# words you've always mispronounced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2003, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611 "2003-06-18T03:13:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/41 "2011-11-08T03:38:10Z")
Apparently meme is supposed to be pronounced ‘meem’ and not like the memo but with an e instead of an o ‘me-MEH’ ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/42 "2011-11-08T03:46:46Z")
> [@lezlers](#): > > “Hyperbole” > > It’s always been “hyper bowl” in my head. I’m SO happy I heard the correct pronunciation before I actually said it out loud and sounded like a complete dumbass. > > 😃 This one for me, too. Also, as a kid, I thought ‘democracy’ was Demo-crazy and Persephone was Persa-phone, and I’m another one who thought ‘superfluous’ was super-flew-us. Also, I thought ‘collegiate’ was college-ate. I think it is something that happens when you read stuff that you don’t really discuss with anyone around you. It can be years before you realize you are ignorant about a word’s pronunciation. I remember when I first learned of the concept of descriptivism, I was mighty accepting and sympathetic to the cause. I thought to myself, surely there are words that have become accepted into the language eventually simply because enough people pitied a person managing to communicate a thought clearly using words they may have only read before. ---
**Author:** ![Ashes\_Ashes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@Ashes\_Ashes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashes_Ashes)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/43 "2011-11-08T04:25:45Z")
Dais, marquis, and anonymity. Anonymity is the worst because you have to compose yourself and get the rhythm right or you’ll say it incorrectly whether you want to or not. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/44 "2011-11-08T04:39:44Z")
> [@Flutterby](#): > > Apparently meme is supposed to be pronounced ‘meem’ and not like the memo but with an e instead of an o ‘me-MEH’ “Meem” is the correct pronunciation for meme is you’re talking about a virus-like idea. But Meme is also a common French Canadian nickname for a grandmother and it’s pronounced “me-MEH” when you’re using it for that. So if you mispronounce the word and anyone makes fun of you, just tell them with a tear in your eye that you were thinking of your dear old grandmother back in Montreal ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/45 "2011-11-08T04:43:08Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > “Dour”. > > I always want to make it rhyme with sour, i.e. “SOW-er”. It comes from reading it way before I ever heard somebody say it, or bothered to actually look it up. The early mistake stuck. You mean it’s not pronounced that way!!! Well…crap! 😛 I pronounced ‘awry’ as AW-ree in my head for so long that when someone finally said the word, I couldn’t figure out what they were saying. :smack: ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/46 "2011-11-08T04:44:46Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I think it is something that happens when you read stuff that you don’t really discuss with anyone around you. It can be years before you realize you are ignorant about a word’s pronunciation. I remember when I first learned of the concept of descriptivism, I was mighty accepting and sympathetic to the cause. I thought to myself, surely there are words that have become accepted into the language eventually simply because enough people pitied a person managing to communicate a thought clearly using words they may have only read before. In my case, I’ve been reading military history since I was a teenager (a really dorky teenager obviously). But it was three decades before I learned that Agincourt, the site of a major battle, was pronounced azhin-core not agin-cort. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/47 "2011-11-08T04:45:08Z")
Also, I’ve heard ‘cache’ pronounced as cash, kaysh, and cachet. Never figured any of them to be wrong though; english is such a melting pot of languages and accents that I’m surprised we understand any of it. ---
**Author:** ![SeaCanary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@SeaCanary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaCanary)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/48 "2011-11-08T04:49:38Z")
Even though I understand it is becoming an accepted pronunciation (Thank you so very much Dubyah!), “nuclear” pronounced “nucular” drives me batshit! :smack: Also somebody substituting “calvary” for “cavalry.” GAAAAAHHH !!! And as long as we’re on the subject, isn’t “Golgotha” pronounced GOL-ga-tha not gol-GOTH-a? Oh yeah…is it HI-ro-shee-ma or hi-ROSH-i-ma for the city of Hiroshima? ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/49 "2011-11-08T04:52:55Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > “Dour”. > > I always want to make it rhyme with sour, i.e. “SOW-er”. It comes from reading it way before I ever heard somebody say it, or bothered to actually look it up. The early mistake stuck. Waves hand in the air. I only learned how it was spoken when I started listening to recorded books. ---
