# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/21 "2021-08-23T18:26:39Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > AFAICT you start out straightforwardly enough with the syllable “Keuh-”, and then think about the consonants “b” and “n” while saying “hah”, and then think about “v” and “n” while closing your mouth. You don’t even have to think about the schwa vowel “e” at all. So, Copenhagen is the European equivalent of Louisville? ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/22 "2021-08-23T18:29:11Z")
> [@anny\_m](#): > > Route. Do you pronounce it as if it rhymes with “out” or “boot”? Growing up on a farm, our mailing address was Route 2, Box 14. Route rhymed with ‘out’. And every other usage of the word is the same, rhyming with ‘out’. Except when it’s followed by ‘66’, then it’s ‘root’. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/23 "2021-08-23T18:46:12Z")
Except that throws up another question. I suspect the way I pronounce “root” is different than yours, as it is not a homonym for “route” as in “route 66” the song. My “root” has the “oo” /ʊ/ as in “book.” (Though I will sometimes do the /u/ as in “boo” sound, as well. “Roof” is similar. Usually, I say it to have the same vowel as “book.” But it can be a /ʊ/ or a /u/.) ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/24 "2021-08-23T18:50:16Z")
I flip-flop between kar-mel and kare-a-mel for caramel, depending on who I’m talking to. I also flip-flop on how I pronounce Caribbean, depending on whether or not I’m discussing the Johnny Depp movie. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/25 "2021-08-23T18:53:01Z")
QU is pronounced “kw-” So, I say queue “kwee-wee.” I say quinoa “kwi-no-uh.” If you insist on spelling it “cheque,” I will pronounce it “che-kwee.” Don’t try to convince me otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/26 "2021-08-23T19:18:19Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > - Often = “awffin” > - Aunt = “ant” > - Chocolate = “chawklit” ( not in literal phonetics, but close to it ) > - Comfortable = “cumfterble” Not “Chawklit”, but all the others, yeah. It always sounds very weird and fake to hear someone referring to a female relative as “awnt” versus “ant”. I only ever heard one person pronounce the word “often” with the T. I grew up saying “cumfterble” as well. Never outgrew that - though I did manage to outgrow “warsh” and “warshington”. How about the second month of the year. Where did that first R come from. We always called it “Feb-you-ary” and I never did quite outgrow that. Fortunately I never did fall into the habit of saying “Noo-kyou-lar”. ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/27 "2021-08-23T19:22:00Z")
I’ve had to scrub particularly out of my public speaking because I can’t enunciate it well in front of people. Sounds fine in my head, but my tongue doesn’t get the message. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/28 "2021-08-23T19:42:17Z")
Got two, “buteo” [as in hawk] & “fungi” [as in mushroom]. As a birder, I get stabby when I hear the former said as “BEAUT-e-oh”. Nope, sorry, it’s not a feminine hygiene product slash breakfast cereal, it’s a bad mofo bird of prey, it’s a “Byu-TEH-oh”. I have the rule on my side for the second one, “fun guy” just sounds very lame. Gotta be “Fun-jee” ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/29 "2021-08-23T20:45:06Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > How about the second month of the year. Where did that first R come from. We always called it “Feb-you-ary” and I never did quite outgrow that I sort of weasel out and sort de-enunciate the vowels and gloss over the “ru”, so it comes out something like a monosyllabic “Febyerry”. “Noo-kyou-ler” drives me batty. I can think of no possible way ‘nuclear’ can be pronounced “Noo-kou-ler” without transposing letters. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/30 "2021-08-23T20:54:19Z")
I have pronounced “lien” as “LEE-en” in the past. I had a lien on my house (in error) and I stood there like a dolt saying “LEE-en” to my friend’s lawyer friend while discussing the situation. I know it’s “LEEN” but like…that’s a dumb spelling, man. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/31 "2021-08-23T21:23:10Z")
Oh you remind me about a former colleague named Lee Rubel, whose wife was Danish. Since L and R are essentially silent in Danish and any consonant between two vowels is replaced by a glottal stop, his name came out roughly as Ee U’uh. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/32 "2021-08-23T21:32:27Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > “Noo-kyou-ler” drives me batty. I can think of no possible way ‘nuclear’ can be pronounced “Noo-kou-ler” without transposing letters. Well, thtat is essentially what happens. It’s more analogizing with -ular words like molecular, circular, spectacular (funicular? 🙂 ). And, add to that, switching around the order of letters isn’t all that odd a phenomenon. We have “farv” for “favre” and “or derv” for “hors d’oevres,” for instance. There’s a name for it: metathesis. (“brid” became “bird” this way; lots of people say “foilage” for “foliage”; “introduce” becomes “interduce” or “innerduce,” etc.) So “nucular” for “nuclear” is probably a mix of both metathesis and apologizing with -ular ending words. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/33 "2021-08-23T22:17:01Z")
