Mar 8, 2011
Ten-Word Tuesday: The Mispronounced Words Edition
You are looking at a deer tick. Don’t run out of the room — Bossy’s sister in law we’re looking at you — this post is not about bugs. Not to worry. No, this post is about deer ticks.
Kidding! Actually Bossy wants to talk about this:
It’s Lyme, Connecticut — the namesake of the disease which was originally discovered in and around this region in the mid 1970s.
The first thing you should know is: Bossy is a little bit obsessed with this disease, which is often impossible to diagnosis and has devastating long term ramifications.
Just ask Bossy’s friend Jeff about Bossy’s little obsession, where little equals all kinds of big.
The second thing you should know is: Bossy, who has been obsessed with this disease for two decades, has been pronouncing it wrong this whole time.
Somewhere along the way Bossy thought there was an apostrophe S attached to her obsession, sort of like the deer tick attaches to the underside of one’s ear lobe!
But Bossy can’t for the life of her imagine where she picked this up! Kind of like the deer tick you pick up on your pant leg when walking on that path!
Bossy mispronounces lots of other things too, but none come to mind. Mostly because one must have a mind in order for things to come to it.
So Bossy looked online to find a list of common mispronunciations. Shall we?
- Across, not acrossed
- Ask, not aks
- Nuclear, not nucular
- Barbed wire, not bob wire
- Cardsharp, not card shark
- Are you kidding with the cardsharp?
- Bossy has been saying that wrong her whole life
- Champ at the bit. Not chomp at the bit
- Uh-oh with the whole champ at the bit thing. Just saying
- Escape. Not excape
- For all intents and purposes, not for all intensive purposes
- Bossy was guilty of writing that once. For all intensive purposes. That’s okay, it was only a letter to Bossy’s son’s teacher
- Oh Bossy, who taught you English?
- Height. Not heighth
- Long-lived. Not long-lived.
- Seriously, that’s what the website says, long-lived not long-lived
- Bossy read and reread that one until her eyes bled and still she can’t find the difference
- Spit and image. Not spitting image
- Are you kidding Bossy with the spit and image? Bossy is putting herself back to bed for a week
When it comes to saying things incorrectly, Bossy can sum up her experience in this way: Bossy’s dad doesn’t call her Miss Malaprop for no reason.
Which is what today’s Ten-Word Challenge is all about. In exactly ten words, can you tell Bossy about a word or phrase you or your loved one gets wrong?
And be sure to check back later today for the wrongest words on the web!
Here’s the list of 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words
dudn’t , every time W said it I cringed.
Please don’t order strimps or shimp or shrimps, it’s SHRIMP.
Kid: antublance, hopsital, boren (instead of ambulance, hospital and born).
My former boss would always say pacificly instead of specifically.
Apparently, it’s y’all, not ya’ll. My southern husband says.
Forte (when meaning strength) is pronounced fort (silent e). It’s derived from French. Forte (meaning loud) comes from the Italian and is pronounced FORT-ay.
Also scan, which until 15 years ago only meant A THOROUGH STUDY not to be confused with skim (after all who wants a CAT-SKIM????) But it’s been misused so much that now the definition in Websters is either “a thorough study” OR “a quick glance.” Who’s confused, now, Bossy?
My mother-in-law: flusterated, Simonese cat, jewelary, “cocnut” cake. :s
My grandma says Neosperm instead Neosporin. If I had known better, I would have been afraid of getting knocked up every time I scraped my knee.
Five year old singing showtune:
Uncle Homer = Oklahoma.
Try it!
A good friend says, “I was besideS myself,” instead of “beside myself.” Drives me CRAZY!
When I found out it’s, “You’ve got another THINK coming”….UGGHHH!!!
You’ve got another THINK coming? Are you for real? Whoa!
My FIL is always providing these for us. Our favorite is “dildo,” which he pronounces as “DIL-doo.” I don’t even want to attempt to remember why we would have ever had to hear him utter that word.
My newly dearly departed Daddy (http://leisahammett.com/the_journey_with_grace/2011/03/oh-february.html) used two taunt my longer departed Mother with al-ke-hall for alcohol and may-un-naise for mayonnaise.
With bated breath your reputation precedes you & doesn’t faze you.
Oooh! My husband says pamplet not pamphlet; makes me crazy.
My husband says “Gah forgive” instead of “Gah forbid”. And the other day he said hostile when he meant hostel. He doesn’t read books, poor dear.
Grilled cheese. Thought was GIRLED cheese. Mom’s pronunciation.
FIL: chickmunk for chipmunk. Spouse: eye-talian for Italian. Ugh
Someone in my house says deplicting or deplicted not depicted.
Best friend: PhildelTHia. She has 3 higher degrees. Love her.
(One of those long-lived has a long I as in Life, instead of the short one in Live.
