# Words We Pronounce Wrong But Nobody Cares **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2019, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807 "2019-03-31T14:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/21 "2019-03-31T16:04:27Z")
“Coupe” and “coupon” have the same French root yet some people insist on pronouncing the latter “KYOO-pon”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/22 "2019-03-31T16:06:23Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The OS Linux. Per the original pronunciation guide back in the 90s you were supposed to pronounce how you pronounced the name Linus but with the “s” replaced by a “ks” sound. Since Linus Torvalds knew of two common pronunciations of his name, this gave two legit pronunciations: > > “European” one: Lee-necks. > “American” one: Lie-neks. > > (The old [garbo.uwasa.fi](http://garbo.uwasa.fi) FTP site had sound files of Linus saying these.) > > Somehow the mispronunciation “Ly-nucks” started appearing. At one point the Linux Journal carried a disclaimer that while there were aware of the correct pronunciations, yet most staffers used the “other” pronunciation. > > This of course leads to the usual idiocy of people “correcting” those who pronounce it right. I can’t tell which vowel sounds you are trying to distinguish here. Please use IPA (that goes for everybody). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/23 "2019-03-31T16:25:49Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > Wait, whut? Who the hell says lozenger for lozenge? I have never heard this in any part of the country that I’ve lived in. Bizarre. Lauryn Hill, between songs on her Unplugged album, says “I’m just suckin’ on my lozenger.” She’s from New Jersey. My mom, of Pennsylvania-Ohio origin, also has been heard to say lozenger. > [@](#): > > As for the sofa, it’s not a chaise longue, its a lounge in the “chaise style”, typically these days, but not always, part of a larger sectional sofa, couch…davenport? That’s just a baloney rationalization after the fact and also isn’t true. The word means ‘long chair’ in French. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/24 "2019-03-31T16:36:43Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Are the [Scots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_F.C.)not also Celts (Hell, that team has Irish roots, even)? Most Scots are not Celts, no. But some are, yes. (Some Scots speak Gaelic, most speak English. Historically, lots have Gaelic heritage, but in some cases quite far back, and in some areas not at all. Some of the other historical groups are Celtic, like the Picts, but some, like the Norse, are not.) Edit: and even at Celtic Studies conferences, some of the Scots (and French) use the “Selt” pronunciation; everyone else usually says “Kelt.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/25 "2019-03-31T16:45:54Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I can’t tell which vowel sounds you are trying to distinguish here. Please use IPA (that goes for everybody). We don’t all read IPA and some of us don’t have the IPA symbols on our computers. When someone uses IPA I can see the symbols on my phone but my tablet renders them as little squares with an X inside. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/26 "2019-03-31T16:46:32Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > The pronunciation of _Notre Dame_ in English is not governed by the French Academy. _Dame_ is an English word of longstanding, and _Notre_ in everyday pronunciation follows the same pattern as words like _theatre_. > > The common pronunciation of _Celtic_ changed sometime in the mid-20th century. When the Boston Celtics were founded the “K” pronunciation was used only by a few academics, but that sound gradually took over as the most common pronunciation. Neither is “wrong”. I am glad someone came in and said this, in a better fashion than I would have. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/27 "2019-03-31T17:01:03Z")
Everyone knows what “carry-okey” is even though it should be pronounced (as it’s spelled “karaoke”). The four syllables are: ka ra o keh I know I’m tilting at windmills here, but it’s not that hard. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2019, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/28 "2019-03-31T17:10:28Z")
Err. To pronounce it as “air” is neither human nor divine. And “syrup” is not pronounced “SURR-up.” It’s “SIHR-up.” And “extraordinary” is “ex-TRO **R** -di-nar-y.” And the first “a” is silent. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/29 "2019-03-31T17:37:15Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Most Scots are not Celts, no. I think you’ll find, if you \*were \*inclined to be an originalist-type pedant, that the \*[Scots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoti)\*are, indeed, Celtic, and it’s the \*Scottish \*who are mostly not. But that’s only if you cared about what things originally were called, of course… ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/30 "2019-03-31T17:43:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If you want to find SELL-tics you go to Boston, not Ireland. And if you want to see the Fighting Irish you go to a school with a French based name pronounced NOTER DAME. Language isn’t as simple as you would like it to be. This. It doesn’t matter how some pedant thinks a place name is “supposed to be” pronounced; it only matters what the people who live there or go to school there say the pronunciation is. I live in Illinois. Despite its French-looking spelling, it is not pronounced Eel-in-WAH. We have a river (and a town named after it) called Desplaines. It is NOT pronounced Day-PLAHN. The southern Illinois city of Cairo is pronounced CARE-o. Actually, this extends beyond just place names. I once laughed out loud when Alex Trebeck (who I have always found to be a bit pretentious) read a question about the Jimi Hendrix song he pronounced “Voodoo Chee-LAY”. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/31 "2019-03-31T17:58:55Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > God, help us all! “Possum” and “opossum” seem to be changing places and/or both are becoming acceptable. Except in Australia. There was a fair-sized thread on this topic a few years ago. Rather tangled in places: but general gist if I understand rightly, is that the similar but not identical ranges of such marsupial creatures in the Americas, and Australasia: are properly called opossums in the former (though colloquial usage in the USA is often “possum”); and possums in the latter. