# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/81 "2011-03-22T23:07:10Z")
Rapport. I connected the word I read with the word I heard when I was in my early twenties. I just learned to pronounce “dour” yesterday. ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/82 "2011-03-22T23:14:24Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Given that all the right sounds are there, in the right order, I don’t think a stress variation can be considered a mispronunciation. In any case, this one is pretty common. I’ve never heard it pronounced that way when applied to an elementary school, which is what I was doing at the time (I was four). In that use, I’ve only ever heard it pronounced “el-e-MENT-ry.” ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/83 "2011-03-23T00:04:07Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Oh hell, I’ll give you embarassing: I was 25. My high school English teacher mispronounced epitome. In an AP class. To her credit, she was otherwise an excellent teacher. The word that stands out for me is “junta”. It had never dawned on me that the word was Spanish in origin, until I was corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/84 "2011-03-23T00:06:54Z")
Ogle. Oogle? what IS that word? Melancholy. I pronounced it mel-anch-o-ley. ---
**Author:** ![Lightlystarched](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/85 "2011-03-23T00:10:30Z")
I thought of another one: I used to sneak read my mom’s historical “romances”. I thought whore sounded the same as war. It wasn’t until I saw some bathroom grafitti mispelling it as “hore” that I clued in. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/86 "2011-03-23T00:12:38Z")
Litigous. I pronounced it lih-tih-GISS in a court of law. Plus the court reporter read it back correctly because no one knew what I was trying to say. I mean it’s pronounced litigation, right? WTF? And about a million other words. I was a lot worse in high school though. My parents weren’t particularly articulate. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/87 "2011-03-23T00:49:20Z")
Elite isn’t pronounced as e-lite, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/88 "2011-03-23T01:15:30Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Though my dad was always talking about the character Donkey Hotey, which I never connected with the book (pronounced **Don Quicksote** ) that he had in his den. > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > _quixotic_: I took Spanish in high school, and we _read_ Don Quixote, so clearly this is pronounced Key-hote-ic. No, I guess not ☹ Is it any wonder people get confused with this one? Quixote = Spanish pronunciation Quixotic = literal English pronunciation It’s ridd-er-KEW-lis. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/89 "2011-03-23T01:16:52Z")
Oh, my list is so long, so very long. It includes a three-letter word. On the other hand I can spell a lot of things because in my mind they are pronounced absolutely phonetically (even though I know that’s not correct to say out loud). You could say I am a k’NOIS-ee-er of the written word. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/90 "2011-03-23T02:11:37Z")
Another friend of mine pronounced Betelgeuse as “belch-u-geese”. ---
**Author:** ![corvidae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@corvidae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corvidae)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/91 "2011-03-23T02:11:57Z")
Melancholy: I always thought it was mel-AN-cho-lee. Chagrin: chay-grin? beribboned: berry-boned? To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever actually said these words out loud. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/92 "2011-03-23T03:10:20Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Calliope - I used to think it was pronounced Cally-Ope. > > Sounds like something you’d say to a horse, doesn’t it? In New Orleans, Calliope Street is pronounced CAL-ly-ope. The steam organ on the riverboat is pronounced cuh-LIE-o-pee. Only in New Orleans… ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/93 "2011-03-23T03:16:54Z")
I mispronounced “ennui” wrong until I read Post 8 in this thread just a few minutes ago. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/94 "2011-03-23T03:23:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > There’s a bunch of them, but I can’t think of a good example off the top of my head. I do remember one of my old roommate’s examples: For the longest time, as a kid, he would read the word “misled” as if it were the past tense of “misle,” rather than “mis-led.” I always found that amusing. Was I your old roommate? Cause “misled” did it for me. And the light didn’t dawn on me until college, for crying out loud. I know I used “MY-zeld” both in my head and my out-loud voice many times, and nobody ever corrected me. I think I probably used “misle” as a verb in some of my school writings, too … although surely _that_ would have been called out by the teacher, right? Right? Funny enough, a few years after my eyes opened to the reality of “mis-led,” I was working at a teeny little UHF television station in southeast Iowa. The fellow we had anchoring the news (nice guy, ex-pastor) was reading a story and, sure enough, out comes the word “MY-zeld.” I was just glad to know I wasn’t the only one … I don’t remember if I corrected him or not. I’d like to think I did, but I can’t truthfully say. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/95 "2011-03-23T03:24:34Z")
Intravenous. I still have trouble with this and have to consciously correct myself before it comes out. In-tra-VEE-nuss, not in-TRA-veh-nuss. I mean, it makes sense if you think about the etymology, but I didn’t. One I still don’t know is antipathy. Is it an-TIP-ah-thee or AN-ti-path-ee? I’ve been tempted to use it in writing a few times but have had to avoid it out of fear that I might need to read it aloud. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/96 "2011-03-23T03:42:57Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > Aspartame, as in the sweetener (Nutrasweet). I pronounced it “as-par-ta-may” for the longest time. That seems right to me…and iCarly too… 🙂 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0-bH84w3Dw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0-bH84w3Dw) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/97 "2011-03-23T03:55:45Z")
I’m guilty of a few already mentioned. When I was a kid, I read a great book called Misty of Chincoteague, about a wild pony from this island called “shin-co-tee-ahg”. And then I moved to the States and heard about a coworker’s great camping trip to Chin-co-teeg island. I almost facepalmed right there as I made the connection, and thanked the stars I’d never said that name out loud in my entire life. There are also plenty of people whose names I try to avoid saying out loud because I only know them from books. Like Tycho Brahe. And the damn Greeks had me going for a while with characters like Purse-phone and Anti-gone. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/98 "2011-03-23T04:33:13Z")
Locke was Loki ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/99 "2011-03-23T04:53:43Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Martha Stewart mispronounces antimony. She should check a dictionary. It’s correctly pronounced similarly to matrimony. Thanks for that. That’s one of those words I apparently used to pronounce the correct way (no doubt influenced strongly by Tom Lehrer’s “Elements” song), then somewhere along the line, heard everyone else apparently pronouncing it with the stress pattern of “antipathy,” so I assumed I was incorrect all along. I feel vindicated now. Reading through the rest of the thread, I admit that “biopic” is one that still trips me up when I see it in writing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607/100 "2011-03-23T04:57:49Z")
Hierarchy, which way back when I used to think was “heerarchy.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-pronounced-wrong-because-you-only-read-them/575607.md?page=6)