# Word errors you discovered embarrassingly late in life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604 "2009-01-23T07:01:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/21 "2009-01-23T13:59:28Z")
I’m surprised by many of these, but I can easily see them happening. For me, it’s finally learning the pronunciation of words or names that I’d only seen spelled before. When I was much younger I was astonished to learn that “annihilate” was pronounced “uh-NILE-ate”. I thought it ought to be “ann-HILL-ee-ate”. I’d heard the word “annihilate” pronounced, but never connected the written word to the spelling. More recently, I learned that the nation “Niger” is pronounced “KNEE-zhair”. But all my life I’ve heard it pronounced “NIGH-jer”, and I’d always heard it pronounced that way. (And poems implied that pronunciation). Similarly, no one ever seemed to say “Qatar”, so we all apparently thought it should be pronounced “ka-TAR”. Until our recent military actions brought it to the fore, and a lot of us learned that it’s more like “cutter”. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/22 "2009-01-23T14:26:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > More recently, I learned that the nation “Niger” is pronounced “KNEE-zhair”. Really? I did not know this. In middle school I’m sure I learned it as Nigh-jer. My word? Longevity. I’ve evidently always pronounced it as ‘lon-ja-tivity’. About six months ago, I was on a conference call with two other people from my company and the attorney for the other side and I said something about the lon-ja-tivity of the deal, and the other attorney replied with “well, we’re also concerned about the lon-jevity…” I immediately thought “heh heh… lon-jevity. What he really means is… um… lon-ja-tiv… wait. Lon-ja-tivity? Lon-jevity? Oh. oops.” So not only did I get pwned on the call in front of my team, but I’ve been doing it this way all my life. D’oh. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/23 "2009-01-23T14:31:20Z")
The opposite of all this was the couple upperish-class kids I tutored for the SAT, who were so badly read that they knew words orally that they apparently had never seen in print. They would mispronounce the word, I would correct them, and they would have a surprised moment as the connected the word they had heard with the characters before them. These are not the type we’re likely to get as members here. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/24 "2009-01-23T14:50:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I \*just \*realized it really is mischievous, as in, “mis-chiv-ous”, not “mis-chee-vee-ous”. I thought the prior was a snooty affectation, but, uh, no. There’s no “ee” vowel after the v, is there? :smack: This is just dialectal variation. Written English has only one form; spoken English has two. I always say “mis-chee-vee-ous.” Lots of people do. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/25 "2009-01-23T14:51:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > For me, it’s finally learning the pronunciation of words or names that I’d only seen spelled before. I had a gap of some 20 years before first seeing a reference to “a very naughty girl” in a book and hearing a friend refer to himself as “a very _nooootty_ boy.” Notty, no-ot-ty, wonder what that is… NAUGHTY! Oh. My. Gawd. Playing “match the pronunciation with the spelling” seems to just be a natural part of learning English, whether it’s as a monolingual speaker or not. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/26 "2009-01-23T15:10:22Z")
Gauge. Who came up with that spelling? I found out this week how it’s really spelled. Another case of match the pronounciation with the spelling. The most embarrasing one? Heir. It was last year I found out the H is silent. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/27 "2009-01-23T15:20:11Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > For ages, into my third decade, I thought compliment and complement were the same word. While I knew quite well that they were different words, a typo there was terribly embarrassing for me once. I used to run a school which taught Traditional Chinese Medicine, Herbalism and Massage Therapy. As part of my duties, I’d go to health fairs and college fairs and stand there and look pretty and hand out brochures and answer questions and generally try to get people to come to our school. You know the drill. So one day the owners decide to get a big beautiful trifold display made to stand behind me on the table and look even prettier than I can manage on my own. (You see where this is going, right?) Despite half a dozen people proof-reading it, including, I must admit, myself and two English majors, the damn sign came back from the printers much like this: WhyNot’s Rinky Dink College Study the Art and Science of Complimentary Care :smack: Of course, we had no time to get a new sign made, and the owners were adamant that I bring the damn thing with me. I spent the next 6 hours saying things like, “Hey, that shirt looks great on you! …Feel better? That’s Complimentary Care!” and laughing over the whole thing with passers-by. It actually worked as an ice-breaker, but…yeah. How embarrassing! ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/28 "2009-01-23T17:08:16Z")
