# 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:** 8
**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 2, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/141 "2019-04-02T01:25:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Or maybe the ‘g’ in “graphic”? The constituent words of an acronym don’t say anything about how the acronym should be pronounced. Now, I (usually) say “gif” these days with a “g” as in “graphic,” as it happens, because that’s what most people say, but I originally pronounced it “jif,” like the peanut butter, which also happened to be the way the creator of the file format intended it to be pronounced. Obviously, my brain was analogizing it with words like “gin” instead of “gift.” I still sometimes slip up and say “jiff” as that’s what just feels most natural to me, but I try to pronounce it as “gift” without the “t.” ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/142 "2019-04-02T02:36:40Z")
My dad came from a small country town in Victoria and it was called Bairnsdale. People often said it as Barns-dale instead it should be pronounced Bens-dale, drove him nuts. OH and to my American friends my home town is Melbourne (Mel-burn) and not Mel-borne… ---
**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 2, 2019, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/143 "2019-04-02T03:31:29Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Spelled “geoduck” but pronounced “gooeyduck.” And quahog on east coast, pronounced “ko-hog”. Clearly these pronunciations have been chosen for being slightly less stupid sounding than “ko-clam” and “gooey-clam”. ---
**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 2, 2019, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/144 "2019-04-02T03:50:26Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > 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. I’m from Utah and we say jag-wire. It doesn’t seem right to me to say otherwise. ---
**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 2, 2019, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/145 "2019-04-02T03:57:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I can’t find ʒ on my keyboard. It looks like it’s above the W and E, on the same key as the octothorpe. Which is what I (properly) call that # symbol, much to the frustration of my students. Who I teach to say Gif, as in “Graphic Interchange Format”. (If you want to say Jif, fine! I’d love to get everyone to call it the Giraffe Interchange Format.) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/146 "2019-04-02T04:38:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > And quahog on east coast, pronounced “ko-hog”. Clearly these pronunciations have been chosen for being slightly less stupid sounding than “ko-clam” and “gooey-clam”. I suspect that both of those names may be vandalizations of Native American words. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/147 "2019-04-02T04:44:50Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Now, regarding Henry George Kilogram… I’m pretty sure he pronounced it something like KILL-grum. 😃 > [@Johanna](#): > > 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. :rolleyes: > [@Acsenray](#): > > And people seem to take a certain amount of pride in maintaining this ignorance. It’s baffling. It’s like a phonetics-based nationalism. Seriously? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/148 "2019-04-02T05:18:54Z")
The only IPA I know anything about comes in a bottle. ---
**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 2, 2019, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/149 "2019-04-02T05:50:05Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > That’s easy. The ‘g’ is pronounced like the ‘g’ in ‘garage’ > [@eschereal](#): > > Or maybe the ‘g’ in “graphic”? I think you’ve been whooshed, mate. More than one ‘g’ in ‘garage’… ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/150 "2019-04-02T05:55:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know this one personally, but I’ve heard that “quay” (like, where a ship might be waiting) should properly be pronounced like “key”. Though I know of at least one long-traditional song that rhymes it with “bay”. It was originally _spelled_ (and pronounced) “key” in English, the “quay” spellling only emerging in the 17th century, perhaps under the influence of people who were keen to show that they knew the word was yer’ proper French. The “key” spelling only disappears in the 19th century. The “kay” pronunciation is probably a spelling-pronunciation. I’ve never come across it in the wild, but perhaps I move in linguistically sheltered circles. It has to be said that Tennyson, writing in 1850, rhymes 'quay" with “today”, but I’ve always been inclined to think that that may be poetic licence on his part rather than a reflection of a then-current pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/151 "2019-04-02T06:24:50Z")
Something you often hear in the UK, even in Parliament, is an extra r in withdrawal. “Theresa May’s withdrawral agreement.” For me, this always grates. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/152 "2019-04-02T07:06:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know this one personally, but I’ve heard that “quay” (like, where a ship might be waiting) should properly be pronounced like “key”. Though I know of at least one long-traditional song that rhymes it with “bay”. