# What words annoy you when they are pronounced correctly? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2003, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057 "2003-06-06T12:18:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/41 "2003-06-08T04:33:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tbg \* > \*\*Like Homer says, “Nucular. It’s pronounced nucular.” \*\* We Texans say it like George Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Freiheit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e8c25b/32.png) [@Freiheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freiheit)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/42 "2003-06-08T04:43:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jellen92 \* > \*\*There is a street named “Goethe” on the bus ride home… and all bus drivers pronounce it differently… it looks like “GO-THEE” or “GOAT\_HEE” but the correct pronunciation (which drives me MAD when I hear it) is “GER-TAH”… > > ARGGGHHHH! \*\* uh…what? It’s pronounced gö-teh. There’s really not an English equivalent to that ö-sound. There’s definately no R. And “GO-THEE” or “GOAT\_HEE” just sound stupid, stupid, stupid. Makes me want to start cussing auf Deutsch. ---
**Author:** ![Shana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@Shana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shana)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/43 "2003-06-08T06:45:14Z")
Hehehe **Thudlow Boink** …I feel just the opposite! I grew up in NY, but all my relatives were in RI - so I grew up saying “awnt”. To me, the other pronounciation is an insect! Ah well…it all depends on where you grow up and what sounds correct to your ears.😃 The word that really sets my teeth on edge is “expunge”. I’m not at all sure why, but it makes me extremely cranky! ---
**Author:** ![Spacegirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Spacegirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spacegirl)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/44 "2003-06-08T07:17:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by JuanitaTech \* > \*\*I have to admit I dislike it when _forte_ is pronounced correctly because my brain wants to know why someone’s telling me that cooking isn’t exactly their army post. \*\* Ok…it is pronounced _fort_, rather than _fortay?_. I am confused 😕. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/45 "2003-06-08T11:33:08Z")
Another vote for Al-you-min-e-um, A-loo-min-um just sounds wrong. I would add route…it’s root not rowt. ---
**Author:** ![Eternal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@Eternal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eternal)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/46 "2003-06-08T11:34:56Z")
Pubes. ---
**Author:** ![indecisive1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/41988e/32.png) [@indecisive1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indecisive1)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/47 "2003-06-08T12:12:44Z")
I think both pronounciations are accepted but hate it when people put the ‘T’ in often. To me it is ‘off-en’ not ‘off-ten’ ---
**Author:** ![MajorTom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@MajorTom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MajorTom)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/48 "2003-06-08T16:07:07Z")
Mauve, Taupe. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/49 "2003-06-08T16:32:16Z")
Por-sha. If you pronouce it that way, you have a small dick, and you’re going to have to sell it in order to make next month’s alimony payment, anyway. Besides, the 23-year-old you’re trying to schmooze isn’t fooled by your Hairclub for Men rug, and she’s going to have a roaring laugh with her girlfriends when she tells them about the middle-aged geek in the plaid sport coat that tried to pick her up at the gas station where she watched you put $5.43 in the tank, and you paid with loose change. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/50 "2003-06-08T16:53:52Z")
Mexico. The natives pronounce it mer-rico. It bothers me, as english speaker because the english X sound is a very very different from the r sound the natives place on it. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/51 "2003-06-08T17:09:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BluMoon \* > \*\*Ok…it is pronounced _fort_, rather than _fortay?_. > > I am confused 😕. \*\* **BluMoon** - the more common pronunciation is _fortay_, so you should probably stick with that. What **JuanitaTech** and I were lamenting is that even though we know how to pronounce is correctly - _fort_ - that pronunciation is so uncommon in the U.S. that one comes off sounding snobbish or silly… ---
**Author:** ![Guybud5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Guybud5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guybud5)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/52 "2003-06-08T18:30:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > But one thing I’ve been wondering about. I was once told that the proper pronunciation of the town where Jesus was born is “Beth-lum” but I have never heard it that way anywhere else. \*\* The Hebrew name for the place is Bet Lechem, or the House of Bread. Since the CH is a gutteral sound thats not found in English (Like the CH in Chanukah) it’s generally pronounced as an “h” sound. The TH in place of T is something that seems to happen whenever Hebrew has been transliterated to English in the past, like sabbath (Shabat) Chinereth (Kineret) and Ruth (Rut). I’d say Bethlehem is pretty close to correct. Bethlum sounds like a regional variation. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/53 "2003-06-08T19:19:48Z")
victuals (“vittles”). It just doesn’t match the spelling, and it makes me think of Jed Clampet. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/54 "2003-06-08T20:07:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rysdad \* > \*\*Por-sha. If you pronouce it that way, you have a small dick, and… \*\* Sorry, you’re just wrong. Google “porsche” and “pronunciation”, and you’ll get back many cites telling you you’re wrong. Here’s one… > **[How to Pronounce German Words in English](https://www.thoughtco.com/how-do-you-say-porsche-4071365)** > > Some commonly used and often mispronounced German words and how to really say them (without sounding hopelessly pretentious). ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2003, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/55 "2003-06-08T20:10:05Z")
As soon as I hit submit, I realized that of course Rysdad was saying it annoyed him when people pronounced “Porsche” correctly. My bad. ---
**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:** [June 8, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/56 "2003-06-08T21:01:12Z")
Kindergarten! It’s kinnygarden, damn it! Kinnergarden is also acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/57 "2003-06-10T18:58:01Z")
I don’t know if these pronunciations are “correct”, but it’s what people seem to say in any interview or public speaking type context: AAH-dult instead of a-DULT PROH-grum instead of proh-gram. For some reason those make me cringe. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2003, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/58 "2003-06-10T21:53:05Z")
Yup, I agree on “derailleur”. Makes me cringe. Just say derailler. And not spoken but written: it bugs me to see those college stickers on cars that say “alumnus/a” of a certain university. If you’re going to be so darn particular about the Latin, then manufacture two different stickers and let your educated students pick the right one. I don’t know when “alumnus/a” became an official word, but I see it _everywhere_. I consider myself a feminist, but I will not be offended by being called an alumnus. ---
**Author:** ![Kivick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/65b543/32.png) [@Kivick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kivick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/59 "2003-06-11T21:14:09Z")
go jeer ah NOT god zill ah ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057/60 "2003-06-11T21:59:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by WordMan \* > \*\ ***BluMoon** - the more common pronunciation is _fortay_, so you should probably stick with that. What **JuanitaTech** and I were lamenting is that even though we know how to pronounce is correctly - _fort_ - that pronunciation is so uncommon in the U.S. that one comes off sounding snobbish or silly… \*\* So we have to we have to affect a foreign accent to avoid sounding pretentious? _Quel ironie!_ Of course, one could simply say “strong suit”, “strong point”, or even “strength”, but what fun would that be? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-annoy-you-when-they-are-pronounced-correctly/180057.md?page=4)