# Written words you mispronounced until hearing them **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 1, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395 "2016-11-01T19:46:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/81 "2016-11-02T11:29:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One that I got wrong was dour. I always thought it rhymed with sour. (It actually rhymes with bluer.) > > Apparently enough people also thought this that it’s now often listed as an alternative pronunciation. Well I just learned something. I think the sour pronunciation is more common. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Prize](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@Sir\_Prize](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Prize)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/82 "2016-11-02T11:34:33Z")
I remember my 11th grade English teacher pronounced chic like chick, which got a laugh from even the dumbest, yet fashion conscious, students in the room. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/83 "2016-11-02T11:37:22Z")
Grand Prix. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/84 "2016-11-02T12:02:06Z")
When I was young: **Greenwich Village** (Green Witch). Also \*\*infrared \*\*(I rhymed it with ‘scared’). Both of these due to having read, rather than heard, the word. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/85 "2016-11-02T12:12:02Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One that I got wrong was dour. I always thought it rhymed with sour. (It actually rhymes with bluer.) > > Apparently enough people also thought this that it’s now often listed as an alternative pronunciation. > [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > Well I just learned something. I think the sour pronunciation is more common. I understand that it’s originally a Scots word; pronounced there, always to rhyme with “bluer”. When we in England employ the word, we more usually pronounce it like our neighbours do; sometimes here, though, folk pronounce it rhyming with “sour”. (Yet there’s a town in Scotland, not far from Edinburgh, called Aberdour; which I understand is always pronounced – including by the locals – to rhyme with “sour”. One thing which people are not, is consistent !) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/86 "2016-11-02T12:43:35Z")
Count me as another who did not know the correct pronunciation of dour. I lived most of my life thinking paradigm was pronounced par a dijum. Luckily it’s not a word I ever found myself having to say out loud. Not quite the same thing, but I remember looking at my older brother’s middle school yearbook and saw a picture of a boy named Brain. I figured he must be really smart and it was a nickname. It wasn’t until I saw four more boys named “brain” that I realized the name was _Brian_ :smack: ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/87 "2016-11-02T13:25:43Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > We in England are not unanimous on that one: some pronounce the town’s name one way, some the other. Interesting. When I visited there, I only heard the latter. So it’s a regional thing? ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/88 "2016-11-02T13:31:49Z")
> [@Sir\_Prize](#): > > I remember my 11th grade English teacher pronounced chic like chick, which got a laugh from even the dumbest, yet fashion conscious, students in the room. To add to the eh-pih-SCOPE-əl and om-nih-POE-tənt trend mentioned upthread, my 11th grade English teacher pronounced “recalictrant” as ree-cull-SIT-trənt. And it was one of our official vocab words! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/89 "2016-11-02T13:37:55Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Oh, I thought of one. I still pronounce the “l” in “yolk.” Apparently, it’s homophonous with “yoke.” I’m from the American Midwest, and I’ve always heard and pronounced it with the “L.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/90 "2016-11-02T13:45:10Z")
Actually, “episcopal” is derived from the Greek, so the former nun might have been pronouncing an acceptable variant. Just like “YU-ranos” is closer to the original than “Your anus.” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/91 "2016-11-02T13:53:02Z")
When I was working as a radio newscaster, I once read “appelate” (the kind of court) as “APPLE-at” on the air, and a listener called me on it. (The stress should be on “PEL.”) This, however, was not nearly as embarrassing as reading “John Paul Two” instead of “John Paul the Second.” **DUH!** :smack: Moral of the story: \*\*ALWAYS \*\*mark your copy before you try to read 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:** [November 2, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/92 "2016-11-02T13:54:14Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’m from the American Midwest, and I’ve always heard and pronounced it with the “L.” Actually, I may more be thinking of “folk.” “Yolk” at least has the “l” pronunciation in the dictionaries I looked at. “Folk” doesn’t. I’m not sure if most people here in Chicago say the “l” in “yolk” or not. I do know that I see it often misspelled as “yoke” from local friends, so I suspect it’s mostly not pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/93 "2016-11-02T14:11:02Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Actually, I may more be thinking of “folk.” “Yolk” at least has the “l” pronunciation in the dictionaries I looked at. “Folk” doesn’t. Oh? :eek: “These people are my fo’k” sounds vaguely obscene! 