# Words or phrases you always say in an odd way **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507 "2010-10-08T16:22:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/1 "2010-10-08T16:22:56Z")
There are a few words and phrases that I cannot just say naturally. “Accoutrements,” for example, requires an exaggerated fake-French accent and an exclamation point: accoutreMON! “Making love” needs a Barry White flair. I know I have others, but I can’t think of them. Do you have any words that, for whatever reason, you always say strangely or with a funny inflection? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/2 "2010-10-08T16:31:10Z")
I get _head and tail_ and _hide nor hair_ mixed up and it comes out, "They never saw _hide nor tail of him again."_ ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/3 "2010-10-08T16:34:47Z")
Not me, but someone I was in a meeting with the other day. She kept saying “that away.” “We have to stop taking afternoon breaks, that away we can keep on working.” It was distracting enough that I totally lost track of what she was saying. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/4 "2010-10-08T17:15:02Z")
“Excuse me, but do you have a license for the monkey” must be said in a fake French accent. And, of course, there’s “Tar-zhay” instead of Target. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/5 "2010-10-08T17:20:31Z")
“Hi there” is always said in the best Freddie “Boom-Boom” Washington voice I can manage. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/6 "2010-10-08T17:22:48Z")
Whenever I’m referring to toilet paper to my spouse, I call it “terlet paper” (in an Archie Bunker accent). When I refer to BART (the local rapid transit) I almost always say it as if Marge Simpson was yelling at her son: “Bart!” I had to stop referring to “Davey Tree Service” in a Goliath voice (“DAY-vee!”) because I annoyed the spouse enough that he asked me to stop. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/7 "2010-10-08T17:28:17Z")
them: You don’t like pizza, do you? me: Who says not? Many people have given me funny looks. My girlfriend always asks me, “who says that?” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/8 "2010-10-08T18:11:34Z")
“Not any more.” ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/9 "2010-10-08T18:58:26Z")
I always pronounce “penchant” the french way. Also, I live near a town called Elliot. I can’t drive through it without saying Elliot in an ET voice. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/10 "2010-10-08T19:04:59Z")
I always say and write odd-vious. “Well, isn’t that odd-vious.” I do not know why. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/11 "2010-10-08T19:11:52Z")
Ever since Dubya fouled up this saying I try to say it just like he did: “It’s like the old saying, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on… shame on… the point is we can’t get fooled again!” ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/12 "2010-10-08T19:18:18Z")
Thanks to my Hoosier heritage, I pronounce “across” as “acrost”. I can’t help myself. I also say “a whole nother”, and remember how shocked I was when I found out that it wasn’t proper English. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/13 "2010-10-08T19:28:32Z")
“People in Hell want ice water.” demands a drawl. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/14 "2010-10-08T19:49:46Z")
“Fuggedaboutit!” It has a variety of uses. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/15 "2010-10-08T22:21:35Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > “Not any more.” Said in a Clouseau voice? ---
**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:** [October 8, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/16 "2010-10-08T22:46:05Z")
It’s never foggy at my house . . . it’s “a little froggy outside.” Based on a goofy tape my friend’s brothers made many moons ago. We also have a “dog accent” that’s reserved for talking to (duh) the dogs. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/17 "2010-10-08T22:58:50Z")
I must say “schedule” with that pretentious British pronounciation using the “sh” in “shovel.” Pretentious if one is not British, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Gilliver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5fc32e/32.png) [@Gilliver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilliver)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/18 "2010-10-08T23:08:13Z")
“That’s not my dog” well, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/19 "2010-10-08T23:27:02Z")
When a fair maiden says to me _“I love you”_, my _“I love you, too”_ reply always comes out, _“right back atcha, baby”_, along with a pistol simulating finger point, two tongue clicks and an exaggerated wink. This serves me well in most cases, but I do get a few stares when I’m replying to mom. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507/20 "2010-10-09T00:36:47Z")
If my wife (Malaysian-born, of South Indian ancestry) uses the word “properly” when American-born English speakers would use some synonym of “thoroughly”, I will break into an attempted Apu-esque Indian American accent for a sentence or two, and say something like "_I will beat you properly!"_, as in a father scolding a naughty child. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-or-phrases-you-always-say-in-an-odd-way/556507.md?page=2)