# 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:** 6
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/101 "2019-04-01T13:53:59Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Gouda. Only in America is it “goo-duh.” Everyone else calls it “ghow-duh.” Speak for yourself - some of us pronounce it [ˈɣʌudaː] and that initial sound is not “gh” ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/102 "2019-04-01T13:57:24Z")
The one that drives me crazy the most is nucUlar (nuclear). Though i work in the nuclear industry so i probably hear it more often than normal. Most bizarre is when i hear very smart people that have worked most of their adult life in the nuclear industry say nucular. Like nails on a chalkboard to me. Everytime time it makes me think of the Simpsons gag about this mispronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/103 "2019-04-01T14:00:25Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I believe “pay-ching” [peɪ tʃɪŋ] would be a closer Anglicized pronunciation. > > The _j_ represents a sound [tɕ] that isn’t phonemically distinct in English. The cononants are unaspirated, so the _p_ is more like in “help” than in “pink.” > > That sound is commonly represented as “zh.” In IPA it’s [ʒ]. Thank you. I will keep that in mind for further language related threads. To hijack back to the subject of IPA, whenever I look at the Wiki page to try to figure a sound out it kind of throws me (stupid, I know). I think I’ll learn better paying attention to the way others here who know it use it. ---
**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, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/104 "2019-04-01T14:03:39Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Gouda. Only in America is it “goo-duh.” Everyone else calls it “ghow-duh.” That’s a good one, but your statement that everyone else callis ig “ghow-duh” is not true. In Polish, it’s something like “goh-dah” ( /ˈɡɔw da/ or possible /gɔʊ da/ to be more descriptive–as if it were written as _gołda_ in Polish.) Czech has a similar pronunciation with the “hard g” and different vowel in the first syllable. According [to the pronunciation samples](https://forvo.com/word/gouda/#cs) by folks around the world (though in this one, they’re all European), the Germans, Swedes, Portuguese, and Finns also seem to pronounce the “g” as a “hard g” and disregard the “ow” diphthong. None of them pronounce it as the Dutch samples on that page. None of them hit the correct initial consonant (though they almost all have that phoneme in their language) and none use the “ow” /aʊ/ diphthong in the first syllable. So it’s not just an American thing. But, yeah, if I used that pronunciation at the cheese counter, unless I’m at a particularly specialist cheese store, I’d be met with puzzled looks if I said “how-duh.” Another food item this happens with – although this one is particularly niche – is _nduja_, a type of spreadable spicy salami from Calabria. It’s become a bit of a trend food a few years ago, and I never now how to pronounce to anyone so I know I’m understood. AFAIK, it’s pronounced as “en-DOO-yah” with a “swallowed e”/first syllable. IPA it’s /(ə)nˈduːjə/. [You can hear two native pronunciations here](https://forvo.com/search/nduja/). I was at an Italian deli the other day and wanted to order a half pound of the stuff to take home. So I tell the Italian-American person behind the deli counter that I want the “n-DOO-yah or however you say it.” He’s like “oh, that’s NOODGE-uh” /nu: dʒə/. That pronunciation inverts the order of the “n” and “u” in the word. The guys who actually make it here in Franklin Park call it “n-doo-zhuh” /(e)n du: ʒə/. (I’m going to guess that’s perhaps a dialect pronunciation, as it otherwise sounds like the Italian samples above.) So I just go with whatever will make me best understood. I don’t particularly worry about what the original or “correct” pronunciation is. I go with “what pronunciation is the person I’m talking with most likely, with littlest effort, be able to understand?” And I do this with English words when speaking in foreign languages as well. “Chicago” becomes “chee-cah-go” /tʃi ka gɔ/ in Polish, for instance. English words gets Slavicized when I speak Polish; Polish words become Anglicized when I speak English. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/105 "2019-04-01T14:09:31Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > And\* in Modern English\*, sports teams with the word “Celtic” in their name pronounce it /ˈsɛltɪk/ . Be consistent in your pedantry, please. I am: I never objected to the pronunciation, just the sporting habit of making nouns from adjectives derived from nouns. And **Johanna** is right about IPA: very easy to check sounds & cut & paste symbols from wikipedia, but old habits die hard. ---
**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, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/106 "2019-04-01T14:31:09Z")
Maybe, but I’m not going to paste something that looks like gibberish to me, nor am I going to fake the professional jargon of a profession I have no training in. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/107 "2019-04-01T14:55:46Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Maybe, but I’m not going to paste something that looks like gibberish to me, nor am I going to fake the professional jargon of a profession I have no training in. Hear, hear. Surprised that this thread has gotten to three pages without anyone bringing up two of my linguistic peeves: “man-ayze” for _mayonnaise_ (may-on-ayze), “car-mel” for _caramel_ (car-ah-mel), and “chok-lat” for _chocolate_ (chok-oh-lat). ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/108 "2019-04-01T15:01:56Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > 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”. I’m from Minnesota and most of us say sherbert. It wasn’t until I was in my 30’s that I was told it was sherbet. I never even noticed how it was spelled on the containers. I still have a very hard time saying sherbet. It doesn’t seem right to me. In another thread, I mentioned how I hate when people say jag-wire instead of jay-gwar. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/109 "2019-04-01T15:03:35Z")
Almost everybody on the Food Network has a hard time with Worcestershire sauce. Woo-ster-shur. Is that the current British pronunciation? ---
