# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/81 "2022-05-03T00:57:33Z")
I don’t know; I can’t quite figure out what you’re trying to represent with “sek-sual” (oh, for greater understanding of IPA!). Are you contrasting it with “seks-you-al,” which is how I would normally pronounce it? ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/82 "2022-05-03T00:58:08Z")
Yeah, saying it out loud, accent on first syllable sounds right to me, but accent on second is not something that would stick out to me, either. US, Great Lakes accent . For “sexual”, it comes out something like “SEK-shoo-uhl”. One bizarre pronunciation that caught me off-guard on Youtube last night was “subsequent” pronounced as “sub-SEE-quent.” I don’t think that was the first time I heard it that way, but that’s an odd one. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/83 "2022-05-03T01:01:47Z")
For a recent mispronunciation, I was pronouncing biopic as BYE ah pic. Even after I found out it Bio-pic ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/84 "2022-05-03T01:25:19Z")
The normal way to say it is sek-shoo-al. Like pulykamell’s pronunciation. The vowels aren’t important, but there’s a “sh.” Not sek-syu-al. Normal people, in the UK anyway, don’t say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/85 "2022-05-03T01:27:29Z")
The flip side: As a kid, I constantly had bronchial/sinus problems, so I was very familiar with “flem.” Until the first time I saw it spelled out – in my mid-twenties – and bellowed, “fle-gum,” to a room full of people. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/86 "2022-05-03T02:26:54Z")
To my ear, the distinction between sek-shoo-al and sek-syu-al is so minor as to not be worth noticing. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/87 "2022-05-03T04:54:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > One bizarre pronunciation that caught me off-guard on Youtube last night was “subsequent” pronounced as “sub-SEE-quent.” I know a fellow from Venezuela who pronounces it that way. I just assumed it was a word he had only read, not heard aloud. I thought it was sort of charming. His English is mostly excellent. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/88 "2022-05-03T05:04:46Z")
epitome ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_B](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jim_b/32/4338_2.png) [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/89 "2022-05-03T05:07:33Z")
Chamois, forecastle, and victual are pronounced nothing like they’re spelled. And would someone explain colonel to me? EDIT: _shammy_, _foke-s’l_ and _vittle_. And you know the rest 😉 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/90 "2022-05-03T12:48:55Z")
How about Worchestershire sauce? I probably don’t pronounce it correctly to this day. I say “WERE-ste-sher”. Let’s see…according to this, it’s actually “woo-stuh-sher”. I wasn’t too far off, though apparently the only ‘r’ sound is at the end. > **[Why Is ‘Worcester’ Pronounced ‘Wooster’? - Quick and Dirty Tips](https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/why-is-worcester-pronounced-wooster/)** > > I lost the name of the person who asked me why we call the fermented sauce we use in Caesar salad, deviled eggs, and bloody marys “Worcestershire sauce,” but it turns out the answer is simple: it was first bottled in Worcester county in west central... ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/91 "2022-05-03T13:32:45Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > To my ear, the distinction between sek-shoo-al and sek-syu-al is so minor as to not be worth noticing. ??? Sit on my face = shit on my face? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/92 "2022-05-03T13:41:07Z")
Yosemite ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/93 "2022-05-03T13:51:26Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Sit on my face = shit on my face? More like ksyit on my face = kshit on my face. Or at least, pretty close. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/94 "2022-05-03T13:57:37Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > To me, “general” _does_ rhyme with “mineral.” Why would Gilbert be taken to task for that? The new vowel is in between the old “i” and “e,” but closer to the “i,” so more “giniral” than “meneral.” > **[The PIN-PEN Merger](https://www.acelinguist.com/2020/01/the-pin-pen-merger.html?m=1)** > > Why are so many Americans rhyming "ten" and "tin"? The origin of this ubiquitous feature in American English. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/95 "2022-05-03T13:59:31Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > > [@MrAtoz](#): > > > > To my ear, the distinction between sek-shoo-al and sek-syu-al is so minor as to not be worth noticing. > > ??? > Sit on my face = shit on my face? This is pretty common in many varieties of English. It’s called palatalization. It’s what makes _tree_ vary from [tɹi] to [tʃɹi] or _dredge_ vary from [dɹɛdʒ] to [dʒɹɛdʒ] or words like _action_ have drifted from [æktsiən] to [ækʃən] ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/96 "2022-05-03T14:00:18Z")
Yes, thanks. I was just wondering why Mr. Atoz thought this particular distinction was unimportant. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/97 "2022-05-03T14:02:40Z")
I suspect there are many similar distinctions that I find unimportant. This just happened to be the one we were talking about. 🙂 ---
**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:** [May 3, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/98 "2022-05-03T14:03:09Z")
Got it! Fair enough. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/99 "2022-05-03T14:03:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Yes, thanks. I was just wondering why Mr. Atoz thought this particular distinction was unimportant. Because it’s common for that cluster of consonants to vary between [sɛksjuəl] to [sɛkʃəl]. In most English usage, it doesn’t make any meaningful difference. Just like how [tjub] can be [tʃub] and most people won’t notice the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2022, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774/100 "2022-05-03T14:06:07Z")
> [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > Outre. Supposedly pronounced “utter”. > [@pulykamell](#): > > By whom? Where are you people getting some of these supposed pronunciations? That’s how it was given in the book which told the story I mentioned. Now I wish I could recall the title of that book. Thanks for pointing this out though. According to an on-line dictionary, it is supposed to be OO-TRA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-you-ve-never-heard-pronounced/963774.md?page=6)