Actually, there’s a case to be made for both card sharp and card shark. I wrote a play where it figures very prominently and the explanation is oddly sexy when delivered by the right actor.)
There is no place in Florida called New Sah-Myrna Beach!!
(It’s Smyrna-2 syllables, not 3. The local TV newspeople murder the pronounciation)
Too many people say “with regards” there’s no “s” unless you mean “regards”, which too many people don’t. “I was confused with regard to her obsession with lyme disease” and “Give my regards to your mother” See?
Mariana not marinara. Don’t take mom out for Italian anymore
Mom says “Warshington” instead of “Washington”. Also, “squarsh” and “gorsh”.
@Bossy the conversation is about a few other things but man it caused a big ol’ debate: http://www.metafilter.com/65161/999991
And I still think “think” doesn’t make any sense, but whatever!
Gyro. I don’t know if there is a proper way to pronounce it, but there are THOUSANDS of ways to mispronounce it. I say “YEAR-o” because it hurts my ears the least.
Sorry, not 10 words…
Gryo is a mean word. I don’t like saying it.
Instead of nip it in the bud – some say butt.
wheel barrel is wheel barrow but i couldn’t care less.
“This needs warshed” drives me MONKEYBUTT CRAZY. Try a verb!
Friend: “In conjuncture” instead of “in conjunction”; still good friend.
Oh Bossy, until today, I’ve always pronounced it “long-lived.”
(Impressed with my 10 word ability on this one, but still so shamed by my obvious ignorance of the above. Or would that be ashamed?)
Am now spending the rest of the day in silence.
What Choo talkin bout Willis
It’s, what are you talking about Willis
A friend says “imparticular” instead of “in particular.” Go figure.
foliage NOT foilage or folage. Hearing lymeS disease at home.
Liberry instead of Library. ack!
Another one that makes me nuts is prolly not probably.
My husband has always said “al-blum” like someone’s name, not an album.
guilty: Lymes. I’ve been doing intense research for 7 mos. and didn’t catch it!!! (Maybe that’s cause I have it)
OHHH, almost forgot this one too – “old timers disease” not alzheimers disease.
you say halla and I say challa.
and how bout gaz?
A friend nearly kicked out of university for Irregardless. REGARDLESS…
My Dixie hubbie pronounces L’s wherever they appear: salmon, tortilla…
The millions(?) of people who say Kath-a leen instead of Kathleen
Bossy….do this every Tues. Eye opening…
Shipyard not shippyyard.
People who call my sister Elaine, Alaine. Drives her nuts
the internets
Nitch for niche. Jesus, the cold sweats it gives me
It’ clearly eSpresso, people!! From the italian word “to press.”
foyER and, in Long Island, PoinsettER . Lose your ‘r’s (tee hee)
#45 Kathy I hear you !!
Unless you’re good at Hebrew you can’t pronounce lepreCHaun.
this morning friend said coerce for converse. not first time
Punkin for Pumpkin
km realizes she is a very cranky bugger btw.
draw for drawer. Not finished yet
I’m in Wyoming. Clearly there is a guy named Bob that used to live here that invented the wire with barbs on it. He also drinks EXpresso instead of Espresso and gets here by riding on the Ray-road.
Bossy’s Husband used to (not use to) catch most of them for her. (word in parentheses don’t count against the 10)
Dear Hubby, It’s not ValenTIME’s, but leave the gift there
No one ever had an issue with “segue”, pronouncing it “segoo”? I did. I knew what it was but had only read it in books until I eventually heard it on TV one day as a teenager and it clicked. Oooohhhh, segway!.
My mother loved Engleba Huppadink. Major crush.Senior citizen show.
Mum had divertiu-something. Every time she said something different.
dear friend always say berfday instead of birthday…I cringe.
I always say exsacerbate instead of exacerbate. Totally tongue-tied.
“Supposably” (capable of being supposed) instead of “supposedly” (presumed true)
“All the sudden” incorrectly instead of “all of a sudden.”
Would someone settle something for me: Is it Buck naked or Butt naked? I’ve seen and heard both ways and have no idea which is correct.
Daughter says: “comfty” not comfy (comfortable). Hubby: “anTANna” for antenna.
To clarify: Long-lived pronounced with a long “i”–like “LIVE from New York, it’s Saturday night!”
Pet peeves: irregardless, expresso, nucular, but mostly: supposably. The horror!!!
Dear mom combines frustrated and flustered into: “flustrated”. Also called them “holler monkeys”.
I have a loved one who likes sherBERT for dessert. Ah, it’s SHERBET. Not bert in there. Oh heck, let’s just call it sorbet, shall we?
I grew up in Pennsylvania calling our nation’s capital Warshington.
Hubby: We’re in like Flint. Michigan,honey?
