Tell me words you can't pronounce correctly.

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  • MrRogers83
    MrRogers83 Posts: 1
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    One that I have to make sure I think about before I say it is Crayon. I don't think that it's so much the fact that I can't say it, but rather that I learned how to say it incorrectly, and now as an adult I basically have to force myself to say it right. I have a hard time not pronouncing it Crown.
  • Cameron_1969
    Cameron_1969 Posts: 2,857 Member
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    "I was wrong". .I just can't string those three words together to save my life!
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    daw0518
    QUINOA.

    I don't care what you say, I still pronounce it 'KEY-NO'.

    I'd never heard it pronounced in my life, so for the past two years since I discovered it in the market, I've called it like it's spelled..."quin-oh-ah". Then I recently served it to an american guest and was shocked when he pronouced it "keen-wa". Wth???
    It's a Quechua word. Which language is pronounced roughly "KETCH-wah".

    Try this one on: Quetzalcohuātl. I think maybe if you know how to pronounce that one, quinoa makes sense more readily.

    :noway: :ohwell: :embarassed: Excuse me. Quechua??? What/where is that? I've got it on that word though, "ketch-all-co-halt", right?

    Teehee. Say kets-ill-kwat-ill.
  • FaithfulJewel
    FaithfulJewel Posts: 177 Member
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    I've just realised. When I'm on my Xbox Kinect, I ask it (nicely) to play movies etc for me.

    "Play" comes out as "Ply". I'm half Brummie so I have to put on an awfully posh accent for it to understand me.

    It can understand "The Borgias Series 3" but not "Play" *sobs*
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    This thread is making me paranoid that I am not saying some of these words correctly and just never knew it.

    There are a lot of things I CAN say correctly, I just get lazy with them. For instance, the days of the week - if my mom and I are having a conversation and a day comes up, "-day" comes out "-dee". Mon-dee, Tues-dee, etc.

    I'm also not quite sure how the word "oil" is pronounced. My mom says "oi-ull", my dad says "oll".
    Nah, they're just regional variations. People who love language intensely don't really get on their ear about people saying things "correctly" because we're more interested in the way the living language is actually used. It doesn't do anybody any good sitting in a museum under glass. :heart:

    I guess by the beautiful bluebonnets that surround you in your pitcher :wink: that you're from my neck o' th' woods. I think "oll" is a more West Texas accent, and "OY-ull" is a less regional pronunciation. I certainly say "Wens-dee" in colloquial speech. I also say "ten" and "tin"/"pen" and "pin" exactly the same way too... "seven, eight, nine, tin!" :laugh:


    No offense intended, but it looks like one of those poopin' in the bluebonnet pictures. :laugh:
    Sweetie, if you poop in the bluebonnets, you're liable to end up with fireants bitin' your *kitten*. And if that happens, everybody's gonna have a bad day! :laugh:
  • silver_arrow3
    silver_arrow3 Posts: 1,373 Member
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    This thread is making me paranoid that I am not saying some of these words correctly and just never knew it.

    There are a lot of things I CAN say correctly, I just get lazy with them. For instance, the days of the week - if my mom and I are having a conversation and a day comes up, "-day" comes out "-dee". Mon-dee, Tues-dee, etc.

    I'm also not quite sure how the word "oil" is pronounced. My mom says "oi-ull", my dad says "oll".
    Nah, they're just regional variations. People who love language intensely don't really get on their ear about people saying things "correctly" because we're more interested in the way the living language is actually used. It doesn't do anybody any good sitting in a museum under glass. :heart:

    I guess by the beautiful bluebonnets that surround you in your pitcher :wink: that you're from my neck o' th' woods. I think "oll" is a more West Texas accent, and "OY-ull" is a less regional pronunciation. I certainly say "Wens-dee" in colloquial speech. I also say "ten" and "tin"/"pen" and "pin" exactly the same way too... "seven, eight, nine, tin!" :laugh:

    After years of choir and working on proper pronunciation for certain words, I don't have much of an accent left in everyday conversation. I've had people ask me if I was a transplant from up north, but I come from a long line of Houstonians. It isn't until I'm around a lot of family or a lot of alcohol that my accent really comes out.
    No offense intended, but it looks like one of those poopin' in the bluebonnet pictures. laugh

    That's exactly why I took it. You should have heard the argument in the car with my mother - it was quite comical. However, she refused to get any closer for a picture because the grass was quite high and she didn't want to come across any rattlers.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    One that I have to make sure I think about before I say it is Crayon. I don't think that it's so much the fact that I can't say it, but rather that I learned how to say it incorrectly, and now as an adult I basically have to force myself to say it right. I have a hard time not pronouncing it Crown.
    "Crown"?! That's insane!! I love it! I've heard "CRAY- on" and "cran" like "cranberry" (which what you get around here), but never "crown"!
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
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    I have trouble saying "rural" - my mouth just doesn't want to form that word well. lol

    I have issues with that one too!!!

    Me too, it just kind of comes out as a slur.

    I also always stumble over "rear wheel drive" It ends up sounding more like "real real drive"
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
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    Just had a discussion with DH about oeuvre. I insisted it was "uhvh". He insisted it was "oohvreh". Turns out I use the British pronunciation and he uses the American. We live in the US, so.... I guess he won. I'm not going to change, though. "oohvreh" sounds dumb.
  • tuckerrj
    tuckerrj Posts: 1,453 Member
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    I pronounce wash - "warsh" and sink - "zinc". Not because I can't do it correctly. Simply because it irritates many supposedly sophisticated people.
  • SuperstarDJ
    SuperstarDJ Posts: 441 Member
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    Innovative.