I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that “desultory” is pronounced “DESS-ul-TOR-ee” and not “de-SULL-ta-ree”. Yeesh!! ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/29 "2009-01-23T17:13:34Z")
It took me a long time to realize that the pronunciation Uncomfterble does not match the letters. Now I do pronounce it uncomfortable. And thank goodness for someone on the Dope who mentioned restaurateur, because that’s one I know I would have misspelled had I ever had the occasion to use it. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/30 "2009-01-23T17:19:30Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that “desultory” is pronounced “DESS-ul-TOR-ee” and not “de-SULL-ta-ree”. Yeesh!! Seriously? I did not know this. But then I’m only 45. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/31 "2009-01-23T17:19:59Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > The best place to discover that gaol is pronounced the same as jail is not whilst reading your essay on _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_ to an English professor at university. Oh thank you. That gave me a good laugh (and I definitely remember wondering ‘Where’s Gaol?’ while reading it for the first time). School is also not the best place to use the word ‘aficionado’ for the first time aloud. Especially not for a public speaking class. I only recently learned how to properly pronounce sepia. of course, now I’ve got that thing where I automatically use the opposite pronunciation from what I’d say instinctively– which now has me saying it wrong once again. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/32 "2009-01-23T17:22:05Z")
I once described to a friend in high school that something went terribly “AWW-ree.” He looked puzzled, and after a moment said, “you mean awry?” ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/33 "2009-01-23T17:23:26Z")
> [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](#): > > The best place to discover that gaol is pronounced the same as jail is not whilst reading your essay on _The Ballad of Reading Gaol_ to an English professor at university. I always thought it would be funny if that famous soccer announcer was dyslexic and yelled “JAILLLLLLLLLLLL!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/34 "2009-01-23T17:25:25Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > I once described to a friend in high school that something went terribly “AWW-ree.” He looked puzzled, and after a moment said, “you mean awry?” Awry. That’s one word that would seriously benefit from a dash: a-wry. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Casserole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b77776/32.png) [@Casserole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casserole)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/35 "2009-01-23T17:29:46Z")
I recently very confidently used the word “epitome”… except I pronounced it “eppy-tohm”… eheheheh 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/36 "2009-01-23T17:31:25Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that “desultory” is pronounced “DESS-ul-TOR-ee” and not “de-SULL-ta-ree”. Yeesh!! I think this is the first thing in one of these threads that has schooled me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/37 "2009-01-23T17:45:36Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > I once described to a friend in high school that something went terribly “AWW-ree.” He looked puzzled, and after a moment said, “you mean awry?” I have always known the correct pronunciation of “awry,” but every single time I read it, I mentally pronounce it “aw-ree.” ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/38 "2009-01-23T17:48:12Z")
> [@Martiju](#): > > Not sure I get that. ‘Complement’ as in ‘added to’ and ‘compliment’ as in ‘well done’ aren’t at all similar at all in my book. The way I think of it is that complement means to add something in order to make it complete, such as “good shoes complement an elegant suit.” So when I think about a compliment, it feels to me like something that makes a situation complete, such as if you have a wonderful party, and I say “Martiju, you are a fantastic host!” I am saying “well done” and also completing the concept of a good party by acknowledging your excellent hosting skills. If you had a party and no one told you how nice it was, that wouldn’t be very satisfying. (I do realize this is all in my own head, and not in the real world.) ---
**Author:** ![friggae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/45deac/32.png) [@friggae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friggae)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/39 "2009-01-23T18:14:18Z")
Who’da thunk that “acknowledge” wasn’t spelled “ignologe”? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sir\_Not\_Appearing\_on\_This\_Site](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Not_Appearing_on_This_Site)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604/40 "2009-01-23T18:25:29Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > I’m 53 and I just discovered this year that “desultory” is pronounced “DESS-ul-TOR-ee” and not “de-SULL-ta-ree”. Yeesh!! I have never seen that word before, or heard it pronounced, but I would have pronounced it correctly. Reading this this thread, I now I have always been pronouncing Niger incorrectly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-errors-you-discovered-embarrassingly-late-in-life/482604.md?page=3)