# Words that make you sound stupid if you pronounce them the way they're spelled **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 9, 2004, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933 "2004-12-09T16:01:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/21 "2004-12-09T17:33:02Z")
roux ballet ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/22 "2004-12-09T17:38:58Z")
Wednesday and February come to mind… ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/23 "2004-12-09T17:40:35Z")
gourmet ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/24 "2004-12-09T17:41:56Z")
> [@Labdad](#): > > Have you seen the FedEx or UPS commercial where the guy comes in and wants to ship a package to “Puh - HOE - nicks”? The clerk says “where??” He cops an attitude and says, “It’s only the largest city in Arizona.” The gal in the other line says, “You mean Phoenix?” > > Saw it for the first time last night - it cracked me up! My dad left me a message once “Jen from Two Cu Sun called”. Knowing where in Arizona Jen lived, I laughed at him. His response? " I know where I meant, and I knew you would too, so I didn’t worry about spelling." 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/25 "2004-12-09T17:44:25Z")
> [@SpiceTea](#): > > gnome Been there, done that when I started speaking English. :o See also: gnat. I also mispronounced “orgy” (wrong g-sound) which made everyone crack up completely. And vinegar is tricky. (I pronounced the “vine” part like grapeVINE and then stuck on the “gar”) ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/26 "2004-12-09T17:46:30Z")
timbre (pronounced tam’ ber) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/27 "2004-12-09T18:00:26Z")
> [@The\_Stranger](#): > > **tremorviolet** - I have heard people pronounce Nazi as “Not-Zee”…Luckily this is word not heard in everyday conversation…unless you’re talking history. Which part of the word are you taking issue with? “Not” is certainly acceptable, and I can see (zee) where some slurring could produce a “z” sound instead of an “s” sound. I doubt most people would notice the difference. My candidate: infrared: looks like in-frayred. ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/28 "2004-12-09T18:03:34Z")
subpoena ---
**Author:** ![SpiceTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@SpiceTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpiceTea)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/29 "2004-12-09T18:08:17Z")
toupee ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/30 "2004-12-09T18:09:38Z")
[Ben Stiller] Favre. [/Ben Stiller] ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/31 "2004-12-09T18:22:43Z")
queue ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/32 "2004-12-09T18:28:23Z")
Superfluous. For years I pronounced it as “super-flew-us.” My family still mocks me about it. ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/33 "2004-12-09T18:34:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Which part of the word are you taking issue with? “Not” is certainly acceptable, and I can see (zee) where some slurring could produce a “z” sound instead of an “s” sound. I doubt most people would notice the difference. Not sure who you’re talking to but I always hear “nazi” pronounced to rhyme with “yahtzee”. There’s kinda a stop between the ah and the zee sound. I will (still!) occasionally mispornounce “nazis” as rhyming with “as is”. This happens when I start babbling too fast as I visualize how words are spelled when I’m talking… ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/34 "2004-12-09T18:38:52Z")
minutae omnipotent ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/35 "2004-12-09T18:47:01Z")
> [@](#): > > tremorviolet- I have heard people pronounce Nazi as “Not-Zee”…Luckily this is word not heard in everyday conversation…unless you’re talking history. How else would you say it? :dubious: 🙂 I believe among others, George H.W. Bush pronounces it “Nat-zee”. And Of Course, we all know who says “nuke-yuh-ler” _cough_W_Cough_ And I also am a big fan of that FedEx commercial. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/36 "2004-12-09T18:49:43Z")
victuals ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/37 "2004-12-09T19:01:03Z")
Worcestershire solder salmon technical chorus ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/38 "2004-12-09T19:03:05Z")
**Worcestershire**. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/39 "2004-12-09T19:05:10Z")
Uh, hi, **Jenaroph.** Eesh. ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2004, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933/40 "2004-12-09T19:09:05Z")
Sometimes I see “heresy” as “here-sy” (hear see). I thought “epoch” was pronounced “ee-pock” for the longest time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-make-you-sound-stupid-if-you-pronounce-them-the-way-theyre-spelled/278933.md?page=3)