# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/41 "2019-03-31T20:35:48Z")
Nothing wrong with using IPA as long as you also specify it in other ways. The current accepted (American?) pronunciation: /ˈlɪ.nəks/ LINN-nucks The original “official” American pronunciation: /ˈlaɪ.nəks/ LYE-nucks The original pronunciation: /'li.nəks/ LEE-nucks Honestly, I hear the first pronunciation from everyone. I think people just settled on a single pronunciation that worked for everyone, rather than basing it on the pronunciation of the name Linus. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/42 "2019-03-31T20:38:17Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > _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). It typically precedes another word/phrase but it doesn’t have to be a place. I know of parishes/schools named “Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal” , “ of Wisdom” , “of the Assumption” ,etc. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/43 "2019-03-31T20:39:49Z")
Anyways, my contribution: dour. Everyone I know says it to rhyme with sour that I’ve ever heard, but I’ve been told repeatedly that the correct pronunciation is like the word _doer_ (as in, someone who does something.) I will also continue to say sherbert, because people don’t understand me if I say sherbet. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/44 "2019-03-31T20:51:18Z")
Something that I remember from college lectures - possibly the only thing - concerns the unit of energy, the Joule. Everyone I know pronounces it in what you might call “the French manner” - something approximating to _zhool_.\* The lecturer made the reasonable point that this was a strange thing to do to the name of James Prescott Joule of Salford (Manchester, England). Furthermore (our lecturer insisted) he would have pronounced his name _Jowl_; as, indeed, the name of the family brewery, still in existence, is pronounced (he said). [https://www.joulesbrewery.co.uk/our-story](https://www.joulesbrewery.co.uk/our-story) I’m not from Manchester, so I can’t tell you if the pronunciation (re the brewery) is accurate. Any Mancs in? Now, regarding Henry George Kilogram… j - - Please, no lecture about IPA symbols - I don’t know how. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/45 "2019-03-31T20:53:53Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > 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. > That’s just a baloney rationalization after the fact and also isn’t true. The word means ‘long chair’ in French. Ah, a north-easterner thing then, I’ve not lived or even visited that part of the country. Regarding the chaise, I know what chaise longue is and where comes from. This ain’t France, french rules of pronunciation and syntax don’t apply. Going by your peeve, should we be speaking latin, French, German, old english, high, middle or low english, Dutch, spanish, Portuguese, Mexican, any number of native American languages, or Basque? Thai? Japanese? Chinese, vietnamese, laotian? Modern English is a polyglot language. Demanding that words adopted from other languages maintain the pronunciation and meaning from the parent language is futile at best and makes you look out of touch and snotty (or worse) at worst. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/46 "2019-03-31T21:06:55Z")
The word “Diphthong,” which, ironically, refers to pronunciation, is usually pronounced “Dip-thong,” which is simply wrong. It’s “diff-thong.” (Look at how it’s spelled.) “Diphtheria” is usually mispronounced the same way. ---
**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, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/47 "2019-03-31T21:24:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You don’t go around insisting that the Philadelphia (now Oakland) Athletics call themselves the Athletes, do you? I would, but I have learned that no matter how much it bothers me, it’s not going to change, so I just let it go unless it comes up in a thread like this. And **Mr. Dibble** , “Scots” in Modern English refers to the people of Scotland. The people of the tribe Scotti are usually referred to as the Scotti. But “Celt(ic)” is one of those things that is contentious no matter how you slice it. ---
**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, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/48 "2019-03-31T21:28:35Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > _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). I _know_ what it means in French. In English, it’s gibberish. Which is why I prefer that it be acknowledged (and pronounced) as a French term. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/49 "2019-03-31T21:39:16Z")
I care. What’s up with people saying TOO-meric for the trendy spice TUR-meric? Do they not see the “R”? ---
