# Words that make you cringe when people pronounce the whole thing! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 17, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385 "2016-02-17T22:48:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**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:** [February 20, 2016, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/81 "2016-02-20T17:58:36Z")
Finally got one not already posted (if my search went right this time). Oregon. No, I’m not talking about the awful way New Yorkers and such pronounce it. But the way an Oregonian pronounces it if you ask them how it’s pronounced. They’ll do a stretched out three syllable version. In real life it’s just two quick syllables: Or-gun. There’s gotta be a whole subcategory like this: When people explain how something is pronounced they don’t give the pronunciation they normally use. I’ve met a lot of people who do this with their names. Not helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/82 "2016-02-21T00:49:50Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I don’t know why it annoys me when people pronounce the last T in “Toronto”. You mean in Trana? Canadians always pronounce the t in often. My dictionary (vintage 1960) doesn’t even give that as an acceptable pronunciation variant. They pronounce schedule as shedule and lieutenant as leftenant. heaven only knows why. They also pronounce been as though it was spelled been, not bin. And even most Americans don’t know that creek is pronounced crick. All of which illustrates why true spelling reform in English is impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/83 "2016-02-22T03:09:19Z")
The only mispronunciations that drive me batty are when people pronounce another person’s name incorrectly _even after hearing the other person say their own name_. For example, at my last job I had a Mexican-American coworker named “Betuel”. He pronounced it “beh-TWEL”, but everybody looked at the spelling and called him “buh-TOOL”. In that workplace, literally the only people who pronounced it correctly were me and the developmentally-disabled woman. I mentioned this to my 71-year-old mother, whose knowledge of Spanish is limited to some classes in high school 50+ years ago, and she said, “How could anybody who knows anything about Spanish pronounce it ‘buh-TOOL’?” Oddly enough, even our other Mexican coworkers managed to pronounce it incorrectly, which confirms to me that “not listening worth a fuck” is a cross-cultural phenomenon. Let’s see … I had a hard time with my grandmothers when I was a kid. One was a college graduate, Master’s degree-holding schoolteacher, and the other was a Southern US-bred homemaker. The former would sternly correct me if I didn’t pronounce the “d” in “grandma”; the latter would get all het up if I _did_ pronounce the “d”. So they were Grandma Eileen and Gramma Dick. > [@WordMan](#): > > I wonder how often folks in the UK deal with visitors trying to fully pronounce words like Leicester, Worchestershire, or Featheringstoneshaw 😉 Hopefully, the same way I dealt with a British tourist here in Washington state who stopped me, pointed to a road map, and asked me how to get to the town of “CHEE-lan”. I politely just worked the correct pronunciation of Chelan into my answer: “To get to sheh-LAN, keep going up this road and take the first ramp onto the highway.” Also: LES-ter, WURST-a-shir, and Hellifino. ---
**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:** [February 22, 2016, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/84 "2016-02-22T10:49:16Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > I wonder if the “mischievous” thing is regional. Without giving away more detail than you’d like, where are the “MISS-chiv-us” folks from? > > Another big deal in my native accent is the pronunciation of _water._ Forget the T, it’s _wooder_ all the way. Also, _creek_ is pronounced _crick._ Ohio. But the question is where are YOU from? Who says “wooder” and “crick”? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/85 "2016-02-23T17:26:32Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > > [@WordMan](#): > > > > I wonder how often folks in the UK deal with visitors trying to fully pronounce words like Leicester, Worchestershire, or Featheringstoneshaw > > Also: LES-ter, WURST-a-shir, and Hellifino. That last one is generally pronounced “FAN-shaw.” (but the spelling is _Featheringstonehaugh_) ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/86 "2016-02-23T18:58:30Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Canadians always pronounce the t in often. I’m an English Canadian who’s lived in Montreal all my life, and most of my English Canadian friends don’t pronounce the T in often. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/87 "2016-02-24T02:58:32Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Ohio. But the question is where are YOU from? Who says “wooder” and “crick”? I have relatives in Delaware and eastern PA who pronounce it _wooder_. There’s a franchise of convenience stores out that way called Wawa. :o I’ve always wondered if it had something to do with the pronunciation of water. > **[Home](https://www.wawa.com/)** > > Fuel your day with Wawa, your all-day, everyday convenience store. Grab Built-To-Order® food and beverages, coffee, fuel services, and much more. I’m originally from southwest PA and pronounce creek as _crick_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/88 "2016-02-24T04:15:47Z")
‘Thai’ isn’t pronounced like it’s a part of the body. ‘Equipment’ is never with an ‘s’ at the end. Some still pronounce ‘bowl’ like “bawl.” ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/89 "2016-02-24T05:04:37Z")