I live in central Indiana; so was Dad, and Mom was from around Columbus, Ohio. That’s for accent background. I don’t recall hearing anyone say aunt as _awnt_ until I was past 30. Always _ant_ and _anty,_ except for _Aint_ Bee on the Andy Griffith Show. I’ve always said Kabul as _KAHB-ul._ Afghan demonstrators throw “cobblestones.” In my mouth, caramel is 3 syllables, unless I’m tired. However, I say _CAR-mel-ized_ onions. Complicating it further, the Indy suburb Carmel is _CAR-mel,_ unlike the California town of _car-MEL_. Some folks around here “warsh and wrench” clothes, but for me it’s always been wash and rinse. In my mouth, the “th” in “clothes” is silent. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/34 "2021-08-23T22:53:35Z")
> [@TRC4941](#): > > Route = if I’m using it like this: What route are you taking to the lake? I’d pronounce it with the “OU”. > Route = if it’s a named road, I’d say “root”. I do exactly the same thing, although I never thought about it until I read this thread. I also pronounce “clothes” as “close,” but if I was acting in a play (which I do occasionally) I’d make a point of pronouncing the “th.” When my son was very young (like 4 or 5 years old) he thought the singular of “clothes” was “clo”—which was reasonable given the way I pronounced it. If I was taking laundry out of the dryer and a sock landed on the floor, he would inform me that I had dropped a clo. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/35 "2021-08-23T23:07:48Z")
I can’t really articulate how my pronunciation of the word drawers is different than draws, so you’ll have to take my word for it that it _is_ different **and** also wrong. I also have difficulty with borrowers, but most people I know (i.e. New England natives) also pronounce both words wrong too, so I don’t feel too badly about it. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/36 "2021-08-23T23:32:54Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I have pronounced “lien” as “LEE-en” in the past. I had a lien on my house (in error) and I stood there like a dolt saying “LEE-en” to my friend’s lawyer friend while discussing the situation. > > I know it’s “LEEN” but like…that’s a dumb spelling, man. That’s the UK pronunciation, according to the sources I checked after hearing it pronounced that way. It was an older American lawyer saying it that way. I assume he learned it as the “correct” way to pronounce it, way back when, in certain circles. Law can be extra stodgy and “special.” No one else I know pronounces it that way, though. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/37 "2021-08-23T23:54:33Z")
Nuclear and powerful are two that I have trouble with. GW Bush caught hell from the intelligentsia for his pronunciation of the former; I’m pretty sure JFK pronounced the same way. There were things to get on Bush’s case about, but IMHO that isn’t one of them. I don’t like casting aspersions on a person’s intelligence based on whether or not they use “correct” pronunciations. I’ll nucelar, pareful, chocklit, drorr (for drawer) etc. as much as I please. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/38 "2021-08-24T01:31:22Z")
A co-worker and I had a friendly debate over the word “finance.” (“Financing” was being used in a commercial we were producing.) I would say it “fin-ANCE.” He would say “FY-nance.” We agreed to disagree. I don’t know if one is preferable to the other. (Or is it “PREFF-erable” or “PREEFER-able?” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2021, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/39 "2021-08-24T01:41:46Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > I honestly do not know how I pronounce “February”. I had a boss eons ago who said _FEBBY-airy_ - he was an idiot in other ways, too. ---
**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:** [August 24, 2021, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375/40 "2021-08-24T01:48:11Z")
> [@P-man](#): > > Nuclear and powerful are two that I have trouble with. > **[Nucular](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucular)** > > Nucular is a common, proscribed pronunciation of the word "nuclear". It is a rough phonetic spelling of /ˈnjuːkjələr/. The Oxford English Dictionary's entry dates the word's first published appearance to 1943. > This is one of two contentious pronunciations which receive particular mention in the FAQ of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: > Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in \\-kyə-lər\\ have been found in widespread use among educated speakers, including scientists, lawyers, profess... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-pronunciation/949375.md?page=3)