# 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:** 4
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/61 "2019-04-01T00:54:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > IPA is a complete and total mess. Incomprehensible to almost everyone. > > So, good luck with that. You just posted the opposite of the truth. There’s nothing messy about it. It’s highly organized and coherent. Half the symbols are already intuitive and the rest of the English phoneme set can be easily learned by English speakers in a short time. The English dictionaries in the UK use IPA and the British people are well served by this. Only because American teachers and publishers have shied away from it can anyone think they can get away with promoting ignorance like you just did. Most of all, it’s the only system that actually works to communicate information without confusing others. _You’re_ the one who’ll need good luck if you shun IPA. The SDMB is devoted to fighting ignorance and one of its greatest strengths is to uphold science against the enemies of science. Unless the science in question is linguistics, since its enemies somehow feel emboldened around here. That’s deplorable. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/62 "2019-04-01T01:23:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 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. What makes your peers so great that you accord them power over your speech? I wonder if you’d be so blithe and nonchalant if your beloved Polish and Hungarian words were getting mangled like that. Italian language is my blood, my life, not “fancy pants.” ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/63 "2019-04-01T01:34:01Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > 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. Very helpful. Thank you! See how easy that was, everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/64 "2019-04-01T01:56:45Z")
Tinnitus is not tin-itis. But you have to explain yourself when you pronounce it right. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/65 "2019-04-01T02:48:06Z")
I don’t pronounce it wrong, but most everyone else does…Copenhagen. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/66 "2019-04-01T03:02:07Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > there are a lot of people who think the word is “wheelbarrel”. And thru the beauty of language, it probably soon will be. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/67 "2019-04-01T03:07:38Z")
> [@saucywench](#): > > I don’t pronounce it wrong, but most everyone else does…Copenhagen. As the word is the Anglicisation of the Danish København, what is the correct way? ---
**Author:** ![Nayna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ebca7d/32.png) [@Nayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nayna)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/68 "2019-04-01T03:23:00Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Forte Exactly. One of the words I insist on saying correctly, even as I know the person I’m saying it to is thinking I’m saying it incorrectly. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/69 "2019-04-01T03:26:22Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > What makes your peers so great that you accord them power over your speech? I wonder if you’d be so blithe and nonchalant if your beloved Polish and Hungarian words were getting mangled like that. Italian language is my blood, my life, not “fancy pants.” Polish is my other native language and, no, I don’t care in the least when words like pierogi or goląbki or my last name get pronounced differently in English. Why would I?My parents settled on the most common English pronunciation of my last name, and we don’t care in the least. Polish natives will pronounce it natively to each other, but otherwise we follow English phonetics or whatever the predominant English pronunciation is. And, for Hungarian, I tend to say “Budapest” unless I’m talking with Hungarians or Hungarian expats where I will say “Budapesht.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/70 "2019-04-01T03:45:25Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > And thru the beauty of language, it probably soon will be. 😉 Fo shizzle. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/71 "2019-04-01T06:00:50Z")
Height ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/72 "2019-04-01T06:54:00Z")
Note to self: never say “nobody cares” on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/73 "2019-04-01T07:00:45Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > As the word is the Anglicisation of the Danish København, what is the correct way? I think foreigners tend to pronounce it “CopenHAHgen”, while the locals pronounce it “CopenHAYgen”. (Sorry \*\*Johanna \*\*- I’ve tried to understand IPA, but I just can’t wrap my head around it). ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/74 "2019-04-01T07:13:34Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Very helpful. Thank you! See how easy that was, everyone? I provided IPA because you were having trouble understanding. I happen to already know how to use IPA, due to being fascinated by pronunciation guides as a kid and having to learn it for a class in college. So it was easy to help out. I don’t expect anyone else here to know it, nor do I expect them to have to take the at least weeks I took to learn it just for a casual conversation. So, yes, I do believe it would be that hard for most people in this thread to respond using IPA. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/75 "2019-04-01T07:38:08Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Very helpful. Thank you! See how easy that was, everyone? It was easy to understand but not because IPA was used, it added nothing for me. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a situation where IPA would have been a help to me. International pedants language is more like it. I don’t care in the slightest how people pronounce words. I _like_ the fact that they are different the world over and gain correctness through usage. I also slightly enjoy the fact that “wrong” pronunciations seem to annoy some people for no good reason. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/76 "2019-04-01T07:58:26Z")
IPA is the only way to communicate pronunciation without widespread confusion. Again, despite the Dope’s vaunted self-image of fighting ignorance with science and doing valiant battle against the science-haters, many are quick to turn their back on their ideals when it comes to the science of linguistics. To think that we would nurture this anti-science viper in our own scientific bosom. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/77 "2019-04-01T08:00:40Z")
> [@Kiwi\_Fruit](#): > > As the word is the Anglicisation of the Danish København, what is the correct way? “Throatwarbler Mangrove”, actually. All the letters are silent. Don’t question it. ---
**Author:** ![Katakuri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Katakuri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katakuri)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/78 "2019-04-01T08:18:38Z")
As a native Arabic speaker, the thought that a word’s incorrect pronunciation could become the correct one, after a sufficient number of people adopt its use, is almost mind boggling. Arabic would, absolutely, not allow it. Now, Arabic has dozens of dialects and hundreds of accents, but every Arab will submit when challenged on their local pronunciation of a word to the classical/standard one. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/79 "2019-04-01T08:31:44Z")
> [@Katakuri](#): > > As a native Arabic speaker, the thought that a word’s incorrect pronunciation could become the correct one, after a sufficient number of people adopt its use, is almost mind boggling. Arabic would, absolutely, not allow it. Now, Arabic has dozens of dialects and hundreds of accents, but every Arab will submit when challenged on their local pronunciation of a word to the classical/standard one. And how is the classical/standard pronunciation determined, if not by agreement among speakers of the language? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/80 "2019-04-01T09:59:52Z")
Almost all Japanese words become changed when they enter English, but that OK because almost all English words get changed when they are adopted into Japanese. I heard a mispronunciation of a Utah related word “Deseret” by someone from the Midwest. They must have assumed that it’s French and dropped the “t” but it’s a Book of Mormon name so the “t” is pronounced. Sometimes you can’t win. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=5)