Words you have to struggle not to mispronounce

[otternell]

Debenture.

I always want to say it Deh-ben-ture; it should be de-Ben-ture.

Boss had to correct me on it multiple times - now I say it in my head a couple times before I think I might need to say it out loud.

[robby]

I can’t believe I didn’t think of this one before:

[ul]
[li]prescription[/li][/ul]
I always trip over this word, and generally end up sounding like I’m drunk or high when bringing one to the pharmacy–so I usually just say “script” now.

[Onomatopoeia]

@Lo-Slung_Denim

I, too, have problems with ‘rural’. I could handle one R, but not TWO!! I have difficulty with ‘squirrel’ as well.

Interestingly(to me), a lot of folks where I grew up pronounce their Rs the same way I do; not exactly like a W, but just like a softer R sound. So the W sound in ‘squirrel’ sets me off to say the Rs the same way.

I get my Vs and Rs a little bit mixed up and so certain words are problematic - words where the V and the R are close together.
Very - rerry
Varying - rarying
Variety - rariety

When I was smaller, other kids pointed it out to me and laughed. I felt ashamed. Now I couldn’t give a monkeys, especially as I realised when I was older I wasn’t the only one in South Cambridgeshire who talks like that!

Typical though my boyfriend only has three letters in his name, an R, a V and another. :rolleyes:

I was just wondering, before getting to the end of your post, if you were from the UK. I understand there’s an area in GB where it is common to replace the R sound with a W, so constabulary becomes constabulawy, and regal becomes weegal, etc… I’ve heard this is not a recent phenomenon, but goes back at least hundreds of years. NPR’s Louisa Lim is an example of someone who speaks this way.

[fachverwirrt]

@teletype

Regarding “cor-in”, I’ve noticed a lot of people seem to have trouble with certain consonant pairs, usually involving a “k” or “c” sound followed by another consonant. I hear people pronounce “crazy” as “kuh-razy”, for instance. Klonopin? “Kuh-lonopin”, etc. I’ve been wondering if there’s a name for this phenomenon, but I have no clue how to google it, my google-fu fails me.

Epenthesis (specifically anaptyxis).

[Pitter_Patter]

I produce radio commercials for a living. I have this recurring client, whose copy always reads, “conveniently located at…” I have no trouble saying the word “conveniently”, but when it appears in a sentence, and must fit in 30 seconds, I am a complete mush mouth.

[Snifit]

@KinkiNipponTourist

Already mentioned: assauge. What is it, ass-wage? I don’t really understand phonetic symbols, so would appreciate it if someone could write out the pronunciation for me.

dictionary.com usually has a button that reads the word out to you. They give the layman’s phonetic spelling as uh-sweyj, for what it’s worth.

Seems like the common confusion about assuage might come from its spelling.

[Chessic_Sense]

Moot. I hypercorrect it. I know that it’s pronounced like it looks, but then I think “everyone gets this wrong. I should change it.” and it comes out ‘mute’. It never happens on paper; just in speech.

@postcards

I find it works well to think of it like this:

Armageddon getting out of here! (I’m-a gettin’ outta here!)

You’ve got one too many "getting"s in there, if you ask me.

@pohjonen

Cavalry.

Lots of people say “calvary” instead because it’s hard not to for some reason.

I used to have that problem. But once you’re in the Army and it’s always shortened to just “cav”, it’s hard to mistake it for an L. “They’re the Cav Platoon, full of cav scouts. Those cav guys had a bonfire by the cav barracks last night.” Now I always hear the v first.

[mil0]

Aurora and Sixth. I can’t pronounce the latter at all due to a mild lisp. Unfortunately, it’s not a word with many synonyms so I have to tough it out, mask it with a cough or say “six” and hope no one notices.