Oh, there is one word that is my nemesis.
Equilibrium.
I hate that word so so much.
My nemesis (a word I can say just fine) is ‘business’, which comes out ‘bih-nis’ if I’m not careful.
My wife and daughter, although not related, both have trouble with the same words. I love to tease them by saying “Ominous, anonymous anemone phenomenon*” three times fast.
*Band name!
My mother passed on two inexplicable mispronunciations to me:
WADE (as in “let’s wade in the shallow water by the shore”) – she pronounces it “wad”, like “shoot your wad.”
MARINATE (as in “let’s marinate some salmon in wine and herbs, then grill it”) – she pronounces it as “MARE - EE - UN - ATE”
I would discuss this further, but I’m busy – I’m going to go wadding in the water, then marianate some chicken.
I can handle anonymous and unanimous, but when it comes to anonymity, forget it. I trip on it each and every time. Anoniminity, Anononmitiny, anominity,anonimoniminonty…just can’t do it.
I cannot say Swarthmore, as in the name of the college. The w, r, and th so close together give me fits. It always comes out like Swath-er-more. It wouldn’t be so much of a problem except that at work, we’re in the middle of a collaborative project with Swarthmore College, and part of my job is giving presentations about it.
There’s a hymn or two that contain the word prostrate within, as in “prostrate before the Lord”
Each and every single time I sing those lines in church, I find myself thinking “prostrate or prostate?” over and over again, watching with a degree of nervousness as the P word approaches rapidly.
Loyola
I have to say it VERY slowly, or I can’t say it at all…
Loy - oil - ah
I couldn’t say ‘rural’ if my dog’s life depended upon it. Don’t even try anymore.
Me: “He lives in a countrified area.”
That’s a physical issue, though. My mental block is indict.
Every time I read the work, my brain goes, “He was in-dickted/in-dited on fraud charges”.
Lastly, is it Gavelston or Galveston? I dunno. I couldn’t tell you without looking it up. And I’ve looked it up more than once in the past.
mmm
I’ve always pronounced that “loy - OLE - ah”
Is it supposed to have both the “loy” and the “oil”?
Sherbet.
(I always want to pronounce it as “sherbert.”)
I’m one of those annoying people who pronounce mischievous as “mis-CHEE-vee-us.” I know it’s wrong, but I usually don’t catch myself.
More obscurely, Agamemnon has always given me trouble.
My Father-in-law pronounces restaurant as “rest-ernt.” I’d never heard that before, but then I noticed that my wife’s uncle says it that way too. He’s an uncle by marriage, so not related to FIL, but they’re both native Floridians. I wonder if that’s a regional thing.
I have a particularly hard time with “particularly”. I always end up sounding drunk. I also can’t pronounce the plural version of words that end in “th”, like “moths” or “truths”. If I’m with the boyfriend I’ll say “monts” or “troots” like Joe Pesci in “My Cousin Vinny” (“the two youts” ).
Burning question: is it “preventive” or “preventative”?. It seems redundant to have both those words in the dictionary.
I pronounce it sherbert, as do a host of other people. It’s a perfectly acceptably alternate pronunciation.
If you use both, use the former as an adjective, the latter as a noun.
[quote=“spark240, post:54, topic:560007”]
If you use both, use the former as an adjective, the latter as a noun.
Good to know. Thanks!
My wife can’t pronounce “vanilla”. It always come out as “valinna”, which I actually find more difficult to say than the correct way.
This is my pet peeve.
I once got into a heated argument with a guy who insisted it was pronounced - and spelled - sherbert.
I told him to Google it. He did. I laughed my ass off at the response:
"Did you mean sherbet?
mmm
Anxiety. I always want to say “an-next-tee” or something. But, I understand the word anxiety when spoken, and say it, just I am always messed up by reading it.
There are a lot of words that I just can’t get right, but I can’t think of them on the spot, as I try to ignore them.
It is? Since when?
Rural, juror, Drury, drawer, etc. Rs give me fits.
Also, I say sherbert, which is listed as an alternate pronunciation in Merriam Webster.