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Dictionaries will tell you key, cay and quay are homophones. * * * > [@sisu](#): > > My dad came from a small country town in Victoria and it was called Bairnsdale. > > People often said it as Barns-dale instead it should be pronounced Bens-dale, drove him nuts. > > OH and to my American friends my home town is Melbourne (Mel-burn) and not Mel-borne… In any case, no notion of pronouncing the small country town as spelt – first syllable to rhyme with “cairn”? Sorry – but you Aussies are just strange ! * * * > [@UDS](#): > > It was originally _spelled_ (and pronounced) “key” in English, the “quay” spellling only emerging in the 17th century, perhaps under the influence of people who were keen to show that they knew the word was yer’ proper French. The “key” spelling only disappears in the 19th century. > > The “kay” pronunciation is probably a spelling-pronunciation. I’ve never come across it in the wild, but perhaps I move in linguistically sheltered circles. It has to be said that Tennyson, writing in 1850, rhymes 'quay" with “today”, but I’ve always been inclined to think that that may be poetic licence on his part rather than a reflection of a then-current pronunciation. Re the general “quay / key” business: certainly the word “quay” seems to crop up in a lot of Irish songs, where it is pronounced “kay” – often, on the end of a line, rhyming with another “ay” sound – as in the non-Irish instances above. (I don’t know whether in Ireland, people also pronounce it “kay” in general discourse.) Irish makers-of-verse seem to be big on extravagant forcing of rhymes – as in the song about the experiences of a recruit to the British Army in the 1850s: “And the next place they took us was down to the quay, And on board of a warship bound for the Cri-may…” :eek: > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > Something you often hear in the UK, even in Parliament, is an extra r in withdrawal. > > “Theresa May’s withdrawral agreement.” > > For me, this always grates. As mentioned upthread: “r” 's in general seem liable to be less of a big deal for English speakers of English, than for those in other parts of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Garak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Garak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garak)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/153 "2019-04-02T07:46:15Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Nope. > > [As Linus himself explains. Linux is always Linux!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IfHm6R5le0) > > lin-UH-ks the creator isn’t always right, though the creator of GIF pronounces it the wrong way [https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/154 "2019-04-02T11:41:14Z")
> [@Garak](#): > > the creator isn’t always right, though > > the creator of GIF pronounces it the wrong way > > [https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2013/05/22/tech/web/pronounce-gif/index.html) ??? He’s not wrong. As the creator of the word, it’s actually impossible for him to be wrong. Unfortunately, initially with no real direction, the ‘hard g’ pronunciation became commonplace. FTR, the OED (and other dictionaries) includes both pronunciations. The one that has bothered me lately is Costa Rica. ---
**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 2, 2019, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/155 "2019-04-02T11:57:54Z")
> [@Reindeer\_Flotilla](#): > > Ha! You know how it is with those ee-knee foods. 🙂 > > And kudos to my movie-loving “breth-er-in” who may have enjoyed that reference. _Breaking Away_!🙂 (right?) ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/156 "2019-04-02T12:01:47Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I’m pretty sure he pronounced it something like KILL-grum. 😃 > > :rolleyes: > > Seriously? :rolleyes: Yes, seriously. There seems to be a contingent of people here who delight in their ignorance on this matter. ---
**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:** [April 2, 2019, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/157 "2019-04-02T12:02:26Z")
> [@mind\_the\_gap](#): > > Also, it’s not imporDant, it’s imporTant. IMHO I am hearing “impor’ant” with a glottal stop instead of any consonant at all, and that is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me (anybody remember chalkboards?). I can think of at least two podcasts where the hosts do this. ---
**Author:** ![PitJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9bcb4/32.png) [@PitJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PitJ)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/158 "2019-04-02T12:29:04Z")
I wonder why nobody came up with “Coupé”. Apparently (I’m not a native speaker) Brits and Americans feel correct in persistently pronouncing it like “koop” for a shortened (=cut) two door version of a four door vehicle, such as “Little Deuce Coupe”, which bothers me no end. This funny little dash on the original’s e makes it sound somewhat like “koopAY” (there is no English equivalent to the open French é). The Coupe in French, pronounced “koop”, means for instance the cut of a dress. And without the é in French it would be the Coup, pronounced “koo”, for hit, blow, stroke. But perhaps KOOP has become the correct word and I’m just a whiny continental European who wants to get the languages right. ---
**Author:** ![sps49sd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@sps49sd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sps49sd)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/159 "2019-04-02T14:11:51Z")
Nuclear, yeah. Ugh. Am I really the first to bring up ‘jewelry’? There is a well known jewelry company in the SF Bay Area whose founder is all over the radio with ads; lately some have included his jewelry designer daughter (I think) who pronounces it “julery”. Ack! ---
**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 2, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807/160 "2019-04-02T14:15:06Z")
Why can’t people see the Y in larynx and pharynx comes before the N? It’s lair-inks and fair-inks, NOT lar-nicks and far-nicks! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-we-pronounce-wrong-but-nobody-cares/831807.md?page=9)