# Words you thought you knew how to pronounce ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130 "2001-06-25T21:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/21 "2001-06-26T15:15:06Z")
**Cache** I pronounced it as “cay-sh” for years, until someone finally corrected me. But I had been pronouncing it wrong for so long, the incorrect pronunciation is ingrained in me. Unless I think about what I’m saying and concentrate, I still say it wrong. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/22 "2001-06-26T15:23:52Z")
I always prided myself on reading skills and spelling ability until, in Jr High, I was faced with the word “chaos” whilst reading aloud. 'cha-ose? 'kay-os… was the response from my teacher. from then on, I read AHEAD the night before class! But, I tend to use the less-preferred pronunciations of some words. Protein… I pronounce 'pro-te-in, not 'pro-teen Karaoke… I pronounce ka-'ro-ke, not 'ka-re-o-ke Carribbean… I pronounce ka-ri-'be-en, not ka-'rib-e-en. People sometimes correct me when I pronounce words this way, but I show them that we both can be right. I learned how to pronounce words this way, and see no need to change. GrizzWife says I do it to call attention to myself. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/23 "2001-06-26T16:35:35Z")
\*When I was a young kid (age 6 or 7) reading about astronomy, the word _ **sidereal** _ always gave me an eerie, Twilight Zone feeling. I would literally feel a sensation of weirdness descend around me like a halo, making my flesh creep. That’s because I was reading it as a compound of _side + real_, as though it meant another reality alongside the real one. Similar to _surreal_. It wasn’t till I was in college that I found out it was really si-DEE-ri-al, from the Latin word for star. I still get an eerie feeling from it, though. **LoverBoy** , as a kid I also misread _infrared_ as in-FRAIRD. Glad to see I wasn’t the only one. **sunacres** , I think _buoy_ really is boo-ee. Don’t feel bad, you didn’t make a boo-boo. **Cheesesteak** , I have to work with people who named one of their servers “Chimera” and they always mispronounce it with the ch- sound of “cheesesteak.” If I said it correctly, no one would know what I was talking about. \ Techie types, hopeless when it comes to literary matters. I say _Curaçao_ as koo-ra-SOW. It’s Portuguese for ‘heart’. **GrizzRich** , AFAIC Caribbean should always be ka-ri-BEE-an. ka-RIB-e-an sounds strange. William Safire once wrote a piece on how in polysyllables the stress used to be toward the front of the word—in the early 20th century—and now only really old people still keep it there; now, the stress tends to move toward the back of the word. But I hate it when anyone pronounces “Augustine” as uh-GUS-t’n; the only allowable pronunciation should be AUG-us-teen. I must have been influenced by Bob Dylan singing “I dreamed I saw Saint AUG-us-teen.” ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/24 "2001-06-26T17:59:22Z")
I, too, pronounce “cache” wrong, and was guilty of the “draught”/“draft” confusion. I’m still not sure how to pronounce “paradigm” or “schizm”. In 6th or 7th grade I was reading a word problem out loud for math class, and I pronounced the name Sean as “seen”. I’d never realized that Shawn could also be spelled Sean. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/25 "2001-06-26T18:22:11Z")
I thought the flowers were called “ruh-DODD-en-drawns” rather than roe-doe-DEN-druns. Go figure. A mother of a friend of mine described a view once as “picture-skwee.” Much hilarity ensued. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/26 "2001-06-26T18:24:54Z")
I spent most of my life thinking that that city in AZ was pronounced the way it is spelled, namely “TUCK-son”. I had surely heard Tucson pronounced before, but never made the connection. Flash to a meeting a few years ago in which I’m supposed to be some sort of authority. Middle Management Marketing Dude: “Where is the supplier’s conference this year?” Me: (confidently)“I believe it’s in Tucson.” MMMD: Where? Me: “Tucson. You know, Tucson, Arizona.” MMMD: “Hoo boy.” I’m still cringing. Notes: count me in for in-FRARED and I just now learned what sidereal means. I do much more reading than I do talking so this problem crops up from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Lao](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Dr.Lao](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Lao)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/27 "2001-06-26T18:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sunacres \* > \*\*Of course, when I lived with the Brits they gave me a rough time about “buoy,” which I pronounced “boo-wee.” They thought that was hysterical. \*\* According to Merriam-Webster’s both “boo-ee” and “boy” are acceptable pronounciations of bouy. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/28 "2001-06-26T18:41:52Z")
I’ve done ep-i-TOME. I have thought that a draught of beer and draught horses must be really cold. The worst was when I was in high school and asked for a pint (short “i”) of vallina ice cream. I still have to think about vanilla before I say it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhetoric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rhetoric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhetoric)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/29 "2001-06-26T19:16:12Z")
One that I notice many people say is comparable. They pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable. com-PAR-a-ble - Like _compare_ with an _able_ on the end. According to dictionaries I’ve looked in in the past, the correct pronunciation is with the accent on the first syllable. COM-par-a-ble Maybe someone will prove me wrong… ---
