# 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:** 6
**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, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/101 "2016-11-02T14:43:49Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > IIRC it was a good number of years, before I heard the name spoken – likely not being Catholic, and long knowing few if any Catholics, contributed to that. I take it you’re not a fan of The Bowery Boys? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/102 "2016-11-02T14:44:41Z")
Chicago was always CHICK-ago until I learned better. The one that most struck me was _oui_. When I was a kid reading sub-literary books, lazy authors would mark the Frenchness of a character by having the character gratuitously say it all the time in association with an otherwise English sentence. I couldn’t understand why they were yelling Oy! at each other all the time like cockney barrow boys. ---
**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, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/103 "2016-11-02T14:51:18Z")
> [@Noel\_Prosequi](#): > > I couldn’t understand why they were yelling Oy! at each other all the time like cockney barrow boys. Back in high school, I once had a guy ask me if I ever read “Ooo-wee Magazine.” It took me a few seconds to figure out WTF he meant. _“It’s like, them ladies, they don’t care that they ain’t got no clothes on! Huhuhuhuhuh!”_ Yeah, right! 😛 ---
**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, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/104 "2016-11-02T15:19:49Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I was watching a documentary the other night, and the presenter (a guy with whom I’ve worked in the past) pronounced “Grantham” (the city in England) as GRANTH-am, not GRANT-am (silent “H”). > [@Sangahyando](#): > > We in England are not unanimous on that one: some pronounce the town’s name one way, some the other. > [@terentii](#): > > Interesting. When I visited there, I only heard the latter. So it’s a regional thing? Possibly regional – though it’s just seemed random to me: some folk say it one way, some the other: I’ve heard “Granth-am” more often overall, than the alternative. Strikes me as relatively obscure, as large towns in Britain go – known chiefly as a one-time big railway centre; and as where Margaret Thatcher came from. The “Granth-am” version would seem to me better for versification – As the choir was singing the anthem – Gushed the Bishop to me, “Ooh, you’re handthome !” While Norman Lamont Fell into the font: He was pushed by an old bitch from Grantham. > [@terentii](#): > > 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.” Those Jocks, and the havoc that they wreak on the English tongue – they even claim that (as per yourself, above) it’s their own separate language, called Scots ;). > [@terentii](#): > > I take it you’re not a fan of The Bowery Boys? 😃 Being not American, and pretty “culturally deprived” as regards anything on the film scene, I had to Google the Bowery Boys – indeed, hitherto totally unknown to me. Actually, they sound like good fun. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/105 "2016-11-02T15:22:01Z")
An additional problem in figuring out correct pronunciation are jerks like me (and there are a lot of us) who _know_ the correct pronunciation, but don’t use it just because. I think we think it makes us sound swave and deboner. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/106 "2016-11-02T15:31:54Z")
In a high school knowledge bowl, a question was asked about location of the final battle of the end times. I knew the answer was “Armageddon” because I’d come across it in various reading materials, but I had no idea how to pronounce it. I buzzed in and fumbled with something like “ar MAJ uh dawn” (with a soft “g”). It was not accepted as a correct response. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/107 "2016-11-02T16:14:05Z")
I thought Yosemite Sam was “Yose-mite” Sam. Add me to those who said “chic” as “chick” until I heard the proper pronunciation on an 80’s Canadian TV show called “Airwaves”. I saw “sheik” in my head and was like “wtf?” ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/108 "2016-11-02T16:25:53Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > We’ve been over this before, it’s WOBBLER. You mean I’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time? ---
**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 2, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/109 "2016-11-02T16:30:51Z")
> [@Gordon\_Urquhart](#): > > In a high school knowledge bowl, a question was asked about location of the final battle of the end times. I knew the answer was “Armageddon” because I’d come across it in various reading materials, but I had no idea how to pronounce it. I buzzed in and fumbled with something like “ar MAJ uh dawn” (with a soft “g”). > > It was not accepted as a correct response. I read numerous accounts of the Battle of Agincourt and I figured this was pronounced a-gin-kort. Then a few years ago, I was listening to an audiobook and they pronounced it ah-zhin-kor. ‘Okay,’ I thought, ‘good to know.’ Except that since then, I’ve heard it pronounced several different ways: a-gin-kort, ah-zhin-kor, ah-jin-kor, a-zhin-kort, and others. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/110 "2016-11-02T16:46:35Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I thought Yosemite Sam was “Yose-mite” Sam. > \ Yep. I’m a little surprised that the word \*ennui \*hadn’t shown-up in this thread. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/111 "2016-11-02T16:53:14Z")