**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:** [November 8, 2011, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/50 "2011-11-08T07:41:00Z")
> [@SeaCanary](#): > > Oh yeah…is it HI-ro-shee-ma or hi-ROSH-i-ma for the city of Hiroshima? Japanese doesn’t recognize stress the way we do. The variations are slight, and vary depending on the speaker. These variations do not change the word. Here’s a page of Japanese speakers [saying the word](http://www.forvo.com/word/hiroshima/). Note that all but the last say something that sounds more like hee RO shee MA. But the last one is also not innacurate: HEE-ro-shi-MA. The only true constant is the accented and clipped last syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Molotok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Molotok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molotok)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/51 "2011-11-08T07:58:10Z")
I’ve always pronounced dour to rhyme with ‘power’, and cache as ‘kaysh’. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@MysteryMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/52 "2011-11-08T13:43:58Z")
Primarily, there have been two: 1. Nostradamus = NOSTRA - damus I always pronounced it nah - STRAH - damus. 2. Yosemite = YOH - SIM - uh -tee I always thought it was YOSE - might. ---
**Author:** ![ballardfam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@ballardfam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ballardfam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/53 "2011-11-08T13:52:38Z")
Gyro - For a long time I pronounced it like gyroscope. Then I thought it was ‘gear-o’. Recently I found out it is actually pronounced ‘year-o’ (at least according to my local Greek descended Greek cafe owners). Hors d’oeuvres - through my teens I pronounced it ‘whores D vores’. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/54 "2011-11-08T14:35:27Z")
“Avoirdupois” I mentioned this a while back. I, to this day, have never heard the word in spoken language, only written. So I pronounced it somewhat as it would be in French, like “a-VWAR-doo-PWAH.” A recent dictionary expedition renders the pronunciation more as a non-French world would be pronounced in English “a-vur-duh-POIZ.” ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/55 "2011-11-08T14:47:35Z")
> [@Doc\_Trauma](#): > > Cache …I always read it as “cack”. Though “Cash-ae” does have a more elegant tone, I think that a “Cack” of weapons sounds more impressive then a “cash-ae”. AFAIK it is not “cash-ae”. It is just “cash”. Like cash. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/56 "2011-11-08T14:49:01Z")
> [@TVeblen](#): > > “Dour”. > > I always want to make it rhyme with sour, i.e. “SOW-er”. It comes from reading it way before I ever heard somebody say it, or bothered to actually look it up. The early mistake stuck. Rhymes-with-sour is an acceptable pronunciation of “dour”. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/57 "2011-11-08T14:51:59Z")
> [@SolGrundy](#): > > **superfluous** : for the longest time I pronounced it “SOOperFLOOus” until a really arrogant bastard spent an awful long time correcting me with great relish. Now I know how to pronounce it correctly, but am very nervous about saying it. Again, AFAIK, the correct pronunciation is, in fact, “sooperfloous”. What did the really arrogant bastard tell you it should be? ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/58 "2011-11-08T15:11:32Z")
I pronounce it ‘camerflage’ when I’m not paying attention. And I’m apparently unable to pronounce ‘Keynesian’ correctly no matter what I do. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/59 "2011-11-08T15:34:26Z")
I’ve pronounced “environment” as “envirement” for most of my life until one day it ended up being spelled incorrectly as “envirement” (before the days of spellcheck) on a report I submitted to my employer. I was supremely embarrassed after it was pointed out to me. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2011, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611/60 "2011-11-08T15:55:51Z")
I think I was 30 before I learned how to pronounce “aspartame”. I was reading it to myself as “ahs part uh me”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/words-youve-always-mispronounced/182611.md?page=4)