**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:** [June 26, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/30 "2001-06-26T20:04:29Z")
One that annoys me is “impious” – a word hardly anyone uses, anyway. The “Correct” pronunciation is “IM-pee-uss”, which I hold to be an abomination before God (appropriately). By all rights the word should be pronounced “im-PIE-uss”, since it is the opposite of “pious” (pronounced “PIE-uss”). This is one case where I rebel against the “correct” pronunciation in the service of reforming the language. I also think we should say “a historic occasion” instead of “an historic occasion”, and I applauded when Time magazine followed that usage. But that’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![AwSnappity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@AwSnappity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AwSnappity)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/31 "2001-06-26T22:02:03Z")
I always pronounce “caterpillar” as “calla-pitter” only because it’s easier for me to say. I have to think to say “catter-pillar.” ---
**Author:** ![LoverBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LoverBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LoverBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/32 "2001-06-26T22:34:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > and i won’t even get started on hors d’oeuvre, just think of devouring whores… Oh, yeah… the first time I read it, I pronounced it as “whores dee-aw-vrey”. I never even connected it to the word “ordervs” that I had heard but not read. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/33 "2001-06-26T22:59:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racinchikki \* > \*\* I’m still not sure how to pronounce “paradigm” or “schizm”. > \*\* Paradigm: like you have 20 cents (pair-uh-DYME). Schizm: skizz’m (short “i” sound). ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2001, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/34 "2001-06-26T23:13:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FireUnderpantsBoobs \* > \*\*I always pronounce “caterpillar” as “calla-pitter” only because it’s easier for me to say. I have to think to say “catter-pillar.” \*\* _grin_ I still pronounce it capper-tiller–started as a goof and now it’s stuck in my head. For years I thought “hors d’oeuvre” was pronounce “whores de overs” . . . read it a lot, heard people talking about them, never connected the two. I forget now when the penny finally dropped. Highschool, we’re reading “Antigone” out loud in English. The friend reading the part of the chorus declaims: Can it be? Yes! It’s Aunty gone! ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/35 "2001-06-27T01:08:16Z")
**Ethilrist** - Soul Brother/Sister!!! My mom still laughs at the time we took a road trip up the coast of CA into Oregon & Washington. I told them that we were X number of miles away from the city of ro-dod-en-dron. She made me repeat it a few times and actually had to look at the map with her own eyes before she understood what I meant. I opened this thread specifically to list that one, but dang it, you beat me to it!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mysphyt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@Mysphyt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mysphyt)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/36 "2001-06-27T01:55:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh, yeah… the first time I read it, I pronounced it as “whores dee-aw-vrey”. I never even connected it to the word “ordervs” that I had heard but not read. I read this book when I was littler wherein two youths were purchasing hors d’oeuvre. I thought “Eww, what do they need horse ovaries for?” When I was in HS, one of my teachers made us write precis papers (pronounced pray-see). I thought there were two different papers, one ‘pray-see’ my teacher kept talking about and one ‘pre-sis’ that kept showing up on the board. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/37 "2001-06-27T02:03:14Z")
Some of my mispronunciations that were dispelled (publicly, and with much ridicule) in high school: sidereal - I pronounced it sid-ree-al. endowed - en-doe-d. Betelguese - buh-tel-geeze. Still, there was my classmate who read aloud “after walking all day Mary was very fat-ih-gyu-d.” And **sunacres** , you’re right about ‘buoy’. Those Brits just have an inferiority complex. 😃 –sublight. ---
**Author:** ![R3nergy8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e99b99/32.png) [@R3nergy8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3nergy8)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/38 "2001-06-27T10:13:36Z")
[/QUOTE] Oh, yeah… the first time I read it, I pronounced it as “whores dee-aw-vrey”. I never even connected it to the word “ordervs” that I had heard but not read. 😃 \*\* [/QUOTE] ``` Ha! I used to say it that way too. Curious though, did you ever say it wrong in a restaurant in front of the waiter and your friends? I DID!!!:o ``` When I was younger I used to pronounce aisle as ‘a-sul’, and vinyl as ‘ven-nul’ and my family would laugh at me so hard whenever I called the A-1 steak sauce 'AL sauce :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2001, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/39 "2001-06-27T10:59:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\ ***GrizzRich** , AFAIC Caribbean should always be ka-ri-BEE-an. ka-RIB-e-an sounds strange. \*\* Just to be a snip about it… The area was named for the Carib Indians (Themselves named for chocolate’s ugly cousin. No that’s carob…) So it should be Carib-ean. Caribbean = ka-RIB-e-an -Rue. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/40 "2001-10-13T23:15:03Z")
Annihilate. I had heard the word long before I ever saw it in writing. It just didn’t seem to be the same word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130.md?page=3)