Word prounounciations that drive you nuts

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Replies

  • LinaBo
    LinaBo Posts: 342 Member
    My mom pronounces "California" as "Cali-PHONE-ya", without the R. She claims that's how the people there pronounce it. Please, CalifoRnians: tell me now if this is right, and I will try to get used to it, if so. If not, I'd love to be able to say, once and for all, that Californians pronounce it with the R.
  • chubbygirl253
    chubbygirl253 Posts: 1,309 Member
    I hate it when people say HEIGTH. height is not like width with a th at the end. It's like weight with a hard t. It's a pet peeve. Also when people say they could care less. The saying goes I COULDN'T care less. But thats not a mispronunciation, just incorrect usage.
  • ARDuBaie
    ARDuBaie Posts: 378 Member
    A couple more:

    Proximate - for approximate
    Wid - for with


    When I was in college, I took a linguistic course. One of the things that was on every test was to put words in phonetics. My father was Scottish, my mother French, which left me with a very weird accent, so I did poorly on that section. I asked the teacher what I did wrong and he went over the words with me. It was because of my accent that I got them wrong. (A - boot for about, okay.) He said that I was American so I should know the proper way of pronouncing the words. I argued that there are regional variations, but he denied this. (To make matters worse, I was going to the Univ. of Minnesota, but I was raised in Pennsylvania, two places with regional variations.) So on the second test, when I got to that section, I went up to him and asked him how HE pronounced the word. After that, I got them all right on every test. :laugh:
  • ShyFeather
    ShyFeather Posts: 138 Member
    The only thing that drives me nuts is when people make assumptions about others by the way they talk. Because, you know, if you don't pronounce things the way I do you must be saying it wrong, like there's a "correct" pronunciation for everything.
    When I was in college, I took a linguistic course. One of the things that was on every test was to put words in phonetics. My father was Scottish, my mother French, which left me with a very weird accent, so I did poorly on that section. I asked the teacher what I did wrong and he went over the words with me. It was because of my accent that I got them wrong. (A - boot for about, okay.) He said that I was American so I should know the proper way of pronouncing the words. I argued that there are regional variations, but he denied this. (To make matters worse, I was going to the Univ. of Minnesota, but I was raised in Pennsylvania, two places with regional variations.) So on the second test, when I got to that section, I went up to him and asked him how HE pronounced the word. After that, I got them all right on every test. :laugh:
    To be honest, that sounds like a horrible linguistics professor. I'm a linguistics major right now. There is a deep interest in how we pronounce words differently and why, but they would never say there is a proper way. In fact, the term for that is prescriptive linguists. Shoot, my USA Dialects class is taught by an immigrant with a heavy Greek accent XD A GOOD linguist (a descriptive linguist), in my opinion, is one that describes the differences in accent but doesn't tell people how they should say things.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    Haha maybe in Oakland .....but here we definitely use the R
  • peles_fire
    peles_fire Posts: 501
    ex-presso instead espresso. Drives me buggy.
  • LaurenLite
    LaurenLite Posts: 87
    Ohhhh- I'm in New Orleans. SOOO many words:

    Pitcher (picture- HARD "C" sounds like pickture). For goodness sake, just say photo! LOL
    Zink instead of sink
    Turlet instead of toilet
    idear (idea)
    Yellar (yellow)
    earl (oil)

    But yeah, picture is a biggie.
  • abberbabber
    abberbabber Posts: 972 Member
    Apparently I pronounce "horror" like "*kitten*" :laugh:
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
    My hubby says that I say "cran" and not "crayon" but that's just how I always said it, didn't notice it was wrong. It drives him nuts.
  • BIGJIMMYU
    BIGJIMMYU Posts: 1,221 Member
    People that pronounce "w" double ya! It's "double you"! It's even worse when they try to tell you a website:-"double ya, double ya, double ya....

    Cheeses me off!
  • MindyBlack
    MindyBlack Posts: 954 Member
    Sublime - I think the Americans (at least the voice over on a bronzing advert) say "sub-leem"

    Lots of Americanisms of English words annoy me - but then I am from the UK and have had to start adapting now I live in Canada, although it's very mixed up here as to what people use - American or English!

    I have never, ever heard anyone, American or otherwise say "sub-leem".
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
    I know it's a regional accent thing but AUNT= AUNT, not ANT!!!!:love:

    Hey, I call my aunt my ant! Eh!
  • MyaPapaya75
    MyaPapaya75 Posts: 3,143 Member
    Specific...Pacific....my stepmom does this oh gawd
  • mmtrnr
    mmtrnr Posts: 25 Member
    Not really pronunciation, but I hate it when people say "PIN numbers" or "ATM machines." The last word is already built into the acronym. It is just redundant.

