# 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:** 3
**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, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/41 "2001-10-13T23:26:03Z")
Annihilate. I had heard the word long before I ever saw it in writing. It just didn’t seem to be the same word. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/42 "2001-10-14T00:19:07Z")
Segue, I never knew that it was seg-way until my husband used it the other day! ---
**Author:** ![areider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@areider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/areider)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/43 "2001-10-14T03:50:07Z")
yosemite - yo’zah mite in elementary school i gave a talk about vietnam or something and used the word wounded, pronouncing it like sounded. ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/44 "2001-10-14T04:31:25Z")
I know the ridicule well. “The Blue Danube” - I said “da-newbie.” Quite chuckalicious to my loving family. “Socrates” - of course, I said “Sock-ruh-tees.” Again, pointing and laughter ensued. I’m still not sure how to say “chasm.” Is it with the hard “ch” or with a “k” sound? Sheri ---
**Author:** ![DarkWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee59a6/32.png) [@DarkWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkWriter)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/45 "2001-10-14T04:42:50Z")
I meant I pronounced “Socrates” as “So-CRATES.” :o Sheri, having a bitch of a time posting tonight ---
**Author:** ![Skijumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3e96dc/32.png) [@Skijumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skijumper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/46 "2001-10-14T05:50:29Z")
‘Descartes’ as ‘Dee-scar-tes’ ‘Grand Prix’ as ‘Grand Pricks’ I prounounced ‘Nike’ to rhyme with ‘Mike’. I had no idea it was ‘Nike-ee’. Although if you were referring to the Greek temple, not the shoe company, it’s ‘Nick-kay’. Well, that’s what they told me in art history class. Names I’ve been told I pronounce wrongly ‘Aloysius’ - should be ‘Alew-icious’ ‘Regina’ - to rhyme with ‘vagina’ ‘St. John’ - as a surname, ‘sin-juhn’ ---
**Author:** ![Mofo\_Rising](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mofo\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mofo_Rising)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/47 "2001-10-14T06:11:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rue DeDay \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*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. \*\* Another quick hijack, this is also where the word “cannibal” comes from. Nobody ever mispronounces that one, though. Isn’t language fun? ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/48 "2001-10-14T06:51:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Leifsmama \* > \*\*Segue, I never knew that it was seg-way until my husband used it the other day! \*\* Ah, that brings back memories of the day my college roommate asked me what the heck was the meaning of that word “seeg” that I used all the time. emeritus = emer- **i** -tus with a long **i** lascivious = lash-vicious novel = no-vel (long **o** ) And I say pin- **a** -pull with the **a** as in cat, but that’s an intentional affection. 😉 (Oh yeah, it’s really **pineapple**.) ---
**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/49 "2001-10-14T07:50:06Z")
I just learned a new one on The History Channel. Shiva I always pronounced this as SHEE-vuh. Apparently it’s SHIV-uh. My problem word is gesture. I know it’s JEST-chur, but my brain always says GHEST-chur. Same with gesticulation. Sennacherib gave me some trouble. Suh-NAK-uh-rub Here’s a good one. Gigabyte (actually all giga- words). I always pronounced it JIG-uh-bite. I looked it up. That is the correct pronunciation. [http://www.m-w.com](http://www.m-w.com) gives that as the only pronunciation, in fact. This is fairly important to me since I worked in computer tech support for almost a year. I never heard anyone pronounce it any way other than GIG-uh-bite. I changed my pronunciation in order to avoid sounding like a dumbass by having to explain it every time somebody called me on it (“Well, you see, it comes from the Greek word Gigas, meaning giant.”) I guess people don’t like sounding like they’re saying jigger, which used to be a common slang term, at least in these parts, for a person of African descent. A friend of mine once read facade (fuh-SOD) as FAK-ade. I’ll bet that one’s fairly common. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/50 "2001-10-14T12:36:30Z")
This is a really obscure one, and it’s not a word, but a name, and I’m wondering if someone can give me a tip on how it’s pronounced. The name is **Laughner** , as in Peter, the late, great punk rock guitarist from Pere Ubu. I’ve heard it pronounced Lochner, Laafner, Lofner, and Lorner, and I still have no idea of the right way. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/51 "2001-10-14T15:27:02Z")
Thanks to the kindly mod who fixed the title on this old war-horse. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tiburon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e36b37/32.png) [@Tiburon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tiburon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/52 "2001-10-14T15:29:53Z")