I was more that thirty years old before I learned how to pronounce the word “debacle.” I was reading a book to my blind friend to use in his upcoming class (he was a sociology professor at the local community college). When I came upon the word, I pronounced it “DEB-ickle,” and was immediately corrected. I also had problems with _misled_ (which I surmised to mean “confused and fuzzy-headed”), and _awry_. I had a chemistry instructor in the Navy who, when talking about daughter products of nuclear fission reactions, spoke of Cesmium. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/112 "2016-11-02T17:14:15Z")
> [@solost](#): > > 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. I think you mean “segue” (pronounced, as you note, SEG-way). For years, I thought this was pronounced this merely as SEG, but I never said it or heard it said. When I finally said it (incorrectly) about 10 years ago, I had a roomful of people look at me strangely before someone corrected me. I guess that’s the price of fighting my ignorance. ---
**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, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/113 "2016-11-02T17:16:46Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I was more that thirty years old before I learned how to pronounce the word “debacle.” > > I was reading a book to my blind friend to use in his upcoming class (he was a sociology professor at the local community college). When I came upon the word, I pronounced it “DEB-ickle,” and was immediately corrected. > > I also had problems with _misled_ (which I surmised to mean “confused and fuzzy-headed”), and _awry_. > > I had a chemistry instructor in the Navy who, when talking about daughter products of nuclear fission reactions, spoke of Cesmium. That reminds me, my high school chemistry teacher pronounced “stoichiometry” STOKE-ee-ah-metch-ry. To add another medical one, for a long time I thought the skin condition Michael Jackson was suspected of having was called vih-TIG-lee-oh. ---
**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, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/114 "2016-11-02T17:34:40Z")
> [@Mr.Greenjeans](#): > > I think you mean “segue” (pronounced, as you note, SEG-way). For years, I thought this was pronounced this merely as SEG, but I never said it or heard it said. When I finally said it (incorrectly) about 10 years ago, I had a roomful of people look at me strangely before someone corrected me. I guess that’s the price of fighting my ignorance. This was one for me too. When I saw it written down, I pronounced it in my head as _seeg_, rhyming with league. Then when I heard someone saying “segway” I didn’t understand what it meant. ---
**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, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/115 "2016-11-02T17:39:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I read numerous accounts of the Battle of Agincourt and I figured this was pronounced a-gin-kort. Then a few years ago, I was listening to an audiobook and they pronounced it ah-zhin-kor. ‘Okay,’ I thought, ‘good to know.’ If you tell a Torontonian you’re going shopping at “Ah-zhin-cor Mall,” he or she will immediately correct you with “A-gin-court.” ---
**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, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/116 "2016-11-02T17:43:03Z")
> [@Soylent\_Juicy](#): > > I thought Yosemite Sam was “Yose-mite” Sam. My brother (we’re British) insists on pronouncing the name concerned, as “Yoze-might”. He knows it’s wrong – he knows the proper pronunciation – he’s been on holiday to that very park; but he stubbornly says it his way. He’s just a contrary sod. ---
**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, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/117 "2016-11-02T17:49:52Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > My brother (we’re British) insists on pronouncing the name concerned, as “Yoze-might”. He knows it’s wrong – he knows the proper pronunciation – he’s been on holiday to that very park; but he stubbornly says it his way. He’s just a contrary sod. I used to do the same thing just to irritate one of my teachers (all in good fun, of course). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/118 "2016-11-02T18:00:19Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > From reading “Anne of Green Gables,” etc. when I was little: > > beau = boo > beaux =boocks > awry = AW-ree > magenta = mag-NET-a (hard G, like “magnetic”) > > As an adult: > > archipelago = artch-ee-pel-LAH-go > prothonotary = **pro** -tho-NOTE-ah-ree (like “notary” with “protho” in front of it) > promontory = pro-MON-toe-ree Well, I’ve just learned what a prothonotary is and how to [pronounce](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4qiPYtqDMc) it. ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_Urquhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/db5fbb/32.png) [@Gordon\_Urquhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_Urquhart)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/119 "2016-11-02T18:26:48Z")
Just thought of another one from just a few years ago: I knew what “disheveled” meant, but I also thought that the “dis-” was a negative prefix; therefore, the word was pronounced “dis HEV uld.” Never mind that I never saw the word “heveled” to describe someone who actually looked put together. ---
**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, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395/120 "2016-11-02T18:28:46Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > If you tell a Torontonian you’re going shopping at “Ah-zhin-cor Mall,” he or she will immediately correct you with “A-gin-court.” With a hard or soft “g”? I have a feeling (though I might be wrong) that **Little Nemo** is using “a-gin-cort” to represent a “hard g” sound as in “get,” but you are using it to refer to the “soft g” sound as in, well, “gin.” The reason I say that is because he lists an “a-gin” pronunciation along with an “a-jin” pronunciation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/written-words-you-mispronounced-until-hearing-them/770395.md?page=7)