    I end up saying it really slowly, accidentally adding a few extra letters along the way so it comes out sounding something like: "in-iv-ah-tah-tiv"
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    After a few years of listening/watching my husband play Call of Duty, he STILL does not pronounce the word "melee" correct. He says it exactly how it's spelled. It's pronounced "MAY-LAY"!!! We had an argument/fight over this once, upon which he told me to just never correct him again.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I have trouble saying "rural" - my mouth just doesn't want to form that word well. lol

    I have issues with that one too!!!

    Me too, it just kind of comes out as a slur.

    I also always stumble over "rear wheel drive" It ends up sounding more like "real real drive"

    Another one that can't say "rural". I just substitute country.

    Also, world and roar sometimes give me problems. When I was younger, I had problems switching my w and r sounds, and they still give me trouble on some words.
  • Dozrzz
    Dozrzz Posts: 245
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    Ok so when I was younger, I grew up in the north and my parents are from the north. But then we moved to the south and I've lived her for 15 years or so...

    When I am discussing Pecan Pie (which I love!) I use two different pronunciations!!!

    I use peCANS in my peCAHN pie.

    So everytime time I am referring to the actual pie it is peCAHN. But when I am referring to the ingredient that goes in the pie I say it as pecan.

    Am I the only person who does this? Maybe it is because of my mixed up background...
    If you say "puh-CAN" and not "PEE-CAN" I'm inclined to forgive you. :wink: I don't see how people can let a word that sounds so gross come out of their mouth to describe such deliciousness.

    No, it definitely comes out like PEE-CAN when I say it that way...
  • siratlas
    siratlas Posts: 239 Member
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    worcestershire sauce

    To this day, I am still not quite sure what the correct way to say this word is..............obviously I mean "Worcestershire" and not "sauce". Lol I can pronounce "sauce"

    ^^ THIS ...always lol I let guy fieri say it for me.
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    This thread is making me paranoid that I am not saying some of these words correctly and just never knew it.

    There are a lot of things I CAN say correctly, I just get lazy with them. For instance, the days of the week - if my mom and I are having a conversation and a day comes up, "-day" comes out "-dee". Mon-dee, Tues-dee, etc.

    I'm also not quite sure how the word "oil" is pronounced. My mom says "oi-ull", my dad says "oll".
    Nah, they're just regional variations. People who love language intensely don't really get on their ear about people saying things "correctly" because we're more interested in the way the living language is actually used. It doesn't do anybody any good sitting in a museum under glass. :heart:

    I guess by the beautiful bluebonnets that surround you in your pitcher :wink: that you're from my neck o' th' woods. I think "oll" is a more West Texas accent, and "OY-ull" is a less regional pronunciation. I certainly say "Wens-dee" in colloquial speech. I also say "ten" and "tin"/"pen" and "pin" exactly the same way too... "seven, eight, nine, tin!" :laugh:

    After years of choir and working on proper pronunciation for certain words, I don't have much of an accent left in everyday conversation. I've had people ask me if I was a transplant from up north, but I come from a long line of Houstonians. It isn't until I'm around a lot of family or a lot of alcohol that my accent really comes out.
    I actually lived in the Upper Midwest until I was 8, so my accent's usually that "newscaster non-accent". And Austin's got people from all over, so people don't have caricature accents, generally. I still picked up some though. Tired or mad is when mine comes out (I don't drink). Point is, when we're less self-censoring and self-aware. :smile:
  • Derrk
    Derrk Posts: 4
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    Specific. Gets me everytime!
  • poohbah4
    poohbah4 Posts: 127
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    It's "new-CLEE-are" not "new-CUE-ler" :explode:
  • siratlas
    siratlas Posts: 239 Member
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    Ok so when I was younger, I grew up in the north and my parents are from the north. But then we moved to the south and I've lived her for 15 years or so...

    When I am discussing Pecan Pie (which I love!) I use two different pronunciations!!!

    I use peCANS in my peCAHN pie.

    So everytime time I am referring to the actual pie it is peCAHN. But when I am referring to the ingredient that goes in the pie I say it as pecan.

    Am I the only person who does this? Maybe it is because of my mixed up background...


    nope not the only one! it's very common where i live actually
  • Fullsterkur_woman
    Fullsterkur_woman Posts: 2,712 Member
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    Ok so when I was younger, I grew up in the north and my parents are from the north. But then we moved to the south and I've lived her for 15 years or so...

    When I am discussing Pecan Pie (which I love!) I use two different pronunciations!!!

    I use peCANS in my peCAHN pie.

    So everytime time I am referring to the actual pie it is peCAHN. But when I am referring to the ingredient that goes in the pie I say it as pecan.

    Am I the only person who does this? Maybe it is because of my mixed up background...
    If you say "puh-CAN" and not "PEE-CAN" I'm inclined to forgive you. :wink: I don't see how people can let a word that sounds so gross come out of their mouth to describe such deliciousness.

    No, it definitely comes out like PEE-CAN when I say it that way...
    Oh, no! That's horrible! Why would you put something so gross into pie?! :laugh:

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