**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, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/50 "2019-03-31T21:40:48Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > IPA is a complete and total mess. Incomprehensible to almost everyone. What’s messy about it? Or do you just speak from ignorance? It’s only incomprehensible to those who refuse to take the brief time it takes to learn it. ---
**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, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/51 "2019-03-31T22:08:37Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Anyways… > > I will also continue to say sherbert, because people don’t understand me if I say sherbet. Do those people not understand you if you say “anyway”? ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/52 "2019-03-31T22:21:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The word “Diphthong,” which, ironically, refers to pronunciation, is usually pronounced “Dip-thong,” which is simply wrong. It’s “diff-thong.” (Look at how it’s spelled.) > > “Diphtheria” is usually mispronounced the same way. Also with phenolphthalein. Then there’s lutein, touted as an eye-health supplement. It’s properly pronounced loo-tee-in. Does anyone else remember protein being pronounced as pro-tee-in? It was in the days of my youth, in old black and white health class movies! Now, on to the oo words, such as zoology, oogenesis, ootheca, spermatozoon, and so on- the Os are pronounced separately!!! (spermatozoon, so on rhymes!) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/53 "2019-03-31T22:30:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do those people not understand you if you say “anyway”? I’ve experimented and when I say “surebit,” with my peers, they’re like “what the fuck are you talking about?” for the most part. The ones who don’t take a beat or two to figure it out, so why would I do that to them, if my dialect prefers “sure-burt”? Similarly, I know it’s broosketta, but, unless I’m at some fancy pants Italian restaurant, I say brooshetta, because that’s what the majority of people say. It’s not about right or wrong, for me. It’s about being most immediately understood with a given audience. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/54 "2019-03-31T22:42:51Z")
> [@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.** Bolding mine. Because he lived and worked in France? Don’t know if that’s the answer, but it’s my WAG. Didn’t he do most of his notable work while in Arles? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/55 "2019-03-31T23:05:15Z")
One that bugs me more than it probably should is “bona fides”, with the second word pronounced as one syllable. English “bona” is usually reasonably close to the original Latin, but “fides” is “FEE-days”. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard “Joule” pronounced in the French way-- It always gets an English J (dzh). ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/56 "2019-03-31T23:06:43Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Does anyone else remember protein being pronounced as pro-tee-in? It was in the days of my youth, in old black and white health class movies! My high school biology teacher, back in the early 80s, pronounced protein like that. I also had a college chemistry professor who pronounced “iodine” as I-o-deen. When someone asked him about it, he pointed out that -een is how you pronounce chlorine, bromine, and fluorine, so why should iodine be different? ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/57 "2019-04-01T00:00:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > And I don’t think I’ve ever heard “Joule” pronounced in the French way-- It always gets an English J (dzh). In my head it’s always been akin to “pool” or “cool.” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/58 "2019-04-01T00:03:47Z")
Wow, I’m a stickler for good grammar, but MAN have I been pronouncing a lot of words wrong! Dipthong, too-meric, the Joole, Linnucks, mischee-vee-us … I’m so sorry! Though if I pronounce them correctly, no one will understand… or they’ll think I’m a snob. > [@](#): > > Woody Allen in Manhatten: > \*I’m mad because I don’t like that pseudo-intellectual garbage. And she was pedantic. Van Gogchh… Did you hear that? She said “Van Gogchh.”[clearing throat sound] - Okay, as of this moment I am going to stop saying “sherbet” _or_ “sherburt”… I’ll order ice cream instead. I think I can avoid most of these words… I don’t need to refer to anyone’s “bona fides”, I’ll just mention their credentials. I won’t ask my wife where the “too-meric” or the “tuR-meric” is, I’ll go root around the spice cabinet on my own. Want me to talk about the Celtics or Notre Dame? Nope, don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/59 "2019-04-01T00:07:39Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > “Coupe” and “coupon” have the same French root yet some people insist on pronouncing the latter “KYOO-pon”. It’s certainly not the case that the “correct” English pronunciation (to the extent that that’s even a concept that means anything) is the pronunciation of the word in the language from which it made its way to English. Some googling suggests that a modest majority of American English speakers prefer “kyoo” to “koo”. That’s good evidence for a “both are correct” position, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/60 "2019-04-01T00:41:15Z")
The only incorrect pronunciations are those that don’t lead to your meaning being understood. If that means they don’t match the dictionaries, that means the dictionaries are wrong (outdated). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=4)