Well down here in Georgia we have THANKSgiving and we use UMbrellas and we buy INsurance.
Found out a couple years ago that it’s “palliative” (pal-i-ative), not “pallatiative” (pallay-shative). Somehow picked up a couple of extra letters and never heard the word spoken before.
I used to work with a woman who could NOT be convinced that the word “trilogy” (meaning a series of three books etc) was not TREE-ology.
It can be very embarrassing when one uses a word that is very seldom spoken or heard, but usually seen only when reading.
Many years ago I was having a conversation with a workmate about air travel and pressurization. I said something to the effect, “You have to equalize pressure through the Etruscan tube…” My workmate whimsically asked, “Where in Italy, are your ears?”
I was immediately embarrassed, as I knew my error! I do not think I had ever actually spoken the words Etruscan or Eustachian before, I had only seen them in print.
Sometimes I read **Mangetout **as Man Get Out.
I don’t exactly pronounce an “l”, but I do curl my tongue up in back a bit and make a more “throaty” sound for “folk” and “yolk” than “foke” and “yoke”. It’s not a “L”, but it’s a something…
I wonder if it’s an Illinois thing. Looks like most (if not all) of the people here with the “l” in “folk” (or some similar sound. Mine is also not the typical “l,” but there is something going on there that distinguishes it from “foke”) are from the Illinois area.
For the longest time I pronounced suite as “suit,” e.g. “We stayed in the hotel suit.”
My fiancé’s family says it that way. Sounds funny to me, too. They say THANKSgiving, INsurance, UMbrella and a few others that just sound so strange to me.
I’m with you. I would pronounce “folk” and “foke” differently, but not by exactly pronouncing the “l” so much as implying its presence.
My mom has a friend named Eunice. I used to think it was spelled “Unis.” The first time I saw it written correctly, I thought Eunice was pronounced you-nitch-ee, like it was Italian. I also have a 2nd cousin or something named Naomi. When I was little and my family was talking about her, I thought they were saying “Naoming,” thinking that it had a suffix in common with Wyoming.
I don’t care what you all think ;), I pronounce that L alright.
I did too. I am sure there is an internet support group for that. 
I think that’s a common pronunciation in the South … when I lived in Nashville (a few decades ago), I seem to remember actual local furniture store ads on TV referring to “bedroom suits”.
cj
I had always thought Chimera was pronounce Shim-er-ah since I had only read it in books. It wasn’t until genetics class in college that I realized it was Ki-meer-ah.
Could be worse. Think about how many people owe that one to Mission:Impossible 2.
I haven’t finished the thread, but I have to comment on this word. One of my coworkers pronounces this “duh BRISS” on purpose, to be funny. We work with a lot of foreigners, mostly Indians and Vietnamese. They think he’s pronouncing it correctly! I fuss at him and tell him (and them!) he’s teaching them wrong.
Drives me up the wall! 
I still have a hard time with this one. I have to stop and think about it and still get it wrong about half the time. If I use it when my partner’s around, I usually turn and ask her if I got it right. <sigh>
It’s also a California thing. We’ve even got a street in San Francisco to highlight the pronunciation: Polk Street. If you’re local, you pronounce the L. If you’re not, odds are you don’t.
:eek: Add me to the list. I’ve always read that word as de-SULL-tor-ee.
Hmm, I don’t pronounce the L in “folk,” but I would say the L in “polk.”
The word that tripped me up while reading out loud once was “queue.” I always thought that the thing you waited in was spelled “cue” and a “qway-yoo” was something else. :smack:
If it is, I wonder it it’s a city Illinois thing. I don’t put that ‘l’ in there, at least as well as I can figure out, now that I’ve said it a dozen times and it sounds funny no matter what.