# Words you pronounced wrong because you only read them **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607 "2011-03-22T14:33:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/1 "2011-03-22T14:33:42Z")
There was a gag in yesterday’s How I Met Your Mother that Ted said “Chameleon” wrong because he only read it and never heard it. I can sympathize. I said “Omnipotent” wrong for years because I only read it. Also “Hyperbole”. That was another one. Any words like that for you? ---
**Author:** ![soulmurk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@soulmurk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/soulmurk)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/2 "2011-03-22T14:46:34Z")
Facade. I pronounced it “fa-KADE” until I was corrected by a friend amid some laughing and gentle ribbing. Hyperbole was another one. And I pronounced the “X” in faux (FAWKZ). ---
**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:** [March 22, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/3 "2011-03-22T14:50:01Z")
My mom thought it was hilarious when I was a kid and described two objects as being “simill-yer”. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/4 "2011-03-22T14:51:11Z")
Segue. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/5 "2011-03-22T14:53:09Z")
Epitome. I’d heard the word said aloud, but never associated the written word with that pronunciation. I always read it as “epi-tome”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![iamnotbatman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/858c86/32.png) [@iamnotbatman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamnotbatman)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/6 "2011-03-22T14:54:36Z")
Disciple. I used to put the stress on the first syllable, rather than the second. I still think the ‘correct’ pronunciation sounds kind of odd. Facetious was another one. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/7 "2011-03-22T14:55:28Z")
For quite a few years I thought there were two singers: the one named “Fiance” that I kept hearing about and the one named “Be-younce” that I kept reading about. It as only when I noticed the accent over the “e” in print that I realized it would be pronounced Be-youn-cee, and then further realized that she was the one I kept (mis)hearing about. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/8 "2011-03-22T14:59:49Z")
I think I’d read “ennui” for a few years before hearing it properly. > [@soulmurk](#): > > Facade. I pronounced it “fa-KADE” until I was corrected by a friend amid some laughing and gentle ribbing. There’s a reason for the cedilla (fa **ç** ade). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/9 "2011-03-22T15:07:36Z")
I bet it won’t be more than a few minutes until somebody mentions “awry.” I’m still not sure how to pronounce pedagogy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/10 "2011-03-22T15:14:10Z")
When I was much younger: **annihilate** – If you hadn’t heard it pronounced, would you ever _imagine_ it was pronounced _ann_- **I** -_'il-ate_ ? Names: **l"Hopital** **Maugham** (as in Somerset) ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/11 "2011-03-22T15:16:17Z")
Verbatim. Also hors d’oeuvre. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/12 "2011-03-22T15:17:27Z")
**Chamois** **Ennui** (I thought it was pronounced en-you-eye, I thought on-wee was a french name spelled like Henri. I was making this mistake up until a year ago actually) \*\*Hyperbole \*\*(10th grade English sorted me out there, though) \*\*Milquetoast \*\*(seriously why is this not spelled milktoast?) Also, on a similar note, for years I thought that the differently-pronounced versions of the word “separate” were spelled differently [verb (SEP-uh-rate) spelled “separate” and adjective (sep-uh-RIT) spelled “seperate”]. All because of a typo in a Babysitters Club book I read when I was 8. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/13 "2011-03-22T15:18:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > For quite a few years I thought there were two singers: the one named “Fiance” that I kept hearing about and the one named “Be-younce” that I kept reading about. That was like me and “segue”. I thought there were two different words that meant roughly the same thing: “segue” and “segway” (and this is long before the two-wheeled vehicle thing). My rational was that the was a word “segway” that some how came from “segment” and “way” while the other word meant the same thing but had different language origins. So “segway” and “segue” were kind of like “hors d’oeuvre” and “antipasto”. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/14 "2011-03-22T15:45:59Z")
I always thought “disheveled” was pronounced “dis-_hev_-ld,” since “dis” is clearly a prefix. Turns out my reasoning was not heveled. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/15 "2011-03-22T15:46:43Z")
I used to have a problem with the word “amiable” – I’d pronounce it “uh-MY-a-ble”. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/16 "2011-03-22T15:55:00Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > “Hyperbole”. That was another one. I still have to make a significant conscious effort not to say “hyper-bole” despite now knowing better. ---
**Author:** ![Soliloquy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Soliloquy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soliloquy)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/17 "2011-03-22T15:55:28Z")
I used to mispronounce “bodice” when I was a kid. I thought it was pronounced “bo-deese”. ---
**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:** [March 22, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/18 "2011-03-22T16:05:29Z")
I used to read “infrared” as “in-frared”. My ex always read “atomic” as “atom-ic”. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/19 "2011-03-22T16:10:21Z")
Ex-PLEE-tive de-LEET-ed. Isn’t that more mellifluous than the “correct” way? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/20 "2011-03-22T16:13:09Z")
When I was a kid I had a problem with superior. Super-y oar. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607.md?page=2)