# Your Pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375 "2021-08-23T15:27:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/181 "2021-09-01T19:55:20Z")
Yes, I think that’s right, unless there is an epenthetic /j/ between the two vowels, which could be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/182 "2021-09-01T20:21:19Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > diarrhoea Pronounced with five syllables: di - ar - rho - e - a ? I leave out the o. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/183 "2021-09-01T20:23:35Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Pronounced with five syllables: di - ar - rho - e - a ? Heh! No, the word is pronounced the same on both sides of the Atlantic despite the different spelling. See also foetus, encyclopaedia, paediatrics. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/184 "2021-09-01T22:37:26Z")
Reading some of the comments from this video: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ZFVAVY37nI4/maxresdefault.jpg "How Do You Pronounce IKEA? | Improve Your Accent") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFVAVY37nI4) It looks like the strong diphthong that is apparent in how Agnetha Fältskog pronounced her name in the video you linked is part of an accent within Swedish. The ad played in the above video pronounces it with a shorter sound, and it sounds as though large parts of Sweden pronounce it that way. The CEO of IKEA has the same accent as Agnetha. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2021, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/185 "2021-09-01T22:41:00Z")
Yes, it’s a feature of Swedish varieties that include Stockholm, and not the southern part of Sweden where I once lived (for a short time many years ago). That part has a completely different set of distorted vowels! ---
**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:** [September 2, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/186 "2021-09-02T20:38:40Z")
Just thought of the one I couldn’t think of earlier: Outlier. I know it’s it’s supposed to be out-LYE-er, but it looks like OUT-lee-er to me, so I say it that way. I keep hoping that it will become an acceptable alternate pronunciation. As for the marry/merry/Mary merger (not sure of the order), the difference is the same as the difference in those who don’t have it is the words mat, met, and mate, respectively. Or, if that doesn’t help, think how Brits say the name Harry, where it doesn’t sound like “hairy.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/187 "2021-09-02T20:42:21Z")
My bugaboos are biopic (bye-OP-ic) and Latinx (luh-TINKS.) I think that a judicious use of hyphens would help with both words. Bio-pic and Latin-x make more sense to me. Possibly because I learned to read with phonics. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/188 "2021-09-02T21:47:28Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > (luh-TINKS.) That is a perfectly acceptable (though not very popular) pronunciation. > **[What’s the Right Way to Pronounce Latinx?](https://remezcla.com/culture/right-way-to-pronounce-latinx/)** > > Latinx is a gender-neutral term. But what's the best way to say the word? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/189 "2021-09-02T22:56:55Z")
Really? Cool! Now I don’t feel so dumb when I say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/190 "2021-09-02T23:11:11Z")
The original idea was just to replace the ‘o’ or ‘a’ with ‘x’. So however you pronounce ‘latino’ or ‘latina’ should inform how you say ‘latinx’. (la- **teen** -eks). But the compound ‘latin-x’ became the most popular for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/191 "2021-09-02T23:43:46Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Outlier. I know it’s it’s supposed to be out-LYE-er, but it looks like OUT-lee-er to me, so I say it that way. I keep hoping that it will become an acceptable alternate pronunciation. I say it OUT-lier. That’s also the stress pattern in the OED. Though I’m not sure if the stress if actually the issue for you. Outlier, as in more outly, tickles me for some reason. I think that has a potential as a separate word. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2021, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/192 "2021-09-02T23:47:36Z")
My former roommate said when he was a kid he’d misanalyze “misled” as the past tense of the non-existent verb “misle”, and pronounce it “MY-zuld.” ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2021, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/193 "2021-09-02T23:52:02Z")
I’ve heard that from a lot of people. It’s totally understandable. It becomes a word that sort of means puzzled, but due to other people making you feel puzzled. The first time I ever said the word segue aloud, I got it wrong. Nobody laughed, possibly because almost everyone there had only ever read it too. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/194 "2021-09-02T23:58:23Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I’ve heard that from a lot of people. It’s totally understandable. I was actually going to add, that it’s not a totally uncommon error. Wiktionary even has an entry for it: > Verb[[edit](https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=misle&action=edit§ion=8)] > **misle** ( _third-person singular simple present_ **[misles](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misles#English)** , _present participle_ **[misling](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misling#English)** , _simple past and past participle_ **[misled](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/misled#English)** ) > > 1. ([nonstandard](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#nonstandard), [rare](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#rare) or [humorous](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/humorous)) To [mislead](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mislead). > [@SciFiSam](#): > > The first time I ever said the word segue aloud, I got it wrong. Nobody laughed, possibly because almost everyone there had only ever read it too. I was just trying to think of what word it was I had a similar problem with – that’s the one. I pronounced it as “SEEG” (or possibly SEE-gyou, but I’m pretty sure it was SEEG for me) for the longest time before it dawned on me that was how “SEG-way” was spelled. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/195 "2021-09-03T00:19:30Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > The first time I ever said the word segue aloud, I got it wrong. Nobody laughed, possibly because almost everyone there had only ever read it too. I always read ahead of my age, so I’d run into words I didn’t know all the time. Also, my mom was continually telling me when I was a little kid not to be facetious. I can still remember the first time I made the connection between that word that I read as FAS-eh-shus with facetious. One of my earliest “ah ha” moments when I was little. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/196 "2021-09-03T02:48:15Z")
When I read the word “awry”, my first impulse is to pronounce it “AW-ree”. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/197 "2021-09-03T04:06:42Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > I have never heard merry, marry & Mary pronounced differently. I wonder if you actually say them differently without realizing it, because I’ve never noticed anyone saying any of those words “wrong” to me, someone who says them all differently. I mean, I know people insist they say them all the same, but… And now I wonder if **I** say tot and taught/cot and caught differently from each other. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/198 "2021-09-03T04:31:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](#): > > So, from watching a video that illustrtes each, I take it that it’s the double “R” that changes the vowel sound? Meaning in certain dialects, my name (Shari) would not rhyme with “Harry”(?) I’m from New York, where we say Mary/marry/merry differently (noticeably so, I would _never_ confuse one for another, my mouth is in a totally different shape saying each one) and from just reading your name without hearing it, Shari _would_ rhyme with Harry. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/199 "2021-09-03T08:06:43Z")
When I lived i NYC, I once mentioned a lady named Tara. Everyone thought I said “Terra”. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/200 "2021-09-03T11:19:14Z")
Years ago I worked with a woman from NY. One day she looked at my name tag and said "oh, your name is _Sharry_ , not _Sherry_! ". We had a 10 minute conversation on how to say my own name 🤦‍♀️ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375.md?page=11)