34:09Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Or “details” as “de-TAILS.” Gah! :::hijack::: A depressing number of results come up if you Google “Deatails are important”. ---
**Author:** ![Scathach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Scathach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scathach)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/30 "2011-12-02T14:23:02Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > I pronounce the first syllable of “character” like “care”. Is “karr” the same as how you pronounce “car”, or something else? I’m in the US, midwest. Where are you. I’ve never heard someone say car-ack-ter, only care-ack-ter (the “r” sort of rolls into the next syllable, but whatever). My mind is blown. To me the first syllable of character is pretty much like car, yes. So for “char”, I just say car. (As do the majority of people here, (Ireland)). I’m assuming you pronounce character like the example in this page [character - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/character) ? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/31 "2011-12-02T14:30:59Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > I’m assuming you pronounce character like the example in this page [character - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/character) ? US Midwest checking in. Yes, that sounds almost exactly like how I pronounce “character.” ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/32 "2011-12-02T14:33:47Z")
I say deck, because I always conceptualized it like a deck of cards. A double ended queue is basically the properties of a stack and a queue combined, you can only add and remove at the top and bottom of the pile, just like drawing/adding from the top/bottom of a deck of cards. That’s how it was taught to me so I always assumed that “deque” was just a clever pun by the people who invented the name. If somebody said “DEE queue” then I’d assume they were using the VERB “dequeue” meaning “to remove in a first in-first out manner.” Well… that or talking about Dairy Queen. As for char, I’ve always said char, like what fire does to things, I’ve never heard “care” even if, I suppose, it technically makes more sense as an abbreviation now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/33 "2011-12-02T14:47:59Z")
I have always heard the data type char pronounced to rhyme with car and far. Another type, varchar(variable character) gets the same treatment. The syllables rhyme, and neither is pronounced as it is in the actual words. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/34 "2011-12-02T17:19:23Z")
> [@Scathach](#): > > My mind is blown. To me the first syllable of character is pretty much like car, yes. So for “char”, I just say car. (As do the majority of people here, (Ireland)). > > I’m assuming you pronounce character like the example in this page [character - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/character) ? I only noticed this the other day in another thread. Char is pronounced “Care” or “Kerr” in a lot of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/35 "2011-12-02T18:00:38Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I have always heard the data type char pronounced to rhyme with car and far. Another type, varchar(variable character) gets the same treatment. The syllables rhyme, and neither is pronounced as it is in the actual words. I’ve heard char pronounced “char” or “care” and maybe “car”, but varchar only as “var char”, with the digraph “ch”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/36 "2011-12-02T18:04:26Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I only noticed this the other day in another thread. Char is pronounced “Care” or “Kerr” in a lot of the US. Actually :smack: it was post #2 in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/37 "2011-12-02T18:17:36Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Or “details” as “de-TAILS.” Gah! There’s a lot of that stuff in “announcer speak.” fih-NANCE for example, instead of FYE-nance. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/38 "2011-12-02T19:22:33Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I only noticed this the other day in another thread. Char is pronounced “Care” or “Kerr” in a lot of the US. American programmer here. I pronounce it as “car” (with a rhotic accent). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/39 "2011-12-02T19:48:45Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > I have heard html pronounced as “hotmail” which I found confusing. I pronounce it “aitch-tee-em-ell.” I think people who pronounce “html” as “hotmail” do so because they mistakenly think the former is the abbreviation for the latter; they’ve heard of hotmail, know it’s a Microsoft service, assume that Microsoft is ultimately responsible for all things internet-related, and draw what seems to them to be a reasonable conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178/40 "2011-12-02T20:45:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think people who pronounce “html” as “hotmail” do so because they mistakenly think the former is the abbreviation for the latter; they’ve heard of hotmail, know it’s a Microsoft service, assume that Microsoft is ultimately responsible for all things internet-related, and draw what seems to them to be a reasonable conclusion. …and that’s just sad. I realize not everyone is computer literate, but as someone who is, it’s hard to see it from the other side. Upon reflection, I think I was mistaken in my earlier post. I think I might say “char” like “charcoal”… I am not sure I’ve ever pronounced “charmap” out loud, so I did so experimentally in the car today, and “care-map” felt weirder than “char-map” to say. I’ve never come across “char” on its own, so I can’t even begin to know how I’d say it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-other-words-have-disagreements-on-pronunciation/604178.md?page=3)