What about pretentious shortening of words? You Americans know ‘herb’ starts with an ‘h’, don’t you? Oh - that thing above your eyes? - it’s pronounced ‘forrid’. :p:p:) All gags aside, I love regional language variations. ---
**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:** [February 24, 2016, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/90 "2016-02-24T10:43:07Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > You Americans know ‘herb’ starts with an ‘h’, don’t you? Yes . . . a silent one. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/91 "2016-02-24T21:17:56Z")
:p:p:p:p:cool:🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/92 "2016-02-25T00:44:21Z")
Pronouncing “pillow” as “pellow”. ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/93 "2016-02-25T01:08:14Z")
> [@pianodave](#): > > Hi SD, > > It bothers me when people say often as “off-ten” or forward as “fore-ward”. It’s always been “offin” and “fo’word” for me. What are some others, that when people pronounce the whole damn word, you cringe? They make you sound pretentious! Wrong on both, Dave: the words are pronounced OFF-en (not -in), and FOR-ward is correct (Who the hell ever says fo’ward?) ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/94 "2016-02-25T01:21:05Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > [ol] > [li]oh-pe-ning[/li][li]par-lya-ment[/li][li]ve-je-tables[/li][li]penn-gwin[/li][li]jof-frey[/li][li]sell-tics[/li][/ol] > (Numerals added by NP) I am quite sure 1-4-6 are standard American English and listed first in many dictionaries. I think 2. is standard UK English. I think 3. is an acceptable secondary pronunciation. What is 5. “jof-frey”? The name “Jeffrey” or “Geoffrey”? Never heard it pronounced with an “o”. ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/95 "2016-02-25T01:37:53Z")
The name of the city of Norfolk VA is properly pronounced NORfuck. Some locals pronounce it NAWfuck, which pisses me off no end, and some squeamish non-natives pronounce it NOR_folk_, which is just about as bad. But by far the worst mispronunciation of a city name (again by the natives) is BAWmer for Baltimore. I think the every motor vehicle and building in the city should be egged nightly until the louts who live there have gone 12 months without goddam saying BAWmer. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/96 "2016-02-25T02:01:51Z")
^^ When you’ve finished your ersters from the wooder (downy oshun) and put your dishes in the zinc, then you can complain. And you forgot the “L” in Bawlmer, you Ferner. 😃 I had to live in Hampton Roads for a spell and heard Norfolk as NOR-fick. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/97 "2016-02-25T06:44:01Z")
> [@Nelson\_Pike](#): > > What is 5. “jof-frey”? The name “Jeffrey” or “Geoffrey”? Never heard it pronounced with an “o”. Never seen **Game of Thrones**? That’s the only time I’ve heard the name Joffrey, and I don’t know why it _wouldn’t_ be pronounced “jof-frey.” ---
**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/98 "2016-02-25T14:08:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Never seen **Game of Thrones**? That’s the only time I’ve heard the name Joffrey, and I don’t know why it _wouldn’t_ be pronounced “jof-frey.” I watched one episode of GoT and for the life of me cannot figure out why it is so popular. As for “Joffrey” if it is spelled with an “o” then it should be pronounced “o”. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/99 "2016-02-25T15:12:07Z")
I’ve heard “Geoffrey” and “Jeffrey” pronounced like the latter, and “Geoffr **o** y” (with the O near the end) pronounced as “Joffrey.” Not sure how correct this is - it’s just what I’ve noticed. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385/100 "2016-02-25T23:05:46Z")
> [@Nelson\_Pike](#): > > I am quite sure 1-4-6 are standard American English and listed first in many dictionaries. > > I think 2. is standard UK English. > > I think 3. is an acceptable secondary pronunciation. > > What is 5. “jof-frey”? The name “Jeffrey” or “Geoffrey”? Never heard it pronounced with an “o”. “Owp-ning.” Try singing the Ascot song in “My Fair Lady” when pronouncing it “oh-pe-ning.” “Par-liment.” Here in my country, parents sometimes name their baby boys “Joffrey” with an ‘o.’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-cringe-when-people-pronounce-the-whole-thing/746385.md?page=6)