# Words you can't pronounce
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 9, 2012, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279 "2012-04-09T17:23:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/61 "2012-04-11T14:25:09Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#):
>
> Bestial - it always comes out Beast-tea-all
And…?
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/62 "2012-04-11T14:59:13Z")
Oh…oops! Guess I’ve been pronouncing it wrong, too (in my head…doubt I’ve ever said “bestial” aloud).
Turns out it’s supposed to rhyme (approximately) with “vestal”, as in virgin.
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### Author:  [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/63 "2012-04-11T15:11:10Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#):
>
> Regarding rural do Americans pronounce it differently? (I pronounce it “roar-aul”), and I’m not sure why it is being singled out.
Partly because of TV. On “30 Rock” the character Jenna said she was in a movie “The Rural Juror” and no one knew what she was saying.
If an actress on a sitcom pretending to be an actress on a sketch comedy show has trouble saying the name of her pretend movie, it must be true.
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### Author:  [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/64 "2012-04-11T17:50:08Z")
> [@tim-n-va](#):
>
> Partly because of TV. On “30 Rock” the character Jenna said she was in a movie “The Rural Juror” and no one knew what she was saying.
>
> If an actress on a sitcom pretending to be an actress on a sketch comedy show has trouble saying the name of her pretend movie, it must be true.
Say “Rural Juror” five times in a row, quickly. I dare you.
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### Author:  [@Susie\_Derkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susie_Derkins)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/65 "2012-04-11T21:04:17Z")
Manipulate.
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### Author:  [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/66 "2012-04-11T21:12:28Z")
> [@Nava](#):
>
> That he’s a foreigner whose native language doesn’t have rr. Many foreigners can’t pronounce rr, pronouncing r and rr as r is fine. The French usually pronounce them as French rs, so what? They’re French, we can’t pronounce their rs “properly” either but so long as we all understand each other it’s all great.
Sir, you have made my day. Maybe my year.
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### Author:  [@eclectic\_wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eclectic_wench)
#### Post date: [April 11, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/67 "2012-04-11T23:34:24Z")
Irrevocable. I can never remember whether it’s irREVocable or irreVOCable or neither one. Even if someone tells me the correct pronunciation, it goes straight out of my head.
I also can’t visualise (auralise?) what it is about ‘rural’ that makes it the biggest contender in this thread.
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/68 "2012-04-12T07:50:09Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> Sir, you have made my day. Maybe my year.
I’m not a lady and much less a sir, but you’re most welcome 🙂
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/69 "2012-04-12T09:42:46Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#):
>
> That could cause some confusion:
>
> “How is your family?”
> “Thank you for asking, everyone is fine. And our son is going to jail!”
As I was once taught as a way to keep the two apart: “My year at Yale was like a year in jail”.
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### Author:  [@SticksAndString](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SticksAndString)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/70 "2012-04-12T10:55:09Z")
Apocalyptic
I have had speech issues my entire life and I just CANNOT say this word. It always comes out “Apop-a-lipstick”.
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### Author:  [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/71 "2012-04-12T19:15:07Z")
Brewery trips me up as much as rural. I have to over-enunciate the 3 or 2 syllables to feel like I’ve got it right.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/72 "2012-04-12T19:53:09Z")
I always pronounce “specific” as “pacific.”
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### Author:  [@jerseymule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerseymule)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/73 "2012-04-12T20:53:53Z")
> [@Jack\_Crazyquilt](#):
>
> Sixth.
>
> My tongue trips over those last three letters every time I try to say it. It usually comes out as either ‘sixt’ or ‘siksss’.
This. Also plural words like “hosts” or “breasts” - either they sound like the singular noun, or the “t” gets left out.
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/74 "2012-04-12T21:55:11Z")
> [@dinahmoe](#):
>
> And “furor”. Also, “harbor” makes my mouth go all funny. I blame growing up in New England.
The rural juror was in a furor at the harbor, brought on by the error at the bureau.
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### Author:  [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)
#### Post date: [April 12, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/75 "2012-04-12T23:10:53Z")
> [@MildlyObsessed](#):
>
> As a foreigner who learned English at school I probably have a ton of words I mispronounce, but I mostly struggle with understanding the logic behind certain words. For example why on earth is Nike not pronounced the same way as Ike? I understand it in Ikea because there is the -a at the end but it’s not Nikea… Why is the -e not silent as it logically should?
>
> Another one that baffles me is aluminium - I’ve only heard it pronounced as aloo-mi-num but always see it spelled out aluminium instead of aluminum. So confusing! I understand that in English you don’t necessarily pronounce each letter but cutting them of at random makes it harder for foreigners to learn. I’ll keep studying tho maybe one day I’ll be able to carry a conversation without people making fun of me 🙂
Aluminium and Aluminum are the same thing one is a trade name the other an element, just one of the joys of English and American English
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### Author:  [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/76 "2012-04-13T04:07:20Z")
Prerequisite. It comes out “pre-we-quisite.”
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### Author:  [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/77 "2012-04-13T05:57:39Z")
> [@digs](#):
>
> Like _Antarctica_. Most people leave off the first C.
No, most _Americans_ leave off the first C. The rest of us can pronounce it just fine, thank you very much.
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### Author:  [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/78 "2012-04-13T06:17:51Z")
peculiar
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### Author:  [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)
#### Post date: [April 13, 2012, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-cant-pronounce/618279/79 "2012-04-13T06:39:13Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#):
>
> Aluminium and Aluminum are the same thing one is a trade name the other an element, just one of the joys of English and American English
Both are the element, spelled by different people. At least the two spellings are close, unlike Wolframium and Tungsten…
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