**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, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/110 "2019-04-01T15:04:44Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > Hear, hear. > > Surprised that this thread has gotten to three pages without anyone bringing up two of my linguistic peeves: “man-ayze” for _mayonnaise_ (may-on-ayze), “car-mel” for _caramel_ (car-ah-mel), and “chok-lat” for _chocolate_ (chok-oh-lat). More like “chock-lit” to me, but, guilty as charged! Same with the two-syllable pronunciation of “caramel.” I actually _used_ to say it with three syllables, as that’s how I always read it as a kid, but switched to the two-syllable pronunciation when I realized they were the same thing (as that was the dialect pronunciation.) There are times, though, when I use the three-syllable pronunciation, though, like describing the oozy stuff in a candy bar. I’m guessing that’s because that’s what they call it on commercials. But “caramel corn” is always “carmel corn” (“care-uh-mel corn” just sounds all sorts of weird and wrong to me) and “caramelization” is “carmelization.” But describe a Snickers bar and it’s “creamy care-uh-mel layer” and that sounds perfectly fine to me. Heck, if “colonel” can lose a syllable _and_ switch a consonant, “carmel” for “caramel” is fine with me. ---
**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, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/111 "2019-04-01T15:11:37Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Almost everybody on the Food Network has a hard time with Worcestershire sauce. > Woo-ster-shur. Is that the current British pronunciation? That’s close enough for government business. [You can find samples here](https://forvo.com/word/worcestershire/#en) if you want to be more accurate. The first syllable is perhaps a bit closer to an American “uh” sound instead of an “oo” sound (/wʌs/ instead of /wʊs/) and the rest of the vowels are schwas and the “r” may or may not be pronounced depending on whether you have a rhothic vs non-rhotic accent. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/112 "2019-04-01T15:21:22Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > There is an epidemic of taking a j sound from any language and pronouncing it in the French style (a voiced _sh_). For example, the restaurant chain Maggiano’s has a soft g that is pronounced as in _magic_, but people think it is more exotic to say _Mazhiano’s_. There is no such sound in Italian. I wonder if that’s less pronouncing a French “j” than an attempt to pronounce an Italian “gia” , which would be different than the English pronunciation of those letters. ( in English that would be two syllables, in Italian , I’m pretty sure it’s just one as the “ia” is a diphthong) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/113 "2019-04-01T15:40:34Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > Almost everybody on the Food Network has a hard time with Worcestershire sauce And at least one of the chefs says “horsh radish.” ---
**Author:** ![toastie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@toastie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toastie)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/114 "2019-04-01T15:55:47Z")
> [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > As a Dutch person this one does annoys me. I understand that the correct pronunciation with the two gutteral g sounds is impossible for many people, but I would have thought “Van Gogue” was a much better approximation. The Goff one makes no sense at all! When I was ten and taking a painting class for the first time, I had never seen the name before, and pronounced it with hard ‘g’ sounds. Needless to say, I got laughed out of class and can still feel the embarrassment today. Seems I was closer to the true pronunciation than everyone who laughed at me. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/115 "2019-04-01T15:56:23Z")
I thought of another one…Eye-talian. UGH! Are you Eyetalian? No, I’m Italian. Would you like Eyetalian dressing? Nope, I’ll have Italian dressing. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/116 "2019-04-01T16:18:47Z")
The one that actually bothers me is “often.” You don’t soff-ten the butter, do you? The t is silent! This is a nasty, hypercorrect spelling pronunciation! Of course, it’s also a historically correct pronunciation—the -t- is in the spelling for a reason. And I myself say “fore-head” instead of “forrid” which is the same issue. So: hypocrisy. Sue me. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/117 "2019-04-01T16:24:53Z")
Clapboard - pronounced “clabbered,” which is milk that has curdled. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/118 "2019-04-01T16:34:00Z")
All I have to say about this thread is my favorite inside joke meme, “sounds like prescriptivism but ok” Anyway, linguistic prescriptivist snobs: get out, realize language changes over time, and that’s normal. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/119 "2019-04-01T16:42:47Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > The one that drives me crazy the most is nucUlar (nuclear). > > Though i work in the nuclear industry so i probably hear it more often than normal. Most bizarre is when i hear very smart people that have worked most of their adult life in the nuclear industry say nucular. Like nails on a chalkboard to me. Everytime time it makes me think of the Simpsons gag about this mispronunciation. I’m with you on this. ```auto One that gets me in trouble: 'Forte' is correctly pronounced 'fort,' which is how I say it, unless referring to the musical term meaning strong or loud, in which case it is pronounced, 'fortay.' I get "corrected" on this a lot. I recognize the battle is already lost, but I just can't help it. Drilled into me by 2 parents who were English majors/newspaper reporters. ``` ---
**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:** [April 1, 2019, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/120 "2019-04-01T18:32:34Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > The one that actually bothers me is “often.” You don’t soff-ten the butter, do you? The t is silent! This is a nasty, hypercorrect spelling pronunciation! > > Of course, it’s also a historically correct pronunciation—the -t- is in the spelling for a reason. And I myself say “fore-head” instead of “forrid” which is the same issue. So: hypocrisy. Sue me. For what it’s worth, I have heard people here in S. GA pronounce soften as soft-en. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=7)