Waist of Thyme Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Have you ever mentally (or verbally) pronounced a word a certain way and only realized you were pronouncing it wrong later because up until then you'd never heard them said aloud, only read them? for me: I didn't know the b in subtle was silent I thought the last syllable in masculine was pronounced lean instead of lin I didn't know there were two different pronunciations for Jesus, there's Jesus as in Jesus Christ and Jesus pronounced like Hey Zeus, if I saw Jesus I'd always think the former Jesus 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oberon Jasper Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 Not because I didn't hear it... just can't say it: GOLF... I always pronounce it gulf... and hail for the longest time was hell. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blue eyes white dragon Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 There is a lot, but I honestly don't remember. I have a hard time pronouncing soldier tho Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Morays Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I do this constantly. The latest one I can remember is pronouncing "fiery" like "fear-y." The funniest one is when I thought fetish was pronounced "feet-ish," but first said it out loud in the context of a foot fetish, so it just sounded like I was making the worst pun in the world. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LiveLaugh(Love?) Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 I can't think of anything that I mispronounce... But I probably haven't realized yet. My sibling has said these things: - Algae -- they pronounced it pronounced "allergy" - Chaos -- pronounced it "chows" 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
everywhere and nowhere Posted February 9, 2021 Share Posted February 9, 2021 "Pigsty". I always thought the final vowel was pronounced like in "asexuality". And several other examples I can't remember now. Generally, such mispronounciation may be common for me in English. It's my second language, I read vastly more than I listen... On the other hand, at least in Polish, I used to have zero problems with spelling at school - exactly because of reading, because I could read two years before starting school and therefore had already seen and memorised many of these words; at that point most of my vocabulary expansion in Polish was already happening through reading, not conversations. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Morays Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 6 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said: On the other hand, at least in Polish, I used to have zero problems with spelling at school - exactly because of reading, because I could read two years before starting school and therefore had already seen and memorised many of these words; at that point most of my vocabulary expansion in Polish was already happening through reading, not conversations. I'm the same way! I've learned much more of my vocabulary through reading than conversation, so I still tend to mispronounce more obscure words to this day. Is Polish a language where one can easily figure out pronunciation from spelling, like German? 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AspieAlly613 Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Not exactly a word, but for nearly four years, I was pronouncing the half-box symbol in actuarial notation (indicating an annuity lasting for x years as opposed to a whole-life annuity on an x-year-old) as "box" rather than "angle". I've never taken an actuarial science course and all my study in the field has been independent study. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey-Ace Ventura Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 @Kieran :)'s name 😂 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ceebs Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 'hors d'oeuvre' First encountered it in a book when I was about seven, and pronounced it something like 'whores DOO-vrah'. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oberon Jasper Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, CBC said: hors d'oeuvre' I new the word separate of reading it, but didn't connect the two until last year! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Waist of Thyme Posted February 10, 2021 Author Share Posted February 10, 2021 37 minutes ago, Kieran said: Not because I didn't hear it... just can't say it: GOLF... I always pronounce it gulf... and hail for the longest time was hell. Wait, that's not how it's pronounced? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oberon Jasper Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Waist of Thyme said: Wait, that's not how it's pronounced? I know right!? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Shrinking_Violet Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 The Harry Potter spell "accio". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
everywhere and nowhere Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 12 minutes ago, SocialMorays said: Is Polish a language where one can easily figure out pronunciation from spelling, like German? For Polish people, yes. Others can't pronounce it. See this famous scene from a comedy where the protagonist invents false data on purpose to annoy the Nazi officer: Polish has pairs of letters/digraphs which look differently because hundreds of years ago they were pronounced differently, but are now pronounced the same, such as u-ó, ż-rz... But it's the spelling which is tricky (well, to some people, for me it isn't), not the pronounciation. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zoeretro Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 negligible you probably already know its neglijeble if English is your first language but not me honey , not me Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A User Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Calixte for some damm reason I take to pronouncing it ka-lix-ite (rhymes with kite) Minya min-e-a i think i simplify it in my mind lol edit: these are characters from one book Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kelico Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Dais. It's in a lot of books that I read (mostly fantasy), but I can't tell you how it's pronounced. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
A User Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Just now, zoeretro said: negligible ne-lig-bl (first thing I thought of in my head) god, I truly suck at the reading buisness Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Oberon Jasper Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 1 minute ago, kelico said: Dais day-ass I believe, but could be wrong. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kelico Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 3 minutes ago, Kieran said: day-ass I believe, but could be wrong. As opposed to night-ass? Jk jk 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blue eyes white dragon Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Oh I remember saying humaning instead of humid and influency disease instead of influenza Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Morays Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 10 minutes ago, kelico said: Dais. It's in a lot of books that I read (mostly fantasy), but I can't tell you how it's pronounced. 8 minutes ago, Kieran said: day-ass I believe, but could be wrong. My pronunciation's closer to "DAY-iss," with a short "ih" sound, but that could be my accent? New England here. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WobblyWallaby Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Personally: Faux. I pronounced it Fow-ex. My favorite over heard: Political. I had a guy in class pronounce it Poly Tickle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
quadfasciata Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 I pronounce anonymous wrong every time. Other than that, I can't think of anything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kelico Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 6 minutes ago, SocialMorays said: My pronunciation's closer to "DAY-iss," with a short "ih" sound, but that could be my accent? New England here. That makes sense. I just never knew if it was "die-iss" or "day-iss"...now I'll try to remember that! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Jay Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 I'm sure I mentioned elsewhere that I used to think "c'mon" was "see-mon". I'd also pronounced "prix" as "pricks" at least once. (They're "kuh-MON" and "pree", respectively.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
daveb Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 There are probably lots of words I pronounce wrong without being aware of it. I am also sure I have pronounced words incorrectly in the past and learned since then, but I can't think of any specific ones at this time. Not that I'm great at pronunciation, I'm just bad at remembering. I do remember years ago hearing someone say a word they must have encountered only in writing - they said "ogg-ree", but in the context I knew they were talking about ogre. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
failing adult Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 nougat I do it all the time with most words because im a bad speaker , but nougat really lept out to me as an example Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mercaesan Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 "Awry". It's uh-WRIE (last syllable rhymes with high) but I thought for the longest time it was AW-ree. Not one you ever hear, but I read it and thought it was a cool word I should start using, before I knew the pronunciation! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.