# Words You’ve Never Heard Pronounced **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 1, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774 "2022-05-01T22:23:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/261 "2022-06-04T20:55:17Z")
" Avoirdupois" the system of “dry weight.” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/262 "2022-06-04T21:16:25Z")
[I thought he was that actor from Benson](https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0041281/mediaviewer/rm845782272?ref_=m_nm_ov_ph) ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/263 "2022-06-04T21:19:10Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > On Jeopardy!, Ryan pronounced Agincourt differently than I would have. Not sure I’ve ever heard anyone say this word so have read several times. We hear it quite a lot in the UK, because it often crops up in historical documentaries and plays. When I was a kid, it was said _AJ-in-kort_. Nowadays they try to say it in a more French way, something like _AZH-in-koor_. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/264 "2022-06-04T23:07:47Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/LuKGVW83dW0/hqdefault.jpg "Fawlty Towers: Basil 'forgets' his anniversary") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuKGVW83dW0) ---
**Author:** ![mglambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mglambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mglambo)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/265 "2022-06-04T23:27:26Z")
Well how DO you pronounce it? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/266 "2022-06-05T03:52:57Z")
I never thought I’d write a letter to ~~Penthouse Forum~~ this thread, but this really happened to me tonight. I’ve known for a long time – and may even have learned here at the Dope – that the most pretentiously correct plural of octopus is octopodes. So when, on a Zoom call tonight, a friend of mine mispronounced it, I immediately went online to find a source for the proper pronunciation so I could correct her. Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that the correct pronunciation actually is ok-TOP-oh-DEEZ, as she had said, and not OK-to-POADS, as I had always assumed. 😳 ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/267 "2022-06-05T03:57:57Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that the correct pronunciation actually is ok-TOP-oh-DEEZ, as she had said, and not OK-to-POADS, as I had always assumed. Hey, I knew that! And yes, I learned it right here on the Dope, in whatever-thread-it-was where we talked about the plural of octopus. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/268 "2022-06-05T04:05:55Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Just heard panache said on the French Open telecast. If offered a wager I would have confidently bet the farm on it being “pa-KNOCK.” Said it that way in my head all my life. > > Nope. The announcer said “pa-NOSH.” Not to be confused (or maybe to be confused) with Panoche, a little hidden valley and community that time forgot in California. I had expected it to be pronounced Pa-NO-chay, as it would be in proper Spanish. The locals (all three of them) pronounce it Pa-NOACH (rhymes with coach, roach, or poach). The area, a mostly barren wasteland, is much used by off-road vehicles, shooters, birders, and gliders. They all call it Pa-NOACH. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2022, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/269 "2022-06-05T05:21:27Z")
That’s interesting about “outre” I’ve never actually seen it spelled with the accent until this thread. So I’ve always assumed it was one of those words from French that include -re at the end, and are pronounced “-ruh”, like oeuvre. Heck, I’ve even pronounced “outre” with the French R and schwa. I’m actually a bit proponent of arguing that accents are optional with full English words. But I wish I’d seen it spelled “outré” spelled so I wouldn’t have sounded like an idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/270 "2022-06-05T17:03:15Z")
And here I was saying “ockt-oh-POE-deez” like some backwater hick. I now stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/271 "2022-06-05T17:05:04Z")
covfefe ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/272 "2022-06-05T19:38:00Z")
Oh, and mole sauce should have an accent on the end so I don’t pronounce it like it’s made from the little bugger who keeps eating my strawberries. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/273 "2022-06-06T12:27:27Z")
I see why an accent on mole (the sauce) might help some English speakers, but it wouldn’t be proper Spanish. In French, the accents are (usually) to indicate _pronunciations_. In Spanish, the one accent mark is used when _stress_ is on an unexpected syllable (each vowel in Spanish essentially has only a single pronunciation). So, “molé” would be pronounced moh-LAY,\* which the saucy word is not. (\*yes, I know — no “ee” at the end. But this thread is for English speakers). ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/274 "2022-06-06T14:22:55Z")
See, this is what I get for taking French in high school instead of Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/275 "2022-06-06T16:57:56Z")
Moles are not vegetarian. Some other critter is gobbling your fruit. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/276 "2022-06-06T17:01:58Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Imagine my chagrin when I discovered that the correct pronunciation actually is ok-TOP-oh-DEEZ, as she had said, and not OK-to-POADS, as I had always assumed. > [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > And here I was saying “ockt-oh-POE-deez” like some backwater hick. I now stand corrected. So I take it that you have never heard _Antipodes_ spoken? I can’t think of any other word that would guide you. > **[How to pronounce the Antipodes in English](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/antipodes)** > > How to pronounce the Antipodes. How to say the Antipodes. Listen to the audio pronunciation in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Learn more. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/277 "2022-06-06T17:05:48Z")
I was watching a video yesterday about the ancient Greeks. I had read about the Mycenaean Greeks but this was the first time I had heard somebody use the term verbally. So yesterday was when I learned the word is pronounced my-ken-ay-en not my-sen-ay-en as I had always thought. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/278 "2022-06-06T17:09:24Z")
They say My-sen-ean here [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MBxRWd8yqDE/maxresdefault.jpg "How to Pronounce Mycenaean") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBxRWd8yqDE) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/279 "2022-06-06T17:10:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So yesterday was when I learned the word is pronounced my-ken-ay-en not my-sen-ay-en as I had always thought. I have heard it pronounced many times with a soft C, and I would call that more in accord with common usage. The hard K is more in accord with the Greek, so there’s obviously a good argument for that. But it’s hardly definitive, we don’t say Paris the way the French do. I think both are probably okay. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/280 "2022-06-06T17:26:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So yesterday was when I learned the word is pronounced my-ken-ay-en not my-sen-ay-en as I had always thought. And today I learned it’s more complicated. I think everyone agrees that the Mycenaeans pronounced it my-ken-ay-en. But if enough modern English speakers incorrectly pronounce it my-sen-ay-en does that become the correct pronunciation? And what about the fussy British academics who insist it’s pronounced my-chen-ay-en? This kind of prescriptivist vs descriptivist argument makes me roll my eyes and/or eyen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=15)