Words You Used to Pronounce The Way It's Spelled!

youngishbear

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 2:32 pm

tryinghard wrote:

I remember my sister talking about Lewis and Clark and their guide "sack-a-JEAH-weea" (jeah rhyming with yeah)

If we are heading into history, it's full of foreign names that often have a variety of acceptable pronunciations thrown in with the mangled versions.

MiracleMama

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 2:49 pm

After being laughed at for asking what a "SHEH -DOOL" was when I was 7 (I was reading the word "schedule" from a day planner) I decided that would never happen to me again. I was a real book worm and always, always looked up new words to make sure I knew how to pronounce them before I'd ever dare use them.

On the topic... There is a fabulous book called There is No Zoo in Zoology And Other Beastly Mispronunciations. Really worth a read.

tigerwife

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 3:22 pm

zaq wrote:

Why do “ignorant armies clash by night “ when if they bothered to look the blessed words up in the dictionary—online if need be for those who don’t know how to use books—they would KNOW. Sheesh.

Because often they assume that they do know already, so why check it up? When suddenly they are confronted with a seemingly intelligent acquaintance speaking words of curious pronunciation, and alas they begin to doubt everything they'd even known.

acemom

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 3:45 pm

zaq wrote:

RAHN day voo
A RANG a tan also A RANG a tang. Really O with a mark over it that I don’t have on my keyboard but few of us have such precise diction that it matters.

Seriously,ladies, there’s a marvelous analog program (also available online with audio) with which you should make yourselves familiar. It’s called a DICTIONARY and it tells you not only how to pronounce words (including secondary, but still acceptable pronunciations) but also their origins and roots, definitions, synonyms and antonyms, and if you’re really lucky, examples of their use in a sentence.

I highly recommend acquiring one. And then USING it. You can trust a dictionary. Unlike certain ill-advised spiritual leaders and educators, dictionaries do not lie. (If they did, they’d be called fictionaries.) And unlike you or your bff, dictionaries don’t guess. They are exhaustively researched, and nothing goes in that does not have ample documentation in print.

A problem for many people is when a word doesn't seem to look like it originates from a foreign language. Not all words that posters have listed seem to have a "complicated" pronunciation. Why would someone consult the dictionary for the pronunciation of a seemingly simple word?

Here's my list though:
terrible- used to prounounce it ta-rib-ol until high school for some reason
conspiracy- used to prouncounce it conspire+see
prodigy- prounounced it pro-di-gee

PinkFridge

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 5:22 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

If you were English, it wouldn't have been so egregious.

PinkFridge

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 5:26 pm

Deep wrote:

As a French speaker, hearing "nitsh" makes me cringe. Most definitely "neesh"!

As a French speaker, how would you have a third generation American pronounce forte?

Also, I will confess to only having read pp. 1 and 5 so I don't know if anyone got any of my words.
A very interesting read to go with this thread is American Bee https://www.amazon.com/America.....62141

cbg

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:13 pm

Deep wrote:

As a French speaker, hearing "nitsh" makes me cringe. Most definitely "neesh"!

I thought it depended on the part of speech
Noun- "nitch" - like a niche in the wall
Adjective- "neesh" - like a niche market
At least that's how I've used it.

zaq

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 6:33 pm

Deep wrote:

As a French speaker, hearing "nitsh" makes me cringe. Most definitely "neesh"!

As a French speaker, you’re allowed. It’s when an English speaker says neesh that I cringe. It comes off utterly phony, like an American requesting the honOUr of your presence at the closing of colOUr war at the local community centRE.

We ‘murricans are plain honest folk who go for plain honest speech and plain honest spellin’ without any fancy foofaraw and flummetyspike like them hifalutin’ limeys and frenchies.

youngishbear

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 7:05 pm

zaq wrote:

Hear, hear! The worst is when invitations contain a menagerie of spelling choices, where the couple apparently couldn't decide on which side of the ocean to reside.

Please, can a loyal Brit explain why lieutenant is pronounced leftenant in the Queen's English?

BetsyTacy

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:24 pm

Please, can a loyal Brit explain why lieutenant is pronounced leftenant in the Queen's English?[/quote]

I never even knew that Brits pronounced it this way until I watched Downton Abbey. I somehow never got around to googling it then but google of course provides the answer:

https://english.stackexchange......enant

Deep

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:29 pm

penguin wrote:

forte? OF course it's four-tay! No?

Forte doesn't bother me at all. It is used in English entirely differently than the original French. In French, the only use of forte is as an adjective describing a female as strong. "Elle est forte". It is pronounced For- tuh. Forte to signify a strength is not a French word at all.

MiracleMama

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:30 pm

penguin wrote:

forte? OF course it's four-tay! No?

It's one of those words. It should be one syllable. FORT. Not FOR-TAY. But if you say it correctly most people think you're wrong. Most dictionaries now include both pronunciations.

yogabird

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:32 pm

Deep wrote:

https://www.google.com/search?.....UTF-8
It's definitely of french origin, not sure though when and how it came to be pronounced for-tay in English.

Deep

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:33 pm

MiracleMama wrote:

It's one of those words. It should be one syllable. FORT. Not FOR-TAY. But if you say it correctly most people think you're wrong.

Fort (the t is silent) is a masculine adjective. A strength would be "une force". For- tay is actually a legitimate English word derived from French.

yogabird

Sun, Nov 12 2017, 8:36 pm

InnerMe wrote:

All those fancy french words I still get confused:
The flavor dulce de' leche. is it dulce de lecha (ye almost like letcho that your grandma makes) or is it la'chay? like all those fancy French words? Or none?

And a word that I love... touche'. Forgive me if I'm putting the apostrophes in all the wrong places. I did say this is a safe haven. Remember?
So is it too-shay? or I another way that I can't exactly spell out.

What about misled. Is it mis-led. or is it misled, as in sizzled but change the z for an s sound?

dulche de leche is spanish