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Is there a word you read many times over many years without knowing the pronunciation?


InDefenseOfPOMO

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What must drive people unused to English to distraction is when the same word has different pronunciations and meanings according to the context. Bow being a case in point 

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Celyn: The Lutening
17 hours ago, daveb said:

I think the stress is on the a (not long a though, more like "uh"). A turny

So is "uh TUR nee" right?

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Anthracite_Impreza

Judging by D&D chat I've been pronouncing @Celyn wrong.

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9 minutes ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

Judging by D&D chat I've been pronouncing @Celyn wrong.

Is it like Kellen?

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Anthracite_Impreza
6 minutes ago, daveb said:

Is it like Kellen?

I heard say-lin and see-lin, I say seh-lin.

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Celyn: The Lutening
3 hours ago, daveb said:

Is it like Kellen?

@daveb is correct :)

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I have to think twice with the brand Chanel (sha-nell). I always think "channel" (like a waterway or TV station).

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Anthracite_Impreza
11 hours ago, Celyn said:

@daveb is correct :)

You'll always be seh-lin to me ;)

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Celyn: The Lutening
9 hours ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

You'll always be seh-lin to me ;)

Close enough

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The American pronunciation of "mobile" always sounds weird to many Brits. We pronounce it "Moh-byle", not "Moh-beel", so when your talking about the city in Alabama we're looking for a different spelling 

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Anthracite_Impreza
7 minutes ago, SkyenAutowegCaptain said:

We pronounce it "Moh-byle"

We add an extra syllable - moe-bye-ul - to counteract our lack of h's and the's :P

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There's probably a small handful of words I've read but never heard. I think one recently though may have been diaspora though.

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7 hours ago, SkyenAutowegCaptain said:

The American pronunciation of "mobile" always sounds weird to many Brits.

Ha!

The British pronunciation of mobile sounds quaint to many Americans. :) 

(as does using that word to refer to your phone)

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1 hour ago, CBC said:

I laughed at Zoids for saying "MO-bull" the other day. Like, rhyming with 'noble'. :lol: 

Mobile and noble rhyme where I come from.

 

I pronounced archipelago wrong in my head for a long time before I heard it spoken.

 

I have to slow down when saying "social security."  I can say social just fine, and security just fine, but if I don't concentrate when saying them together, it comes out as "shocial security."  Why?!?

 

 

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Anthracite_Impreza
15 minutes ago, pickles mcgee said:

I have to slow down when saying "social security."  I can say social just fine, and security just fine, but if I don't concentrate when saying them together, it comes out as "shocial security."  Why?!?

Can you say Irish wristwatch? That's a funny one ;)

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3 minutes ago, Anthracite_Impreza said:

Can you say Irish wristwatch? That's a funny one ;)

Oh, wow, that is a tricky one.  Luckily it has never come up in conversation. 😋  Whereas social security...all the time (and I should have written that it comes out "show-shull security").

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