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=812552&highlight=opossum](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=812552&highlight=opossum) > [@ticker](#): > > Vincent van Gogh would be pronounced vun KHOKH in his native Dutch, though apparently van GOKH would be an acceptable compromise for english speakers. Certainly not the British van GOFF or American van GO. The later always sounds to my ears like a typically American mangling of a French pronunciation, but why one would choose the French for a Dutch man is beyond me. A limerick which I’ve always liked, “by and for” the ignorant as above, re this issue: I’m hanged if I ever shall know If Van Gogh is Van Goff, or Van Go – This damned thing re the name Has me beat; and, with shame, Makes my highbrows feel awfully low. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/32 "2019-03-31T17:59:08Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > This is absolutely correct. What bothers me isn’t the pronunciation of the C, it’s the whole word. > > Adj.: Celtic. Noun: Celt. The ancient Celts, not the ancient Celtics. > > It’s like saying “The Florida Spanishes” rather than “the Spaniards.” Or the Chineses, the Japaneses, the Frenches, the Britishes, etc. Just because it words with most adjectives (e.g. Americans) doesn’t mean it works with every adjective. Buy a dictionary, people. You know why this happened though, right? It’s not a mystery. Sports teams originated with social clubs — Mutual Club, Athletic Club, Olympic Club, Kekionga Club, Western Club, Metropolitan Club, Knickerbocker Club, Forest City Club, Atlantic Club, Eckford Club, National Club, Elm City Club, Centennial Club, Hartford Club, Resolute Club, Maryland Club, Lord Baltimore Club, etc. A member of the Mutual Club could be called, informally at first, “a Mutual,” so a team formed from members of the Mutual Club was “the Mutuals.” So you get the Mutuals, the Athletics, the Olympics, the Kekiongas, the Westerns, the Metropolitans (Mets), the Knickerbockers (Knicks), the Forest Citys, the Atlantics, the Eckfords, the Nationals, the Elm Citys, the Centennials, the Hartfords, the Resolutes, the Marylands, the Lord Baltimores, etc. Through the same process, a member of the Celtic Club is a Celtic, and the club’s team is the Celtics. You don’t go around insisting that the Philadelphia (now Oakland) Athletics call themselves the Athletes, do you? ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/33 "2019-03-31T18:22:00Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > How did sherbet and lozenge get an extra r apiece? In the case of “sherbert,” the explanation is the linguistic process of assimilation (which operates in opposition to dissimilation, eg. library\>libary or February\>Febuary), but for “lozenger” I have no idea. Until a certain age I pronounced sherbet as “sherbert” because key adults at that time of my life had a strong NYC accent and didn’t really pronounce the letter R unless it was at the beginning of a word. Mustard sounded like “mustid” and so forth. In turn, in many cases I guess I subconciouisly added an R to “compensate”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/34 "2019-03-31T18:29:38Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I can think of two words (well, a word and a phrase) that just about every American pronounces wrong If almost every American pronounces it wrong, then it has become the standard American pronunciation and is no longer wrong. > [@guestchaz](#): > > Wait, whut? Who the hell says lozenger for lozenge? This is standard Baltimorese. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/35 "2019-03-31T18:46:36Z")
A choir director once told our choir that “love” was supposed to be pronounced “Lov” but it was mutated by society to “Luv.” Don’t know if that’s true. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/36 "2019-03-31T18:53:20Z")
> [@Bayaker](#): > > The pronunciation of _Notre Dame_ in English is not governed by the French Academy. _Dame_ is an English word of longstanding, and _Notre_ in everyday pronunciation follows the same pattern as words like _theatre_. Well, living in a free country implies the freedom to be factually wrong. Just out of curiosity, though, what the hell does “notre” mean? ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/37 "2019-03-31T18:53:31Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I also do that when I hear “San Pedro” pronounced as “San PEE-dro.” But it IS “San PEEdro,” for most residents, if you’re talking about the neighborhood in Los Angeles. Just as it’s generally “Loss ANN-juh-less,” no matter what it would be in the original Spanish. For that matter it really is “Kay-ro,” Illinois (Cairo) and “LYE-ma,” Ohio (Lima) and “FONN-du-LACK,” Wisconsin and “DES-planes,” Illinois, and on and on. Place names are correctly pronounced by the people who live there. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/38 "2019-03-31T19:10:21Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Just out of curiosity, though, what the hell does “notre” mean? _Notre_ is French for English “our”. _Notre Dame_ is the Catholic epithet “Our Lady” (referring to the Virgin Mary). EDIT: “Our Lady” typically preceded a place name (either generic or specific). The full name of Notre Dame is “University of Notre Dame du Lac“ ( … Our Lady of the Lake). ---
**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:** [March 31, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/39 "2019-03-31T20:15:00Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I can’t tell which vowel sounds you are trying to distinguish here. Please use IPA (that goes for everybody). IPA is a complete and total mess. Incomprehensible to almost everyone. So, good luck with that. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/40 "2019-03-31T20:22:31Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And “extraordinary” is “ex-TRO **R** -di-nar-y.” And the first “a” is silent. Not according to Nat King Cole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=3)