What word have you been pronouncing incorrectly?
Posted by sillwuka@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 53 comments
I was pronouncing Fifth with a hard T up until I got to Uni and got laughed at. Silly me.
sunflowergirrrl@reddit
Venerated
mailywhale@reddit
How?
sunflowergirrrl@reddit
My mouth seems to want to make a ‘nay’ kind of sound in the middle, can’t seem to not do it, if that makes sense?
Public-Temperature-1@reddit
Cliveden. A hotel and NT property.
I've always pronounced it Clive-dun but went on a tour recently and it's Cliv-dun
Acting_Normally@reddit
I always used to pronounce harassment and harassing as:
“har-ass-ment” and “har-assing”
When I saw Michael Caine pronounce it correctly as “harass-ment” and “harass-ing” it blew my mind.
Found out I’d been doing the U.S pronunciation for years 😅🤷♂️
mailywhale@reddit
ALmost everyone says it that way
Secretlucybliss@reddit
I can’t say specific for the life of me
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
Pacific
Biceratops1@reddit
Scenario. Ashamed to say I get confused between the American and English pronunciation, I believe I’ve heard it more on American TV than in real life.
DamoclesBDA@reddit
Process.
I pronounce it the American way having worked for them for years.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
What's the American way?
Cyril_Sneer_6@reddit
Aspartame
Machine15@reddit
This is still up for debate in my circle - as-per-tame or as-PAR-tame.. sort of.. it's been such a debate that it's now used interchangeably. It's a nice compromise.. and Googling the pronunciation has been banned. Basically - we've just given up.
nightfire_83@reddit
As part a me. I've heard that
Machine15@reddit
Oh gahd. Please don't make it worse.
jevawin@reddit
Ass-per-tame? Or Ass-paar-tame?
Or am I wrong on both counts?
Machine15@reddit
Honestly.. absolutely not a clue
Ecstatic_Effective42@reddit
Dilettante.
Although to be fair to myself, there are two distinct ways to say it. I originally completely did neither.
rosabelpixie@reddit
Arkansas, Strathaven and libel 🫠 Found out the same way.
Gone_For_Lunch@reddit
You found out during the landmark libel case between the people of Stathaven vs Arkansas?
Own-Lecture251@reddit
Lih-belle?
Undeniable-Quitter@reddit
Hyperbole. I’ve been pronouncing it “hyperbowl”, like it’s an American sports event
penelopehelen@reddit
I discovered I’ve been pronouncing this wrong in my head when reading it for years, not too long ago. It blew my mind when watching a film with subtitles and a character said it. Before that, I hadn’t considered the spelling of the word I’ve heard many a time
jevawin@reddit
My (English teacher) mum got really hung up on people mispronouncing it hyperbowl so me and my bro started saying hyperbowl all the time.
Didn’t have a f*ing clue what it meant, just kept throwing it in convos to wind her up. “Stop being hyperbowl, mum.”
We were good sons.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
Easy mistake
Dhorlin@reddit
Indictment. For years I pronounced it as 'in-dicked-ment'.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
I hope you're not a lawyer
sparklybeast@reddit
It was ethereal (ether-real rather than eth-ear-ee-al) for me.
I think usually these are due to people encountering the word via reading but not having heard the word being used irl, so are never something to mock. Reading should always be encouraged. :)
First-Archer-3457@reddit
Segue
Gone_For_Lunch@reddit
Just think of the scooter.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
I don't think I've ever uttered this word.
North_Still_2234@reddit
Incorrectly
ddrummond88@reddit
I pronounce the letter H as "Haitch"
Yes, I know it's wrong. No, I'm not going to change
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
So do I..
incredibubblez@reddit
Sorry
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
Pardon?
DrSheep99@reddit
I’ve been pronouncing incorrectly “incorrectly”
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
Nice!
justabean27@reddit
I can never remember how to pronounce wreath
glytxh@reddit
I pronounce ‘bokeh’ as either ‘boo-key’ or ‘bouquet’ just to filter out the sort of people who take this shit too seriously.
It’s remarkably effective.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
Easy bite on all the photographers
GrumpyOldFart74@reddit
The one my wife and I mentioned just today is the name “Hermione” - which we both (before we met) read as Her-me-own. Obviously when the film came out we learned the correct spelling
The irony is we have both read loads of fantasy and sci-fi and never had this issue with fictional names*. It was only a real name that caught us out… obviously wasn’t a common name in our neck of the woods
(Though I still maintain it’s “sore-Ron” not “sow-ron”)
GlitchingGecko@reddit
Opacity.
I'd never heard it said out loud when I first read it, but I had heard opaque, so I pronounce it like that, with -city at the end.
Oh-pay-city.
sillwuka@reddit (OP)
It's just the cadence, I guess.
First-Archer-3457@reddit
Segue
Embarrassed_Park2212@reddit
Is that pronounced seg way or am I getting it wrong.
SongsAboutGhosts@reddit
You are correct
Presumably that commenter has been pronouncing that 'se-goo', which is how I thought it was pronounced too, until embarrassingly recently.
Flaramon@reddit
I spent 3 months in the states, and now I can't say "pancakes" or "waffles" without a thick, unintentional accent.
Geezer-McGeezer@reddit
Mee-crow-wavy
Own-Lecture251@reddit
Someone once laughed at me for saying beege instead of beige (bayge). I say it to rhyme with gauge now (softer G though) although I'm not 100% sure I was wrong.
Burwhale_The_Avenger@reddit
Furore is the one I've seen and experienced the most struggles with.
Fortunately, it's not a word that seems to require regular usage!
Flavourifshrrp@reddit
100 percent the words specific and enemy
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