# 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:** 15
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/281 "2022-06-06T18:22:30Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Maybe these are all just _shibboleths_ ?? [Yes indeed](http://www.untrans.eu/english/words/shibboleth.html). > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > If only the Czechs had conquered the world. They spell their words according to how they’re pronounced. Asking for a return of the Spanish Empire? In Spanish you always know how to pronounce a word when you see it written, and almost always know how to write it when you hear it. Schoolchildren only have to memorize whether a word is written with a B or a V, a G or a J and whether there is a silent H somewhere. Oh, and LL and Y too. The rest is clear. > [@ZipperJJ](#): > > The brand of underwear and bras I wear is “Cacique”. Never once heard it pronounced and I’ve been wearing them 20+ years. In my head it’s “Ca-KEEK”. Am I anywhere close? Spanish, uh? Ka-thi- (like _think_ without the “nk”)-Keh. Means boss, chief. Underwear, right? Hmmm… 🤨 And they themselves pronounce it wrongly? Curiouser and curiouser… > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Just heard panache said on the French Open telecast [pa-nash](http://www.untrans.eu/english/words/panache.html), I’d say, because French. Funny how so many of the words here had me interested so many years ago. What I have never heard spoken, but really intrigued me when I frist read it: “Ia Ia Cthulhu Fhtagn! Nyarlathotep!” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/282 "2022-06-06T19:07:20Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > If only the Czechs had conquered the world. They spell their words according to how they’re pronounced. That’s largely, but not completely, true. There’s a rather involved discussion here with examples of where Czech spelling does not exactly track with how a word is said. > **[Slovak/Czech vs. Polish](https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/slovak-czech-vs-polish.1180533/)** > > Hello, > > I don't know where to post this question, but I would like to know if Polish is as much of a phonetic language as Slovak or Czech. > > English and French are not phonetic languages, as you know. > > Thank you:) > [@](#): > > The Czech orthography is not phonetic, but ethymologic (and partly historical). The three main complications: > > 1. Y and I: > > **býti** (to be) and **bíti** (to beat) are pronounced the same way > similarly: chlapci **byli** (masc.), dívky **byly** (fem.) > **psi** (nom.) and **psy** (accus.) > etc. > > 1. the regressive assimilation of voiceness: > > vchod (entrance) is pronounced /fchot/ > > prefix **s-** and **z-** are both pronouced /s/ or /z/: > > /zb/: sbírati, zbaliti > /sp/: spadati, zpívati > > 1. the clusters of consonants: > > for example: **t + s** is pronounced like the affricate /ts/, the same for **c** > > so dě **tský** (dět + ský) is pronouced like věde **cký** (vědec + ský) > > In fact the Czech orthography is a nightmare for the Czech children. The last statement seems a bit of overstatement to me, but it’s not perfectly phonetic. People liked to say that of Hungarian, as well, and while much much more phonetic than English, a few ambiguities or slight variations from the expected were observable. ---
**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 6, 2022, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/283 "2022-06-06T21:06:57Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > So I take it that you have never heard _Antipodes_ spoken? I can’t think of any other word that would guide you. Yes, of course I have, but there is no English word “antipus” that could provide the corresponding formation of octopus. (There is in Greek: ἀντίπους.) As described [here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes#Etymology), the English singular of antipodes, antipode (which can be pronounced either AN-tee-PODE or an-TIP-oh-DEE), is a 16th- or 17th-century back-formation. I don’t recall having heard the singular “antipode,” but if I had, it most likely would have been pronounced to rhyme with my “wrong” pronunciation of octopodes, since that is apparently the one preferred by most dictionaries. Furthermore, although it is sometimes the case that the adjectival form of proper nouns is quite different (e.g., Glaswegian, Monagasque, etc.), off the top of my head, I can’t think of another plural that is so distinct from its singular form as octopus/octopodes. ---
**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, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/284 "2022-06-06T21:16:05Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > there is no English word “antipus” that could provide the corresponding formation of octopus True. I had certainly never heard _octopodes_ pronounced, but with no other parallel and an awareness that they both derive from the same Greek root, I assumed that both words ending _-podes_ would be pronounced the same. Arguably that approach is too simplistic given the points you have made, but in the absence of any other word ending that way I think no other possibility really occurred to be. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/285 "2022-06-06T21:20:01Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > Yes, of course I have, but there is no English word “antipus” that could provide the corresponding formation of octopus. (There is in Greek: ἀντίπους.) There is now! We just have to work it into a few articles and textbooks, and that’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/286 "2022-06-06T21:27:35Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > […] off the top of my head, I can’t think of another plural that is so distinct from its singular form as octopus/octopodes. From now on the plural of platypus will be platypodes for me. Other distinct pluralesses: Bee - hive Bird - flock Boat - fleet Man - mob. OK, I’ll leave now ---
**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 7, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/287 "2022-06-07T12:21:23Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I don’t recall having heard the singular “antipode,” As an academic geographer, I’ve heard this plenty, as _Antipode_ is a neo-Marxist/radical/progressive human geography journal that’s been around at least fifty years. I’ve heard it pronounced both ways among geographers. I’d estimate 60% say “an-TIP-oh-dee,” 40% say “ANT-ih-pode.” ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/288 "2022-06-07T12:35:56Z")
I thought “taximeter” was pronounced “tax-IM-uh-ter” (like “perimeter”)…turns out it’s pronounced “taxi meter.” ---
