# What words, when mispronounced, set your teeth on edge? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624 "2008-11-13T23:40:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/61 "2008-11-14T16:59:41Z")
I hesitate to even mention opinions on other people’s pronunciations after that trainwreck of a Pit thread a while back, but “ree-lah-tor” for Realtor still bothers me. > [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > UPS - oops - As in has the oops truck come yet. Half of this town calls it the ups (pronounced like the word “up” with an “s” on the end) truck. > [@Cisco](#): > > Very few words can really set my teeth on edge. I used to really hate NevAHda, ColorAHdo, Or-uh-gon, and Hahll-oween, but I’m pretty meh about it now. Not quite sure what you mean about Colorado here. I grew up there, and we all pronounced it with an “ah” sound in that third syllable. How do you say it? > [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Cache as Ka-Shay!!! I’ve never heard that in my life, although I’ve heard a couple of people say it with a long “A” (Caysh). > [@Wallenstein](#): > > Herb: not 'erb. Are you talking about herbs, as in the plants? There are people who say the H? ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/62 "2008-11-14T17:42:02Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Off-ten instead of Offen. > > Do you say Mois-ten? Glis-ten? No? Then stop with the Off-ten. Sad to say, but I think the off-ten folks have won this one. I’ve actually had someone correct ME (if you knew me you’d understand how ridiculous that is), advising that the T should be pronounced, and receiving an approving nod from a nearby nudnik. It’s now listed as an alternate pronunciation in the dictionary, so all is lost on that front. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/63 "2008-11-14T17:47:44Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Doesn’t set my teeth on edge but I don’t understand the need for it myself. I’m not religious but use of the word god in exclamations or as a form of expletive is understood by everyone which is why we do it. If you want to denote that you’re not willing to be deferential to said non-existent being then just use the lower case (god) like I do. It’s an SDMB thing: “\*\*Og \*\* – Variants include Og smash! and similar – One of the SDMB board deities. Og first surfaced as the result of a typo, from a former board contributor who misspelled the word ‘of’ and typed ‘Jesus is the Son og God.’ Hilarity ensued.” From [Beginner’s Guide to Glossary of Terms on Straight Dope Message Boards](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=320298). ---
**Author:** ![SharkB8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@SharkB8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SharkB8)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/64 "2008-11-14T17:51:05Z")
Larynx. I clench my jaw so hard I expect my teeth to crack when people say “LAR-uh-nix.” ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/65 "2008-11-14T17:51:45Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > I hesitate to even mention opinions on other people’s pronunciations after that trainwreck of a Pit thread a while back, but “ree-lah-tor” for Realtor still bothers me. Yep. Realuhter is almost, but not quite, as idiotic as Newkyooler. > [@](#): > > Half of this town calls it the ups (pronounced like the word “up” with an “s” on the end) truck. Yep, I hear ups (rhymes with cups) truck where I work as well. > [@](#): > > Not quite sure what you mean about Colorado here. I grew up there, and we all pronounced it with an “ah” sound in that third syllable. How do you say it? I don’t get this one either. > [@](#): > > I’ve never heard that in my life, although I’ve heard a couple of people say it with a long “A” (Caysh). Oh yeah. This is a bad one. Military folks say it all the time, and yes, it does grate. > [@](#): > > Are you talking about herbs, as in the plants? There are people who say the H Yes, there are many who pronounce it “hhherbs and spices” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/66 "2008-11-14T17:56:21Z")
> [@SharkB8](#): > > Larynx. I clench my jaw so hard I expect my teeth to crack when people say “LAR-uh-nix.” Hah! I hear the variation “LARnicks” all the time. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/67 "2008-11-14T18:09:59Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Are you talking about herbs, as in the plants? There are people who say the H? That’s the normal pronunciation outside the US (non-silent h). I always want to start talking about how 'eavy these 'erbs are when I hear the US pronunciation. > [@](#): > > Larynx. I clench my jaw so hard I expect my teeth to crack when people say “LAR-uh-nix.” +1 There are a few American pronunciations that totally weirded me out when I moved here. Capillaries as “cap-uhlairees”, for one. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/68 "2008-11-14T18:16:07Z")
I’ve never heard anyone prounounce herbs with a strong “h.” I would laugh at them. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/69 "2008-11-14T18:30:01Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Sad to say, but I think the off-ten folks have won this one. I’ve actually had someone correct ME (if you knew me you’d understand how ridiculous that is), advising that the T should be pronounced, and receiving an approving nod from a nearby nudnik. It’s now listed as an alternate pronunciation in the dictionary, so all is lost on that front. I know it’s acceptable, but I hate when they morph due to laziness or stupidity, where this particular pronunciation was born. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/70 "2008-11-14T18:36:45Z")
