# What words do you \*intentionally\* mispronounce? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 20, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374 "2003-05-20T20:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/1 "2003-05-20T20:13:35Z")
Here’s my list:[ul] [li] bee-AH-itch for bitch. My hubby and I lifted that little gem from _The Great White Hype_[/li][li] BRO-ham for Brougham (as in Cadillac Brougham). This, too, is from _The Great White Hype_[/li][li] SAM-mitch for sandwich. It just sounds funnier[/li][li] HEE-ill for hill. We have a receptionist here who, when she pages Mr. Hill, says, “Mr. Hee-ill”. She’s so country![/ul]I’m sure there are more but those are the only ones I can come up with at the moment.[/li] OK, now it’s your turn. Tell me what words you intentionally mispronounce. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/2 "2003-05-20T20:22:10Z")
Pot-porry. And my brother _still_ thinks that’s the correct pronunskiation. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/3 "2003-05-20T20:27:27Z")
Poognant (for pungent). My college boyfriend once said it this way and I’m still (some 30 years later) not clear whether he was joking around. I _think_ it was a joke. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/4 "2003-05-20T20:30:51Z")
I say Fageetas (pronouncing the j like a soft G) for fajitas. I got this from a friend of mine. Her brother was partly deaf but a pretty good lip reader and speaker. No sibling sympathy there, of course, so she was always trying to screw him up. “Brian, it’s pronounced freeJolees! And it’s faJeetas, just like it’s written!” It got to be a longstanding joke and by the time I met her, after college, she’d been saying it that way for years. I picked it up instantly. I also say sammitch for sandwich, although only for certain kinds of sammiches. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/5 "2003-05-20T20:34:19Z")
I always refer to my cegep as Marymonotonous instead of Marianopolis. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/6 "2003-05-20T20:40:11Z")
Dropping eaves and being have for eavesdropping and behaving. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/7 "2003-05-20T20:48:55Z")
lol I thought we were the only ones who used to say _being haved_! We picked up that one from my oldest son. When he was little he used to say _being haved_ instead of behaving. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/8 "2003-05-20T20:49:31Z")
I like taking words, pronouncing the first letter as a sound on its own and the tackle the rest of the word. Just like those mouths of Sesame Street. It doesn’t work for all words though. And I have to say it fast for it to amuse me. Open the duh-or please. Where’s the cuh-at? Ah, she’s on the buh-ed. Let’s watch a muh-ovie. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/9 "2003-05-20T20:51:44Z")
By the way. That’s a glottal stop better the first letter and the word. Like the one in uh-oh. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/10 "2003-05-20T21:00:36Z")
Poozle for puzzle. Carotten (carotid) artery. Sangwich for sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/11 "2003-05-20T21:01:46Z")
My MIL was once confused becausemy SO had hit “mute” on the TV, but the sound was routed through the stereo so you could still here it. Misreading the TV menu function she asked “what is this ‘Mutting Show’?” So we call the “muting” on the remote “mutting” (or “mutting show”.) Sometimes I say “skizzors” for “scissors” just because it sounds more exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/12 "2003-05-20T21:03:05Z")
Intentionally mispronouce words? In-con-THEIVE-a-ble! ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/13 "2003-05-20T21:05:28Z")
Ugh! Nice typing… “hear” not “here” see what happens when this kind of thread turns up? I start messing up my homonyms… homophones?.. telephones… what was I saying? ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/14 "2003-05-20T21:10:00Z")
sketti (spaghetti) tatos (potatoes) froggy (foggy; from a tape recording my friend’s brother and his friend made when they were kids) supposably (thank you, Joey Tribbiani) sammich (sometimes, not always) Probably others, but I can’t think of them at the moment . . ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/15 "2003-05-20T21:14:07Z")
When I was young, I had to go to the hospital for some reason or other for regular visits and my father took to calling the hospital the “horse pistol” to make light of it and to make it less frightening for me. I picked it up and I have been saying it wrong for so long that when I really have to say it correctly, it actually takes thought. TV ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/16 "2003-05-20T21:16:54Z")
I say Greent for Green. My brother coined that one as a tot. It’s a family thing. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/17 "2003-05-20T21:19:50Z")
Us Poly-sci geeks have been pronouncing it in-KWIRE-ree instead of IN-kwa-ree for the last few months. We stole it from a group of kids at a Model UN conference who would use that pronunciation non-stop. We amuse ourselves easily. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/18 "2003-05-20T21:21:10Z")
pro-nun-si-kay-shon Never fails to get a laugh. No, not really. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/19 "2003-05-20T21:35:54Z")
Sammige for Sandwich and as in the thread in this forum right now, lebsian or lebenese for lesbian, cos lesbian is such a gross sounding word. ---
**Author:** ![Aranea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aranea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aranea)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374/20 "2003-05-20T21:43:55Z")
I like to pronounce the “g” in “gnarled.” It sounds more like its meaning that way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-do-you-intentionally-mispronounce/176374.md?page=2)