    Oh, and being a high school teacher, I hear and read it all. I was grading a lab today and a student wrote about an "air" during the experiment. It took me a while to realize they meant "error." :-/
  • jwilson3787
    jwilson3787 Posts: 146
    Idear. There is no "R" in the word "idea"

    Maybe they should return that R to the "LIBARY!"

    ^^^ AGREE! lol
  • GoJeanne
    GoJeanne Posts: 2
    I am amused when people say, "point-setta" instead of poinsettia, which is such a beautiful word to ruin in that way.

    "Liberry" bothers me.

    People said "Irregardless" so many times when they meant irrespective that Webster's went and put it in the dictionary and now we are all stuck with the darn thing.

    I loved how my children mispronounced ambulance when they were little; one said "ambunonce" and the other said "ambliance."

    My father, an otherwise brilliant man, is a certified butcher of the English language. He once tried to tell me about a grim diagnosis my grandmother had received, but mistakenly used the words, "The doctor says the mammy-o-gram indicated that the cancer is in her nymph nodes." I am sure he wondered why I was laughing during such tragedy, but my mother was in the background shaking her head and mouthing the words, "I know, I know."
  • GoJeanne
    GoJeanne Posts: 2
    You win; it's official, as I am a CALIFORNIAN and I assure you we do use Rs. New Yawkahs call us Califonians.
  • Alexstrasza
    Alexstrasza Posts: 619 Member
    Some of these I am totally guilty of.

    I sometimes pronounce words incorrectly on purpose because I like how silly they sound.
  • Icelandic_Saga
    Icelandic_Saga Posts: 2,926 Member
    All Pittsburghese. I hate when I hear my accent!! If I had to listen to myself I would go outta my mind.
  • CannibalisticVegetarian
    CannibalisticVegetarian Posts: 1,255 Member
    Pacific- SPECIFIC
    Peeska (I *kitten* you not, a girl I used to know said it just like this)- Pizza (The actual word)
  • Effpcos
    Effpcos Posts: 350 Member
    swapping f for th. fird, weafer.
  • emnk5308
    emnk5308 Posts: 736
    I may be the ONLY person that is bothered by this.. but I don't care =)

    Coupon.
    I see- Q- PON
    NOT Coop Pon...
    O.O

    But, I'm from the South.. so there is a list that irritates me =p Mostly the way northerners and Canadians pronounce everything
    :tongue:
  • genefabes
    genefabes Posts: 132
    valen-TIMES day. wtf.
  • katesnewbody
    katesnewbody Posts: 62 Member
    Definitely "Nuclear" as "NucUlar"
    and
    "Water" pronounced 'wooder"
    I live in PA and it's sort of how people pronounce 'water", for whatever reason.
  • danithegirl89
    danithegirl89 Posts: 203 Member
    Punkin- for pumpkin

    I know a girl that says Sure-ger instead of sugar! Gah! And her sister says beg instead of bag! Drives me insane.

    My grandma says TRAYsures instead of treasures. Or motor-sicle instead of motorcycle. She also says neo-spearem instead of neosporin. She's crazy lol.
  • BIGJIMMYU
    BIGJIMMYU Posts: 1,221 Member
    Don't know if anyone said this yet but:- An adult walking around saying Death instead of Deaf! This makes me want to kill something!! (I need to relax)
  • Flufffay
    Flufffay Posts: 3
    Oh my gosh! My husband says that and I can't stand it! Where do they come up with these extra letters?
  • mgobluetx12
    mgobluetx12 Posts: 1,326 Member
    I forgot one and you'll notice this if you watch a lot of cooking shows like I do. Many chefs pronounce mascarpone cheese as maRscapone for some reason.

    Also, of course, sherbet as sherbeRt. This is super common.
  • FlyByJuly
    FlyByJuly Posts: 564 Member
    Gyro- Jirow
    Oregon- Orygun
    Washington-warshingon

    Wait...what? Oregon IS pronounced as Orygun!!
  • FlyByJuly
    FlyByJuly Posts: 564 Member
    When the word "jewelry" is pronounced as "jewlery." Ack!!!
    There is even a radio ad for a local jeweler and the lady speaking says "jewlery."

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