Can you pronounce these words:

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scruffy

Thu, May 13 2021, 11:16 am

chanchy123 wrote:

All but one - what’s isthmus (or do I just not know how it’s pronounced)?

It's a thin strip of land surrounded by water which connects two bigger pieces of land

zaq

Thu, May 13 2021, 11:22 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Paragon
Wrath
Isthmus
Wocestershire
Onomatopoeia
Mnemonic

Without googling it.

Yes of course. Why do you ask? They’re easier to say than to spell.

Fave

Thu, May 13 2021, 11:23 am

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

I'm a good speller, because I read a lot. But this thread just showed me that I don't know how to pronounce many words..
I don't watch English movies or listen to English radios, so I don't 'hear' the words..
I see it, learn the meaning of the word, but I pronounce it the way they're spelled Can't Believe It

Same

zaq

Thu, May 13 2021, 11:23 am

scruffy wrote:

It's a thin strip of land surrounded by water which connects two bigger pieces of land

Like Panama.

amother

Purple

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:11 pm

Rubber Ducky wrote:

Of course I can pronounce them — I'm a BT!

Hey, don't knock the system. Graduates of MO schools, and some further to the right, can pronounce these words too. The determining factor is exposure to high level English, not your religious status.

Amarante

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:13 pm

Yes but I have trouble with endodontist Smile

Maybe because all of the money I have paid mine is giving me verbal phobia of some kind. LOL

amother

cornflower

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:19 pm

amother [ Purple ] wrote:

Bais yaakov yeshivish and I can pronounce all of them correctly

chili-n-cholent

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:26 pm

amother [ cornflower ] wrote:

Bais yaakov yeshivish and I can pronounce all of them correctly

As chassidish as can be and pronounced them all
It has nothing to do with affiliation it has to do with reading and English knowledge IMO
Meaning your interest in wanting to pronounce them properly

amother

Linen

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:34 pm

chili-n-cholent wrote:

As chassidish as can be and pronounced them all
It has nothing to do with affiliation it has to do with reading and English knowledge IMO
Meaning your interest in wanting to pronounce them properly

True, however, if I only had chassidish teachers for 12 years in school I was never exposed to anything more than basic English. (my mother is Israeli)
I even remember a teacher who repeatedly mispronounced words. A reflection of her chassidish teachers..

icedcoffee

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:47 pm

bigsis144 wrote:

How do you pronounce synecdoche?

I learned this one in high school English, and I'll never forget it because my husband's favorite movie is Synecdoche, New York.

Segue always trips me up though. I know it's segway, but my brain takes a few moments to catch up on that.

Last edited by icedcoffee on Thu, May 13 2021, 12:51 pm; edited 1 time in total

chili-n-cholent

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:50 pm

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

That doesn't prove your point, I gained my knowledge mainly from reading and not from teachers.
It all boils down to interest in reaching out and making sure what you're saying is right, but the truth is my mother did help me a lot growing up, she corrected me all the time when I came to her with my high falutin words that were badly misconstrued...
I used to sneer at the mispronounciations my teachers used with all their confidence (I was a pretty chutzpadik student, teachers did not enjoy having me correct them all the time TMI

)

scruffy

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:51 pm

chili-n-cholent wrote:

)

BY girl and I could have written this post word for word

Amarante

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:54 pm

icedcoffee wrote:

Segue always trips me up though. I know it's segway, but my brain takes a few moments to catch up on that.

I learned the word when I worked in the "business" so I thought it was a term that was distinct to the business and not used elsewhere. Because of that the "seg" and the "way" made perfect sense since I thought it was shorthand for what it was describing. Smile

amother

Bronze

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:54 pm

In HS, my father had to read Homer's Odyssey. He was almost done reading it and could not figure out who this Penelope was they were talking about and why what that character was doing seemed so much like the character he was reading about named Pen-elope.

In 5th grade, I had just changed schools, and we were reading a book with a main character, a young girl named Lupe (Loo-pay). So, since the class was mid-book, I wasn't surprised I never knew what they were talking about. I didn't know who Loo-pay was. Then, I started noticing I had passed where the class was in the book, knew about everything else in the book, but no one was talking about 'Loop' (as I was pronouncing it...ohhhh...then a lightbulb came on lol)

My son is in 10th grade taking chemistry. I overheard him a couple months ago talking to himself out loud while doing homework. "Molly-bendium. Molly-bendium" (Molybdenum)

can you tell we're all literate, educated introverts? lol

synthy

Thu, May 13 2021, 12:55 pm

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

I really appreciate your post!

I also mispronounced awry TMI

AHHH me too!!! Now I'm seriously embarrassed

Amarante

Thu, May 13 2021, 1:00 pm

amother [ Bronze ] wrote:

Even the most well read person who has literate parents and goes to a school with literate teachers might not know the correct pronunciation of certain words that aren't widely spoken - even by literate people.

I mean in real life how many times have you heard someone state something is a chimera. For what it's worth it is pronounced like chemistry and not like chimney.

If one has studied Latin one might have an advantage because certain words like chimera are derived from Greco-Roman language. Other words like Lupe are Spanish and there are certain words that are derived from and therefore probably are pronounced closer to the Germanic origins.

And what about the difference between Houston the street in Manhattan and Houston the city in Texas. LOL

amother

Gray

Thu, May 13 2021, 1:11 pm

Haha this reminds me that in 5th grade the teacher would pick a girl to choose her own vocabulary word and the class would play hangman to figure out the spelling and then try to guess the definition.
I chose the word onomatopoeia- my mother had recently told me what it means- but the teacher didn’t know the definition so she told me I need to choose a new word. I was so disappointed.

synthy

Thu, May 13 2021, 1:14 pm

I recently heard someone asking their husband to buy chicken consommé - pronounced consume

Amarante

Thu, May 13 2021, 1:15 pm

synthy wrote:

I recently heard someone asking their husband to buy chicken consommé - pronounced consume

Reminds me of my friend's husband who said the restaurant served crud - ites - like crud and lights instead of crudités

amother

Slategray

Thu, May 13 2021, 1:16 pm

Not a word but a city.
I was a grown up with a BA and an MA and traveling for a great job in high tech.
I was on business in California for the week and I had to work until late on Friday so I was staying for Shabbat. I had contacted the OU for a place to stay for Shabbat nearby. I knew I was near my exit but all I saw were exits for La Jolla and I knew I needed "La Hoya". Though I was alone I was soooo embarrassed when I started thinking out sounds in Spanish and figured it out. I had already passed two of the three La Jolla exits of the highway. I still cringe when I think about that.

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