# Words that you have trouble pronouncing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 11, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991 "2001-02-11T04:04:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/1 "2001-02-11T04:04:24Z")
**Wafted.** It’s pronounced like Raft-ed. I always want to say, waif-ted. **Sword.** S-word. (instead of Sord) This is one I always trip over. Call it a brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/2 "2001-02-11T04:15:12Z")
Anonimity - gets me everytime. lithe - for the longest time, I said “lith-ay”. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Isabella](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Queen\_Isabella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Isabella)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/3 "2001-02-11T04:37:40Z")
We mock my friend for not being able to say marmalade (mommalade), ambulance (ambuhlance), and catastrophe (ca… tah… ca… tah… disaster). ---
**Author:** ![Silly\_Rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Silly\_Rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silly_Rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/4 "2001-02-11T04:39:53Z")
Entrepreneur. I stumble over it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/5 "2001-02-11T04:51:12Z")
I have trouble with French words that end in “isation” e.g. “mondialisation”, “association”, “démocratisation”, etc. I’m always tripping over them. I was at an NDP provincial meeting and I had to say those words like three or four times each. ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/6 "2001-02-11T04:52:51Z")
**Anomoly**. Luckily this word doesn’t pop up too much during normal conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bc8723/32.png) [@Dark\_Lord\_Davidson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dark_Lord_Davidson)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/7 "2001-02-11T04:54:35Z")
Liberal. Say it too many times, and it feels DIRTY rolling off the tongue. It’s like its own tonguetwister! And I’m not making this political, I consider myself liberal. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Siddhartha\_Vicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siddhartha_Vicious)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/8 "2001-02-11T04:56:01Z")
Regularly–I always get it out, but it sound like I’ve got a mouth full of marbles. One too many syllables, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/9 "2001-02-11T05:09:28Z")
Mine is a combo of two words: “Spread Spectrum” As you can imagine it comes out in so many ways. schpread spuctrum, spread spoatrum or any other things you can think of. I am not sure why the two words mess me up but they do. I have honestly almost said spread scrotum…techology and body parts…OY. ---
**Author:** ![Bubble\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c0e974/32.png) [@Bubble\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bubble_Girl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/10 "2001-02-11T05:18:03Z")
**Magnificent** I keep pronouncing it magnific. I have to say it repeatedly before I get it right. Good thing I don’t use the word alot. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/11 "2001-02-11T05:24:17Z")
horseradish. It always comes out horshradish. Grrrrrrr! ---
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/12 "2001-02-11T06:05:36Z")
Subliminal 😃 I have so many words that just don’t come out right. You should try listening to me talk. Anything with more then three syllabuls is bound to get messed up somehow. That is just the way it it. sigh. ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/13 "2001-02-11T06:13:23Z")
Albeit. Half my brain says “al-bite.” The other half says, “Huh? That’s not right.” ---
**Author:** ![dweezil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@dweezil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dweezil)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/14 "2001-02-11T06:23:28Z")
Single hardest word to pronounce in the english language is SIXTHS. ---
**Author:** ![vertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3ec8ea/32.png) [@vertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertigo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/15 "2001-02-11T06:49:29Z")
To this day I read **epitome** as epy-tohm. Can’t pronounce **ancillary** correctly the first time, for the life of me. When I was younger, I couldn’t stop at the right time when saying the American pronunciation of **aluminum**. It always came out as aluminuminumi…, you get the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/16 "2001-02-11T06:56:34Z")
I have trouble with “writhe” – I want to rhyme it with “myth.” And I frequently mispronounce the city of Decatur – I want to say DECK-a-tur. ---
**Author:** ![Redboss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@Redboss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Redboss)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/17 "2001-02-11T08:17:01Z")
“no” but I **have** had an interesting life… ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/18 "2001-02-11T09:16:40Z")
I somehow turn tangential into tan **genital**. And conspicuous into con **spicious**. ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/19 "2001-02-11T09:22:32Z")
**crepuscular**. After a lot of false starts, I’ll revert to “active at dusk and dawn.” ---
**Author:** ![Caliban](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Caliban](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caliban)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991/20 "2001-02-11T12:45:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by matt\_mcl \* > I have trouble with French words that end in “isation” e.g. “mondialisation”, “association”, “démocratisation”, etc. I’m always tripping over them. I was at an NDP provincial meeting and I had to say those words like three or four times each. Speaking of French, I always have trouble pronouncing the “r” in words like “parle.” I must’ve spent weeks practicing that word so it didn’t sound like I was gagging on a spoon. I finally resigned to the fact that I will always have a strong English accent. My tongue was not designed with French in mind. The English word I always seem to have trouble with is “cumulative.” I usually forget a syllable somewhere so it comes out sounding like “cumulive” or “cumative.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-that-you-have-trouble-pronouncing/53991.md?page=2)