“err” - I always pronounced it “air” until I went to law school and every professor there said, “Urr.” I think that it may go both ways but now I’m stuck saying ‘urr’. My ex _still_ prounces ‘bagel’ as “beg-uhl.” Tibs. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/53 "2001-10-14T16:39:07Z")
When you get up in the morning, you’re bed-raggled. Imagine my shock to find out you’re really be-draggled. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/54 "2001-10-14T16:48:36Z")
I come to a dead stop whenever I want to say “gesture” because neither guest-yer nor jest-cher seem more compelllingly correct than the other, and I can never remember which one is correct. > [@](#): > > My mispronounce was in junior high - I said PEE-c’n, and the rest of the class, as one, said pi-CAHN…so I switched to walnuts… The first one isn’t wrong (although it isn’t common). The word isn’t originally French but American Indian, and if I understand correctly PEE-can is as close to the original native pronounciation (unaccented, pek-kan) as the more common p’-KAAHHN or p’-can pronounciations. And PEE-can is what I heard growing up in Georgia, where PEE-cans are grown. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/55 "2001-10-14T17:14:08Z")
Subtle. Not so much a mispronunciation, but I thought “subtle” (s I read it) and “suttle” (as I said it) were two different words. I pronounce lascivious “lasse-vicious”. I mispronounce so manyt things, peopel just laugh at me ALLL the time. Although I did get to laugh at my boyfriend when he pronounced “papyrus” as “pap-ih-russ” ---
**Author:** ![Theobroma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@Theobroma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theobroma)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/56 "2001-10-14T17:16:10Z")
I’m afraid I also said MIZZ-eld (misled) and in-FRARED (infra-red). I seem to be the only one here so far who said “di-VOOR’D” (devoured) or thought that brotyu was a word. Hey, I heard it all the time back in the 60’s! (“This show was brotyu by…”) I thought it was an independent word meaning “sponsored.” A babysitter I once hired (once) had us pick her up in “the last house in the quarter-sack.” Huh? OHHHHHHHH…the cul-de-sac. Got it. I was an early reader, and often had to sound out words I hadn’t heard, leading to some doozies. I ought to ask my mom, I’m sure she remembers them all. (De-VOOR was one of those.) ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/57 "2001-10-14T17:21:10Z")
I got in a cab in the San Diego airport and asked to go to “la joll a” rather than “la hoy a” ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/58 "2001-10-14T17:34:32Z")
anymore. Because when I was kid, I was responsible for the mother of all mispronounciations. At the dinner table with some of my mothers friends in attendence, as well as my family, I puffed up my 10 year old chest and proudly announced my ambition to go down in the ANALS of literature… (vs. annals, of course). The laughter echoes in my head to this day. Hence, I simply do not speak a word out loud until I am sure of the correct pronounciation (and the definition, for that matter). Or, if I must use it, i will question the pronounciation right up front. stoid ---
**Author:** ![Zot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e79b87/32.png) [@Zot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zot)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/59 "2001-10-14T20:37:44Z")
Whenever I read the words Epitome and Indict I have to remind myself how they are really pronounced. I hope I never had to read them allowed. I have often imagined that if I was a news anchor during the Clinton administration that I would have gone on camera and talked about people being “indickted in R-Kansas.” Every now and then I realize that Chimera starts with a K sound. Then I forget until next time. Good thing that I have never had the need to pronounce this word. Long ago, in English class, the teacher, of all people, pronounced “chic” as chick. The class howled. I would have gotten it wrong too. I still have to remind myself that it’s sheek when I read it. In another English class, which only had two girls out of about 15 students, one of the girls mispronounced “Grand Prix.” Pandemonium. “Good pun” replied the teacher. ---
**Author:** ![Angelnside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Angelnside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angelnside)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130/60 "2001-10-14T23:02:47Z")
Well…where do I start… The MOST memorable one was when I was about 16…I was talking to this man who I worked with. His son had watched as his precious puppy was squished beneath the tires of a car. My heart broke for this little boy and I touched this man’s arm and said, “Your son must have been duh-vasted”…he looked at me w/ a puzzled look on his face and said, “You mean dev-uh-state-ed?” “No, I said… duh-vasted” [sub] That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! [/sub] I hope the Original Poster will excuse me here for telling another story that doesn’t quite fit…but, I can squeeze it in! When I was a freshman in high school, I took driver’s ed. I happen to be visiting w/ my father at the time. He was asking me what I had been doing in school…and I was telling him about Driver’s Ed class…I told him, “Well, Daddy they have been letting us use stimulators in class!” Boy, you should have seen the looks I got!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-thought-you-knew-how-to-pronounce/70130.md?page=4)