# Words you enjoy mispronouncing **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 19, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800 "2005-08-19T20:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/61 "2005-08-20T05:04:39Z")
“ASS-uh-sin” for “assassin” (this came from friendly games of Magic: The Gathering, in which our nickname for the card Royal Assassin was “Royal Ass”, because it was annoying as hell). I also pronounce KMart as “kmart” (one syllable), and Wal-Mart as…actually, I’m not sure how to write it phonetically; I pronounce it such that ‘Wal’ rhymes with ‘Hal’ (as in Hal 2000). If KMart’s going to insist upon not being hyphenated, and Wal-Mart refuses to add that second ‘L’\*, well, I’ll just say it like they spell it. \*Yes, I know where Wal-Mart got its name. I don’t care. “Walton” rhymes with “Dalton”, but “wall” rhymes with “hall”, whereas “Wal” rhymes with “Hal”. Sammy’s dead anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/62 "2005-08-20T05:12:04Z")
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine, who told me, among other things, about the la-zag-nee he had for dinner. The funniest thing is that he’s completely serious when he says it this way. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/63 "2005-08-20T05:37:11Z")
Hmm, let’s see- par-MEE-san cheese, broccolis, lasagnuts for lasagna (I’m not sure where that one came from), fuffy for puppy (I got that from my sister - she had dental work done, and was so frozen up that when she saw a cute little dog, she said “Look, a fuffy!”). Jim pronounces lingerie as fancy undergonch and also talks about Spectacles (pronounced SPECK-ta-klees), the Greek god of corrective eyewear. (You can imagine what Testicles is the Greek god of.) ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/64 "2005-08-20T07:25:19Z")
a pill dickle. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/65 "2005-08-20T07:33:52Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > This put me in mind of Stephen Fry’s gag: > “He walked with a pronounced limp: L-I-M-P, pronounced, _limp_.” That joke was probably old when Spike Milligan told it in the 50s, before Fry was even born. Due to an old naval story, I always pronounce antelope as if it rhymed with Penelope, and vice versa. Cluttery Knnnn-iffy (as in Knnn-igts) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/66 "2005-08-20T08:53:41Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > a pill dickle. Thank you. Another one ruined forever. I will go forth and infect Sydney with that one. I like it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/67 "2005-08-20T09:01:58Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > fuffy for puppy (I got that from my sister - she had dental work done, and was so frozen up that when she saw a cute little dog, she said “Look, a fuffy!”). ok, that made me laugh out loud. I will now embarass myself in public forevermore by exclaiming, when appropriate, “'Look, a fuffy!” with suitable fake novocaine accent. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/68 "2005-08-20T11:40:07Z")
Not really a mispronunciation, but I get corrected on it all the time. The Finnish pronunciation of the word “sauna” is sow-na, not saw-na, as most people say it. As the word (and the thing itself) is a Finnish concept, I don’t think that this is technically a mispronunciation. The area I grew up in and currently live in has a large percentage of Finnish people; as a result, the common pronunciation of sauna up here is “sow-na.” I know that the rest of the US pronounces it saw-na. I know that I sound like a hick when I say sow-na. But I can’t bring myself to change the way I say it, because ogdamn it, it _is_ the way it’s pronounced by Finnish people. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfgrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@Wolfgrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfgrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/69 "2005-08-20T12:34:51Z")
Around here, D’Angelo’s sub shops are pretty common, and I’ve always preferred to pronounce it Dangle-o’s, seeing as there is no vowel after the D to give it the Dee-Angelo’s that everyone else calls it. I only do this among friends and family though, who know that I do, in fact, know better. Pretty much everyone I know says Tar-zhay for Target, or sometimes even Chez Tar-zhay. Being from Boston, anyone around here who doesn’t say Tar-zhay says Taahgit. The one that I do inadvertently is that I have a habit of apparently pronouncing colonoscopy as coLONoscopy. I know how it’s supposed to be pronounced, and I’m not even aware of how I’m actually saying it until I get the blank stare from whoever I’m talking to. ---
**Author:** ![Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Can\_Handle\_the\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Can_Handle_the_Truth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/70 "2005-08-20T13:35:11Z")
> [@Can Handle the Truth](#): > > Extinguished = Distinguished > [@GorillaMan](#): > > My Brit pronunciation again asks what is supposed to be wrong with this? “You look very extingushed in your new suit.” ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/71 "2005-08-20T13:35:48Z")
“Shrewsbury”, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/72 "2005-08-20T14:36:50Z")
‘Waxing elephants’ is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/73 "2005-08-20T15:37:22Z")
> [@The Weird One](#): > > My dad, brother and I call worcestershire sauce “wore-chester-shire sauce.” We call it “what’s-this-here sauce.” ---
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/74 "2005-08-20T15:40:05Z")
> [@Wolfgrrl](#): > > Around here, D’Angelo’s sub shops are pretty common, and I’ve always preferred to pronounce it Dangle-o’s, seeing as there is no vowel after the D to give it the Dee-Angelo’s that everyone else calls it. I only do this among friends and family though, who know that I do, in fact, know better. > > Pretty much everyone I know says Tar-zhay for Target, or sometimes even Chez Tar-zhay. Being from Boston, anyone around here who doesn’t say Tar-zhay says Taahgit. > > The one that I do inadvertently is that I have a habit of apparently pronouncing colonoscopy as coLONoscopy. I know how it’s supposed to be pronounced, and I’m not even aware of how I’m actually saying it until I get the blank stare from whoever I’m talking to. I pronounce it “Butt-uh-scope”. Generally gets the point across. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/75 "2005-08-20T16:39:53Z")
Strategery = strategy, from the SNL skit. aminal = animal–my dad used this when I was a kid. fat-ee-gued = fatigued–I thought that’s how it was pronounced when I was a kid. souffle, but with the second syllable pronounced like shuffle–another mistake from my childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/76 "2005-08-20T18:20:44Z")
“E-pit-o-me” as epi-tome. There’s hardly any way to slide “epitome” into conversation, so when I do, I might as well do it right. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/77 "2005-08-20T19:10:13Z")
My favorite not really a band name is pronounced jaLAPano and the FALLafell Kings. ---
**Author:** ![cabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@cabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cabdude)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/78 "2005-08-20T19:35:33Z")
Orange-Utang = Orangutan A mispronounciation on my first visit to the zoo. Give me a break, I was four and the ape was orange. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/79 "2005-08-20T20:05:04Z")
A. mispronunces street signs to make me giggle. For example: Chouteau becomes Ch-oh-tee-u-ee-oh with much distortion of the face. We also do Wor-chester-shire and epi-tome. Our last names are different only by a few letters. We joke about hyphenating our names when we get married (which would make my initials NMNN) and our pets have the last name “Newmneumlaneumeunum”. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800/80 "2005-08-20T22:03:47Z")
When I’m a little overdressed for the occasion, I feel swayve and deboner. I am almost incapable of calling the California Pizza Chicken by it’s correct name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-enjoy-mispronouncing/317800.md?page=5)