# Words you mis-said **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 17, 2025, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059 "2025-10-17T17:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/41 "2025-10-19T00:30:40Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > You probably know how to pronounce hors d’oeuvres at least approximately. Just drop the hors d and you got it. Not quite. American English people pronounce hors d’oeuvres as “ȯr-ˈdərv(z)”. Oeuvre is pronounced ˈu̇-vrə (both per Merriam-Webster) The R in hors d’ **oeuvres** gets moved to in front of the “v”. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/42 "2025-10-19T00:35:26Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > The R in hors d’ **oeuvres** gets moved to in front of the “v”. Just like the R in “Brett Favre.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/43 "2025-10-19T00:46:45Z")
Yeah, you’re right. The r gets moved in the usual American pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/44 "2025-10-19T01:00:48Z")
I wish my excuse for mispronounced words was that I spoke more than one language! ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/45 "2025-10-19T01:25:06Z")
When I was a kid (‘70s/‘80s) and my family would play Trivial Pursuit, we would take turns reading the questions. One time, my younger brother — all of maybe 10 at the time — read a question that included the word “dis-KOTH-eh-kew.” My parents and my 12-year-old self had no idea what he meant until someone finally looked at the card: the word was “discotheque.” 🕺 🪩 My parents handed it to him for doing a pretty good job of sounding that word out, especially for a 5th-grader, but we all still gave him occasional crap about “dis-KOTH-eh-kew” for _years_. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/46 "2025-10-19T13:50:09Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > Until this year, I thought the word “segue” rhymed with “egg” and that there was a separate word “segueway”. Oops. Ha, yeah, I knew there was a word ‘segue’ that meant ‘a transition’ which I had read in books, and I thought it was pronounced something like ‘seg-you’. And I knew there was a word I had heard spoken that sounded like ‘segway‘ which I thought was spelled that way, which also meant ‘a transition’, but I thought they were two different words which were synonyms. I was well into adulthood when I learned the truth. Didn’t help that that scooter company spelled their brand name phonetically. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/47 "2025-10-19T13:59:26Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But then I think I am getting Old Timer’s disease. My ex-wife used to say that I was getting half-heimers disease. I wasn’t smart enough to get all-zhiemers disease. Gee thanks dear. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/48 "2025-10-19T17:44:34Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > …we all still gave him occasional crap about “dis-KOTH-eh-kew” for _years_. Many years ago my during a car ride my then-young nephew was reading from a brochure. He came across the word “chaos” and pronounced it as if it rhymed with “mouse”. We were all baffled as to what he meant. _Chouse??_ Yeah, he said, _chouse!_ He’s now in his mid-thirties, and we still bring it up every now and then. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/49 "2025-10-19T17:51:45Z")
I need to physically exert effort to prevent myself from saying “Hyper-bowl” when trying to say hyperbole. I know the correct way to say it but the wrong way is imprinted on my brain like a duckling trying to follow a cat around. > [@Chronos](#): > > I thought that the big D&D monster was named “TARE-ass-kay”. As a youth, we spent an embarrassingly long time talking about Pe-suede-oh Dragons because none of us were familiar with pseudo- as a prefix. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/50 "2025-10-19T21:24:10Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Many years ago my during a car ride my then-young nephew was reading from a brochure. He came across the word “chaos” and pronounced it as if it rhymed with “mouse”. My mother was reading from a brochure at Colonial Williamsburg and pronounced the word “gaol” as “gah-ole.” (It’s pronounced “jail.”) ---
**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:** [October 19, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/51 "2025-10-19T23:17:55Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > (It’s pronounced “jail.”) It comes up in older literature so the meaning is clear, but I’ve never we heard it pronounced either. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/52 "2025-10-19T23:30:43Z")
Or maybe you have, and just didn’t realize it. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2025, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/53 "2025-10-19T23:38:34Z")
That’s possible. I just remembered another one: quay. Growing up in a desert, we didn’t have any so I pronounced it with a typical qu sound and rhythms it with bay. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/54 "2025-10-19T23:56:23Z")
I mean, is there anyone at all in the modern world who does pronounce “quay” properly? The only place I’ve ever seen the word used is in the song “Botany Bay”, and there, it is rhymed with “bay”. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2025, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/55 "2025-10-20T00:53:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I mean, is there anyone at all in the modern world who does pronounce “quay” properly? Clarke Quay in Singapore. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/56 "2025-10-20T17:06:38Z")
“Quay” may be better known in places with or near ports. There’s a restaurant called “[Sullivan’s Quay](https://sullivansquay.com/)” right opposite where I usually gas up my car (in Port Washington on Long Island, NY). And I was one of those who grew up thinking the word spelled “misled” was pronounced MY-zled and didn’t connect it to the word I’d heard said. And, of course, “seque.” ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/57 "2025-10-20T20:52:15Z")
When I was in middle school I encountered the word “samurai” in our textbook, and I’d somehow either never heard that word before, or didn’t connect it to the word in the text. So I pronounced it sa-MAR-ee (to rhyme with safari). I’m pretty sure the first time I saw “biopic”, as in a biographical film, in print, I pronounced it bi-OP-ic. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2025, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/58 "2025-10-20T21:09:57Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’m pretty sure the first time I saw “biopic”, as in a biographical film, in print, I pronounced it bi-OP-ic. I did for years. And I didn’t know what it meant. Even though it’s like, so obvious in retrospect. But I was not parsing the “bio” part, I just thought it was some kind of “epic” smashed with something else. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/59 "2025-10-21T23:57:21Z")
I have few distinct memories of Kindergarten, but one of them involves the word quay. For some reason, I was fascinated by the pronunciation guide in the kid’s dictionary in the classroom. And I would make a note of words pronounced differently. I mentioned that quay was pronounced key, and the teacher wouldn’t believe me. She acted like I was trying to be a troublemaker, so I actually went and grabbed the dictionary and showed it to her. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2025, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059/60 "2025-10-22T00:28:55Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’m pretty sure the first time I saw “biopic”, as in a biographical film, in print, I pronounced it bi-OP-ic. I hear that pronunciation fairly regularly, even from people who know perfectly well what it means. It’s almost common enough to qualify as an alternate pronunciation. Mine is somewhat embarrassing, just for how adamant I was about it. When I was in college, I got into a discussion with one of my friends about the British author Kipling. I was sure–sure, mind you–that his first name was Runyard (it’s actually Rudyard). I had seen Kipling’s first name several times by then, but somehow my brain had always seen it with an N rather than a D. The more my friend told me I was wrong, the more I doubled down on it. “No, of course it’s Runyard. How dumb are you to think it’s Rudyard?” This was before the days where you could easily look up stuff on your phone, so we actually had to go find an anthology of British literature (luckily we were both English majors) and find the first page of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, which proved me wrong. It’s not the initial mistake that embarrasses me so much, but how insistent I was that I was right, with the possibility of being mistaken never even entering my mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-mis-said/1024059.md?page=4)