# Words you still can't pronounce
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 6, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978 "2013-04-06T02:37:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/1 "2013-04-06T02:37:41Z")
For the life of me I can not say ‘peculiar’
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### Author:  [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/2 "2013-04-06T02:43:09Z")
I sometimes have difficulties with _colloquial_. I really don’t know why.
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### Author:  [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/3 "2013-04-06T02:47:03Z")
I’ve noticed many people can’t pronounce Authentication.
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### Author:  [@Alpine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpine)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/4 "2013-04-06T02:49:48Z")
Despite the amount of Wodehouse I read, I still can’t pronounce “stentoriously” even in my head.
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### Author:  [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/5 "2013-04-06T02:50:56Z")
Saturday. It comes out as Sar-day, with the first syllable rhyming with ‘‘chair.’’ No glottal stop, just a skipped T. FWIW I’m from the Pittsburgh area.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/6 "2013-04-06T03:09:11Z")
Remuneration, Recidivism, Colloquial - I can pronounce them, but I have to do it slowly.
Rural, Rory - pretty hopeless.
Also Halo-halo, a Philippino dessert - the “a” sound is supposed to be somewhere between “hallow” and “hollow”, but I can’t get it right.
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### Author:  [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/7 "2013-04-06T03:12:57Z")
“Statistics.” Trip over it every time. Sta-stis-tics usually, though sta-tic-tics, sta-tit-ics, and other variations are known to tumble out of my mouth. The word unfortunately figured large in my undergrad degrees, and I had to say it aloud far too many times.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/8 "2013-04-06T03:34:45Z")
Electricity.
Different syllables are stressed the way it was pronounced in Pakistan (born and raised) and the US (25+ years). I tried to change to the American way, then got so self conscious, I can’t say it either way. For more than twenty years now!
I haven’t tried to change my pronunciations of any other words (I still say pah-st, fah-st and to-mah-to) but my brother in law used to get after me for electricity.
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### Author:  [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/9 "2013-04-06T03:49:11Z")
February. I know that Fe-b(y)oo-ary is acceptable, but it doesn’t seem to be the primary and I think I’d kill myself if I had to pronounce it correctly.
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### Author:  [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/10 "2013-04-06T04:04:40Z")
NotherYinzer, another one here from the Burgh, who says Saturday the same way. My partner mocks me with “Sarrrrday.” I think it’s a Burgh thing, from being from donton. 🙂
For some reason “orchestra” messes me up, like I keep wanting to say or-chest-ra, with the hard ch.
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/11 "2013-04-06T04:30:29Z")
Raleigh. I always want to say “Răll-eh”, not “Rälly”. I can never remember the proper pronunciation.
Not that I have to say aloud the capital of North Carolina much, but every so often, when I need to refer to it, I cringe, and just slur it out real fast, mixing all the vowel sounds like Chewbacca, hoping no one notices.
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### Author:  [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/12 "2013-04-06T04:33:52Z")
> [@\_Olive](#):
>
> For the life of me I can not say ‘peculiar’
Ahh, I forgot about “peculiar”! Such a peculiar word. I have trouble with it as well; I often find myself slowing-way-down when I get to that one. ☹
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### Author:  [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/13 "2013-04-06T05:00:46Z")
> [@cmyk](#):
>
> Raleigh. I always want to say “Răll-eh”, not “Rälly”. I can never remember the proper pronunciation.
>
> Not that I have to say aloud the capital of North Carolina much, but every so often, when I need to refer to it, I cringe, and just slur it out real fast, mixing all the vowel sounds like Chewbacca, hoping no one notices.
Now I have an image of Chewbacca howling out Raleigh, or trying, as if he’s howling at the moon. [shakes fist]
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/14 "2013-04-06T05:13:13Z")
> [@deltasigma](#):
>
> Now I have an image of Chewbacca howling out Raleigh, or trying, as if he’s howling at the moon. [shakes fist]
He’s howling at the hellscape that is Endor’s moon. It’s the sound of a blender gargling a few dozen tennis balls.
So majestic.
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### Author:  [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/15 "2013-04-06T05:59:35Z")
Antananarivo. There’s one to many _an_’s.
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### Author:  [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/16 "2013-04-06T06:15:03Z")
> [@RadicalPi](#):
>
> Antananarivo. There’s one to many _an_’s.
Pfttt. That’s because they don’t know to pronounce their own [name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antananarivo). It SHOULD be an-TANA-nar-EE-vo. See, much better. 😃 😉
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/17 "2013-04-06T07:12:26Z")
Vulnerable, for some reason I must put a “g” in it.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/18 "2013-04-06T07:59:43Z")
There used to be a local news anchor here, who had trouble pronouncing his own name. He’d say his first name, then pause and over-pronounce each syllable in his last name. Very strange.
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### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/19 "2013-04-06T11:58:25Z")
I don’t even attempt ‘rural’ any more.
mmm
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [April 6, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/20 "2013-04-06T12:07:23Z")
Planetarium
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