# 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:** 5
**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, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/81 "2008-11-14T20:38:33Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Probably a goof of chicken pox. Yep, a bunch of the ladies I knew in NYC mentioned in all seriousness that their kids had chicken pops. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/82 "2008-11-14T21:00:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I was hearing the **BI** -cycle, annunciation and not the bi- **CYCLE** annunciation. Even though this is a pronunciation thread (as opposed to a spelling discussion), I can’t resist saying that [_enunciation_](http://www.answers.com/enunciation) is the word you want here. [_Annunciation_](http://www.answers.com/annunciation) is a fine word, just not the right one for this sentence. The Christian concept of the Annunciation reminds me of the all-too-frequent confusion of _Calvary_ and _cavalry_. Besides the Arlo Guthrie song mentioned, there’s an older tune my dad listened (and maybe still listens) to. I don’t know the artist, but one line sounds like “Cha-bop-pit cha-bop-pit cha-bop-pit goes a mo-tor-sickle (mo-tor-SICKLE)”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Batman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@The\_Batman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Batman)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/83 "2008-11-14T21:05:14Z")
Missile as Miss aisle. Homologous as Homo Lagus - one of my biology teachers kept doing this. Defense as Dee fence - It’s only correct in football. Jalapenos as Jalopy noes. ---
**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, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/84 "2008-11-14T21:12:16Z")
Any other Americans been listening to the BBC lately? I still can’t get used to the Brits calling our new president elect “Obahmer”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/85 "2008-11-14T21:23:43Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > 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. See, I find it odd that you would equate your uncle’s wife with an insect. When I see an ant in my kitchen, I squish it. When I see my aunt in the kitchen, I expect apple pie. My wife has ants. I have aunts. Our children are going to be terribly confused. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/86 "2008-11-14T21:34:20Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > How do you pronounce “school”? 😃 _Taps foot_ Would you care to step outside? ---
**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, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/87 "2008-11-14T21:34:56Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Any other Americans been listening to the BBC lately? I still can’t get used to the Brits calling our new president elect “Obahmer”. 🙂 Well, at least this is only when followed by a vowel. ---
**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, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/88 "2008-11-14T21:36:25Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > The Christian concept of the Annunciation reminds me of the all-too-frequent confusion of _Calvary_ and _cavalry_. And the Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth, but that’s not a pronunciation issue! ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/89 "2008-11-14T21:37:32Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > Any other Americans been listening to the BBC lately? I still can’t get used to the Brits calling our new president elect “Obahmer”. 🙂 That doesn’t bother me, but “BARick” for “Barack” does. ---
**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, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/90 "2008-11-14T21:38:19Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > 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. I say “Ant” too, but have no problem with those who pronounce it like it’s spelled. My suspicon is “ahnt” was the original English pronunciation when it was borrowed from the French. The “u” was probably added at some point to correspond with the then common pronunciation. ---
**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, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/91 "2008-11-14T21:41:48Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Well, at least this is only when followed by a vowel. What do you mean? ---
**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, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/92 "2008-11-14T21:45:56Z")
> [@ErinPuff](#): > > That doesn’t bother me, but “BARick” for “Barack” does. Hahahah! Julian Marshall on the BBC does say Barick Obamer, as does Liz Doucette (sp?), but she pronounces hard 'R’s anyway, so it’s more understandable coming from her, but still a little weird to add an R at the end of a word that has none. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/93 "2008-11-14T22:53:22Z")
I kinda wish this thread could be free of lectures about why it’s technically correct to pronounce any bloody word as Throatwarbler Mangrove because it’s a living language personal idiom yadda yadda whatever. People just don’t like certain pronunciations. It’s not a matter of right or wrong. It’s simply personal preference. People have the right to vent about disliking certain sounds without a linguistics lecture every time. Regarding nuclear v. newkular, you know what? I don’t give a rat’s ass what Merriam Webster says about it. I hate the pronunciation newkular and that’s it. You can seriously fold that page from the dictionary into sharp corners and shove it for all the good it’ll do you changing my mind on that one. It could be correct as the day is long but that’s irrelevant to my feeling about it. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. As for mishievous, it’s pronounced mis-chee-vus. There is no i after the v. Another regionalism around here that I find jarring is acrost instead of across. What is with that? Everyone in central NY says it like that, but no one in NYC where I grew up does. I dislike it intensely. ---
**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, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/94 "2008-11-14T23:10:13Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > 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?) After listening to those, I definitely don’t say the first, and didn’t hear a whole lot of it in Boulder. However, I don’t say the second, either. On the great spectrum of pronunciations, I’m probably closer to the second one, though. > [@Rubystreak](#): > > I kinda wish this thread could be free of lectures about why it’s technically correct to pronounce any bloody word as Throatwarbler Mangrove because it’s a living language personal idiom yadda yadda whatever. People just don’t like certain pronunciations. There’s another factor, too. I spent a bunch of time trying to figure out why it doesn’t bother me when people don’t pronounce certain words like I do, but it does with other words. The different pronunciations of aunt or Colorado or defense don’t bother me a bit. Britishisms vs Americanisms don’t bother me. Southern accents vs. New England accents are all fine with me. But certain classes of “alternate” pronunciations really do get to me, probably because they don’t make any _sense_ to me. Things like nucular or relator don’t come from the influence of another language, or gradual vowel drift, or street slang, or popular comedy routines. They’re just lazy or erroneous ways of saying a word that caught on for some reason. I can’t find any logic to them, and that bugs me. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2008, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/95 "2008-11-14T23:55:06Z")
It’s become increasingly common to hear my home state pronounced “Ell-en-oy” rather than “Ill-in-oy.”. It bugs the everloving crap out of me…especially when newscasters do it, which is pretty much all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/96 "2008-11-15T00:59:12Z")
It was only a few years ago that my wife corrected the way I say “pronunciation”. I used to say pronounciation. After all, you pro_ **noun** _ce words, you don’t pro_ **nun** _ce them. Stupid English language :mad:. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/97 "2008-11-15T01:18:46Z")
“Yoo-man” for human. Forget “teeth on edge”, this just makes me want to KILL, for reasons I cannot fully articulate. JRB ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/98 "2008-11-15T01:45:55Z")
So, can I say stop flapping yer intervocalic alveolar without sounding prattish? Intensive purposes I’ve always liked forred but it’s now forehead Without further adew - snarl ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/99 "2008-11-15T02:08:16Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > What do you mean? British people do not generally pronounce “Obama” as “Obahmer” unless the next word coming right up starts with a vowel (it is an example of so-called [“linking/intrusive R”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_and_intrusive_R#Intrusive_R)). ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624/100 "2008-11-15T02:13:23Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > But certain classes of “alternate” pronunciations really do get to me, probably because they don’t make any _sense_ to me. Things like nucular or relator don’t come from the influence of another language, or gradual vowel drift, or street slang, or popular comedy routines. They’re just lazy or erroneous ways of saying a word that caught on for some reason. I can’t find any logic to them, and that bugs me. But they _are_ examples of the same common processes of gradual drift that are constantly at play in language; [metathesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metathesis_(linguistics)) (and/or [epenthesis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epenthesis)), the same process which gave us “cumfterbuhl” and “eye-ern”, as well as “bird”, “horse”, and “wasp”. They’re not “lazy” pronunciations; they’re not particularly any easier or harder to say than other common pronunciations, at least not in any objective sense. Mainly, it’s just that what one is accustomed to is always more natural than what one is not accustomed to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-when-mispronounced-set-your-teeth-on-edge/472624.md?page=6)