> [@Duhkecco](#): > > Vichyssoise as vichy-swa. Coup de grace as coup de grah eck cetera salmon with an audible ell “chicken pops” just makes me smile ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/71 "2008-11-14T18:47:30Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Coup de grace as coup de grah > eck cetera > > salmon with an audible ell > > “chicken pops” just makes me smile Chicken pops? ---
**Author:** ![Duhkecco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@Duhkecco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duhkecco)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/72 "2008-11-14T19:22:55Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > “EYE-ran” or “eye-RAN” instead of “ee-RAHN” (Iran) I thought it was more like “e-RAN”. Also, for Pakistan and Afghanistan (and all the other “stan” countries), I thought the last syllable was pronounced like the guy’s name, Stan, but I’ve noticed that “stawn” is common. What’s the preferred pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/73 "2008-11-14T19:40:07Z")
> [@Duhkecco](#): > > I thought it was more like “e-RAN”. > > Also, for Pakistan and Afghanistan (and all the other “stan” countries), I thought the last syllable was pronounced like the guy’s name, Stan, but I’ve noticed that “stawn” is common. > > What’s the preferred pronunciation? In the UK, it’s always pronounced -stahn, and in Pakistan too. Dunno about the other -stans; I knew a Kazakh guy who pronounced it the UK way, but he was in school in England at the time so I don’t know if that was his normal way. ---
**Author:** ![Headrush042](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/74 "2008-11-14T19:54:40Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Doesn’t set my teeth on edge but I don’t understand the need for it myself. I’m not religious but use of the word god in exclamations or as a form of expletive is understood by everyone which is why we do it. If you want to denote that you’re not willing to be deferential to said non-existent being then just use the lower case (god) like I do. It’s an SDMB meme; I don’t associate it with any sort of deference or sensitivity. ETA: :smack: **freckafree** beat me to it. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/75 "2008-11-14T20:01:37Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Not quite sure what you mean about Colorado here. I grew up there, and we all pronounced it with an “ah” sound in that third syllable. How do you say it? > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I don’t get this one either. I say Call-uh-rad-oh. “Rad” like that '80s skateboarding term, “that’s rad.” (Listen to the first pronunciation [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colorado). That’s how I say it. You’re saying you use the 2nd?) I have more friends and family (both sides) in Colorado than I can count, my parents lived there right before I was born, and I’ve visited frequently my entire life. I’ve never heard someone from there say ColoRAHdo. It’s usually people from the northeast who I hear use that pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/76 "2008-11-14T20:03:59Z")
> [@Duhkecco](#): > > Also, for Pakistan and Afghanistan (and all the other “stan” countries), I thought the last syllable was pronounced like the guy’s name, Stan, but I’ve noticed that “stawn” is common. > > What’s the preferred pronunciation? Depends on… your preferences. In the countries themselves, it is generally pronounced more like the latter way (indeed, “Pahkisstahn” rather than “Packisstan”), but like I pointed out before, there’s no need for you to conform to that. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/77 "2008-11-14T20:05:51Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Off-ten instead of Offen. > > Do you say Mois-ten? Glis-ten? No? Then stop with the Off-ten. Do you say Affer? Soffer? No? Then stop with the Offen. See, that’s the silliness of these “Well, you pronounce another word this way, so you have to pronounce _this_ one similarly” arguments. No, we don’t; they’re different words. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/78 "2008-11-14T20:06:22Z")
I’ve heard people say suspatula when they meant spatula. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/79 "2008-11-14T20:13:23Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Cache as Ka-Shay!!! > > Any idea how this happened??? Yes, it’s easy to see. It looks like a foreign (specifically French) word of the sort where such a terminal \ might often be pronounced out loud in just this manner. (Yes, I know it isn’t, but it looks like it, and even the lack of an accent mark in the typical English spelling is no great barrier (cf. “cafe”)). That on top of the etymological relation to such words which _are_ pronounced as “ka-shay” or close to it easily explains the emergence of this phenomenon. (I do not intend to defend it as currently a mainstream pronunciation, since, to the best of my knowledge, it is not. But, like I said, it’s easy to see where it’s coming from) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/80 "2008-11-14T20:16:15Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Chicken pops? Probably a goof of chicken pox. I know it’s a regional thing, but referring to your parent’s sister as an ahhhnt drives me bats. Similarly, calling an envelope an ONvelope. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624.md?page=5)