# Words you still can't pronounce **URL:** \ **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:** 2
**Author:** ![PhilJones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/278dde/32.png) [@PhilJones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilJones)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/21 "2013-04-06T12:13:52Z")
Oh dear. As youngsters we used to laugh at the way US Americas pronounced words. Hailing from Wales where place names could be said to cause road accidents (Ystrad Mynach anyone) we also found English people’s attempt to pronounce thing equally, erm, interesting. Then I moved to France. Nice place actually. Pickup up the language and now after fifteen years I can buy a baguette with confidence. But I cant say ‘frog’. Not the English word ‘frog’ but the French word for ‘frog’. Its ‘grenouille’ and it has defeated me. Children ask me to say ‘grenouille’ as a means of entertaining themselves. It never fails. They think my pronunciation is hilarious. I hate kids. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/22 "2013-04-06T13:29:11Z")
can’t pronounce “fright night” and roll my 'R’s like this guy - [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player\_detailpage&v=kizZ3Y0K1o8#t=526s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kizZ3Y0K1o8#t=526s) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/23 "2013-04-06T14:10:06Z")
I hear many people pronounce associate as “ass-OH-she-ate.” Where’s the “sh” sound coming from? ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/24 "2013-04-06T14:23:21Z")
conscious I always put an “n” before the last letter. I have to concentrate to say it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/25 "2013-04-06T14:51:41Z")
Entrepreneur. I want to pronounce the E sound, not an O sound. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/26 "2013-04-06T16:42:43Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I hear many people pronounce associate as “ass-OH-she-ate.” Where’s the “sh” sound coming from? The same place it comes from in ‘glacier’. M-W says that \ə-ˈsō-shē-āt\ is perfectly cromulent. ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/27 "2013-04-06T17:43:41Z")
Species, Pistachio ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/28 "2013-04-06T18:58:48Z")
Be honest, who pronounces the last ‘m’ in chromosome as an ‘n’ to get chromozone? You, you . . . That’s right. And the rest of you are lying liars. :eek: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/29 "2013-04-06T19:07:49Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I hear many people pronounce associate as “ass-OH-she-ate.” Where’s the “sh” sound coming from? I assume they associate it with other words in which “ci” has a “sh” sound, like “special” or “vicious” or the word in the post directly after yours: > [@MissSwitac](#): > > conscious ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/30 "2013-04-06T23:31:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I hear many people pronounce associate as “ass-OH-she-ate.” Where’s the “sh” sound coming from? It rhymes with a-PRE-she-ate, obviously. (Yes, I pronounce both words with an _sh_ sound.) ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/31 "2013-04-06T23:48:02Z")
Rural. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/32 "2013-04-07T00:00:15Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Rural. Yeah, it comes out as “rurl”. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/33 "2013-04-07T02:09:38Z")
In high school I realized I was unable to pronounce the phrase “an enigma.” I still practice it sometimes; I still can’t pronounce it fluently. ETA: rural is a tough one for me too. And I can pronounce both “conscious” and “conscience” but I almost always have to correct myself when I use one or the other. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/34 "2013-04-07T02:52:51Z")
Cinnamon and feminine I will switch the Ms and Ns every single time. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/35 "2013-04-07T21:42:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I hear many people pronounce associate as “ass-OH-she-ate.” Where’s the “sh” sound coming from? It has the same root as social. Do you pronounce this as SO-see-ul or SO-shul? ---
**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:** [April 7, 2013, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/36 "2013-04-07T22:32:37Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > It has the same root as social. Do you pronounce this as SO-see-ul or SO-shul? Note how you didn’t include SO-she-ul? The SH sound is an amalgamation of the S and EE sounds. It is indeed odd that we accept uh-SO-she-ate(ett) but not uh-SO-shate(shett). I don’t have any that I literally can’t say, but I do have problems saying hyper-bowl instead of hyperbole as the latter just sounds wrong. (I often avoid the noun and just use the adjective hyperbolic, where hyper has the normal accents.) And I still want to both say and type disrepancy instead of discrepancy. A word I can say correctly except when I’m reading it is awry. That’s right, I want to say AW-ree. ---
**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:** [April 7, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/37 "2013-04-07T23:33:10Z")
I have to concentrate really hard to make the word “wraith” not sound like “wrath”. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/38 "2013-04-08T00:12:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The SH sound is an amalgamation of the S and EE sounds This simply isn’t true. ‘sh’ or /ʃ/ is its own sound. It is not constituted of any other elements. You’re conflating it with the different vowels. More to the point, spelling does not necessarily have to correlate with pronunciation, and more often than not does not. Another vote for February here. And sixths. Well, I can pronounce it, but I don’t enjoy pronouncing it. In fact, as far as words go, it’s downright obnoxious. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/39 "2013-04-08T00:14:47Z")
Rendezvous I know it’s _ron-day-voo_ but part of my brain keeps wanting to pronounce it as written. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978/40 "2013-04-08T13:56:28Z")
Assuage. Not that I have to say that out loud very often. Rural is also hard on the tongue. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-still-cant-pronounce/654978.md?page=3)