😛 Again, I’ve always pronounced it with an “L.” I remember discussing Midwestern pronunciation with one of my first Russian teachers (an American at Northwestern). She told me there are slight variations that are unique to the Chicago area. F’rinstance, a Minnesotan would typically say “Chi-CAH-go,” while a native of the city would say “Chi-COG-oh.” This was back in 1972. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/94 "2016-11-02T14:17:01Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > I understand that it’s originally a Scots word; pronounced there, always to rhyme with “bluer”. Gotta roll the “R,” though. Sounds much cooler that way! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/95 "2016-11-02T14:24:41Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > (Yet there’s a town in Scotland, not far from Edinburgh, called Aberdour; which I understand is always pronounced – including by the locals – to rhyme with “sour”. One thing which people are not, is consistent !) I’m wondering if there isn’t an archaic Scots word pronounced “dower” that means something like “bower” or “tower.” :dubious: I remember trying to find “Sighthill Neuk” in Edinburgh. It took forever before it finally clicked that “neuk” is the same as “nook,” as in “Every nook and cranny.” The “neck” in “This neck of the woods” is a corruption of “nook,” BTW. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/96 "2016-11-02T14:27:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > F’rinstance, a Minnesotan would typically say “Chi-CAH-go,” while a native of the city would say “Chi-COG-oh.” That’s actually not at all true. Shih-CAH-go and shih-CAW-go are both common pronunciations in the city by locals. I say the former. (We’re talking the difference in vowel sounds of /a/ vs /ɔ/ to be clear, as “COG” is pronounced the same as “CAHG” in many dialects.) This actually came up on a Facebook group centered around the Midway area/Southwest Side of the city, and almost everyone there insisted that CAH was the right way to say it if you were a “true” Chicagoan. I then had to point out that Mayor Daley, in fact, says it with an AW, as did Mike Royko (famous Chicago columnist). I’m not even sure if it’s a north side vs south side thing. My guess is that it’s more ethnic. I grew up in a Polish neighborhood on the South(west) Side, and there is no AW sound in Polish, so the AH pronunciation is what dominated the local dialect. Daley also grew up on the South Side, but in an Irish neighborhood. However, my theory somewhat breaks down with Royko, who grew up in a North Side Polish neighborhood. There are a few different accents within the city of Chicago. Also, not all Chicagoans call it “pop.” I grew up in a “soda” neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![CrimeThink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90db22/32.png) [@CrimeThink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrimeThink)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/97 "2016-11-02T14:27:58Z")
Hard Ch words always got me when I was younger. I always wanted to pronounce them as soft for some reason. Deus ex machina: Deuce ex masheena Chimera: Shimmer-ah Chasm: Chaz em ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/98 "2016-11-02T14:31:13Z")
For an embarrassingly long time ( into my early 20s at least) I knew of a printed word “seque” (pronounced “seg-YOU”??) and a word i would hear spoken, pronounced “SEG-way” and thought they were two different words with approximately similar meanings. ---
**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:** [November 2, 2016, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/99 "2016-11-02T14:33:48Z")
> [@CrimeThink](#): > > Hard Ch words always got me when I was younger. I always wanted to pronounce them as soft for some reason. > > Deus ex machina: Deuce ex masheena > Chimera: Shimmer-ah > Chasm: Chaz em You might also want to check on your pronunciation of “deus” there. Speaking of “ch” sounds, I was shocked to find that the first listed pronunciation of “schism” is as if the word was “sism.” No “k” sound to be found. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/100 "2016-11-02T14:34:56Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Hors d’oeuvres is to me what “misled” was to some other people. A good friend of mine used to sing a little ditty he learned from his grandfather: \*Look a’ them hors-duvers, ain’t they sweet? A little piece a’ cheese, and a little piece 'a meat!\* Ever since, I’ve made it my habit to call them “hors-duvers.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395.md?page=6)