**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 7, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/289 "2022-06-07T12:39:44Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > I thought “taximeter” was pronounced “tax-IM-uh-ter” I have never seen that _written_ as one word, so I have never had the opportunity to mispronounce it. Whenever someone has said “taxi meter”, I assumed that they were saying two words. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2022, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/290 "2022-06-07T12:53:04Z")
Gasometer, chronometer, and sphygmomanometer are all pronounced as you would expect… I think. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/291 "2022-06-13T19:51:26Z")
I just found out yesterday that I’ve been pronouncing “reprise” wrong all these years. I’d always been pronouncing it “re-prize” in my head. But when I was listening to NPR’s coverage of the Tony Awards last night, the reporter pronounced it “re-preeze” (rhymes with sneeze). I’m going to assume NPR would know the correct pronunciation. ---
**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 13, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/292 "2022-06-13T19:55:16Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I just found out yesterday that I’ve been pronouncing “reprise” wrong all these years. In my dialect (UK), I think that’s the difference between the verb and noun. But I can’t say I’ve heard it often enough to know if there’s any clear consensus on that. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2022, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/293 "2022-06-13T20:01:25Z")
For what it’s worth, Google, which gets its dictionary entries from Oxford, lists the same pronunciation for both the noun and verb – /rəˈprēz/. ---
**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 13, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/294 "2022-06-13T22:14:55Z")
A word I’ve been consistently pronouncing wrongly is leucistic (an animal with reduced colouration, often very pale or whitish in colour, but not an albino). I thought it was pronounced _lu-kis-tic,_ by analogy with leukaemia, from _leukos_, Greek for white. But it is pronounced _lu-sis-tic_, and this term has cropped up in two different nature documentaries in the space of two days. Must be from Latin, not Greek. ---
**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 13, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/295 "2022-06-13T23:54:16Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I just found out yesterday that I’ve been pronouncing “reprise” wrong all these years. I’d always been pronouncing it “re-prize” in my head. But when I was listening to NPR’s coverage of the Tony Awards last night, the reporter pronounced it “re-preeze” (rhymes with sneeze). I’m going to assume NPR would know the correct pronunciation. According to [Dictionary.com](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/reprise) either is acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/296 "2022-06-14T01:24:20Z")
Elevenses ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/297 "2022-06-14T04:10:46Z")
There are three that I remember from childhood reading: I knew the spoken word annihilate as in, “I annihilated Scott at Tecmo Bowl last weekend!” but I didn’t connect it to the written word for some time. Same with hors d’oeuvres. I knew the spoken word meant little finger-food snacks but how often do you see the word and immediately hear someone say it? Or dervs, right? In 7th grade, the reading teacher had us do a unit of Greek and Roman mythology. Reading ahead a bit, I came across a goddess named Pursey-phone. Oh, that’s Persephone. And a fourth, much, much later: I was talking to my friend about whether he was going to an event at a space called Char-dee-bis. He rightfully gave me some good natured ribbing: Charybdis. The way I said it didn’t even make sense based on the spelling, lol. And, again, much, much later, I very narrowly avoided making a complete ass of myself at work in meeting a customer contact named Siobahn. I forget exactly what happened, maybe the receptionist discretely straightened me out or I got her voicemail greeting where she said her name or something but I was gonna call her see-oh-bahn. ---
**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 14, 2022, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/298 "2022-06-14T04:13:36Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I knew the spoken word annihilate Same here. As a kid, for a long time I thought there must be another word “iniolate”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/299 "2022-06-14T13:21:39Z")
Well, most people pronounce Cthulhu all wrong, for one thing. Not that human vocal apparatus actually can do it justice, but Lovecraft said it was _Khlûl′-hloo_ with “the first syllable pronounced gutturally and very thickly.” Everyone I know also seems to get Nyarlathotep wrong, and tend to pronounce it something like “Gnarly Hotep”, missing that first T ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/300 "2022-06-14T13:33:49Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > Must be from Latin, not Greek. It has the same origin in _[λευκός](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BB%CE%B5%CF%85%CE%BA%CF%8C%CF%82#Ancient_Greek)_ it doesn’t seem to come via a Latin intermediate in the (scant) etymologies I can find. I think it comes down to how _leucism_ is pronounced. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=16)