I don’t like to hear an adult say ‘on accident’. In kids, it’s cute.
Can’t believe nobody’s nominated “Feb-you-ary”. Pronounce that R: FebRUary.
My BF left whole syllables out of “quintessential” – said “quint-ess-i-al”
Me to husband
“And what the hell am I, chopped cicken liver?”
–>My last Sr. VP said pacifically instead of specifically.
My pet peeve is liberry vs. library.
Locally, a lot of people say IdeaR instead of idea.
My mother just found out a few years ago that it’s WheelBARROW, not WheelBARREL! The look on her face was priceless.
Mauve: It’s pronounced the way the “au” in “taupe” is pronounced. It’s not mawhhhve. It’s a long “o” sound.
(Sorry, more than 10 words!)
Pronounced bivouac (biv-wack) as Bi-Oh-Vac.
Husband fell off chair.
Just thought of another!
MISCHIEVOUS…. pronounced mis-che-vous. Not mis-cheev-ious. There is no “i” before the “ous.”
Am annoyed by:
People who drop the to be – shirts need ironed.
Worse:
Windows need warshed.
Typo in #79 – I said,
“And what the hell am I, chopped chicken liver?”
My boss says “in lieu of” when he means “in light of.”
My mom goes to the “liberry.” She used to be a “seckatary.” (She can spell well even though she can’t pronounce all the words correctly.)
My dad loved SALmon.
It bugs me when people SAY, “I could care less” when they MEAN “I couldn’t care less.”
Also, “supposably.” UGH. If I could strike that from speech, I totally would.
My verbal pickiness has been passed on to my children–my 12 yr old daughter still talks about my dear SIL, who is as country as the day is long, who made her “PEE-CAN pies with SPLENDAR” last Christmas.
celliophone, walmarK, patteren, northeren, and medium specialist (for media specialist)
Off topic…
Has anyone ever told Bossy that her drawing of her friend Jeff looks quite like Bob Forrest with smoother skin? It’s uncanny!
http://www.poptower.com/bob-forrest-celebrity-rehab-picture-35778.htm
I say it right, but “prostrate cancer”? Really, people!
My mom says mammeogram. (a combo of mimeograph and mammogram).
(When she says it, I picture the image of a breast printed in purple ink!)
Most people say “gaz” for gas.
In Philly, it’s common for people to mix up their “d”s and “t”s; for example, excidet or delighdet,etc.
my Jewish accented grandfather called Perry Como,”Harry Cohen” !
I once had a boss the pronounced Sophmore…Southmore
his son was in the air ‘calvary’ helicopter corps,,, [sic] cavalry
I would cross myself every time he said ‘air calvary’
“Little Susie finally graduated highschool” What happened to the “from”?!
Son attends Westminster School. Husband says West-minister every @^#&*($ time.
Said rebarb not, rebar for YEARS. Still getting over it.
Some people say “artesian” when they mean “artisan”
Stepping aside from the fabulously enlightening (“card sharp”? What, really??) and entertaining game here:
Bossy’s Mom, you have Lyme disease? Oh no! Keep doing your research, woman, and persevere until you get good treatment. Our son had Lyme when he was in jr. high, and I well-know the need for aggressive medical care on that one, and the pitfalls of trying to get it. Encouraging hugs to you!!
And BSTBEH..Gosh darn, I liked “the Silver Fox” so much better
What the heck, encouraging hugs to the whole darn Bossy family!
My mom pronounces diarrhea as “dire rear”. Makes sense though!
A friend when training dog? Said “Yield” instead of Heel!
My incorrect “land lovers” makes more sense than correct landlubbers.
Radio guy: inner-esting instead of interesting.
(Paid to speak!?)
LOL. English is so hard!
“Calm, Cool, and Collective.”
My grandfather always said “cacoozi”‘ for jacuzzi.
Steph
I love when my hubby says, “It’s a mute point”!
brother singing “tits and ass” from Chorus Line–tics and ants.
Ginnu. As in “soon I will commence doing thus”. Sad.
I have a friend who says Altimer’s instead of Alzheimer’s. She also works in a Tax Collector’s office and when speaking about a “parcel of land” she says “partial of land”. I myself am guilty of being lazy when I say probably, I pronounce it the lazy way & say prolly !
BFF: MD. PhD. Valedictorian. Saintly. Pronounces caustic “cow-stick”. Mirth ensues.
French-speaking daughter said “tapin” for “lapin” (prostitute not rabbit)
Had an orthodontist who pronounced the th in Theresa. I had to stare at that man’s abundant nostril hair every three weeks for three years and never once did my mom or I ever correct his pronunciation of my name. Catholic much?
little son “oh beautiful, four spaceship guys”
Husband: “You pronounce anvil wrong. AN-vill. Just like Bugs Bunny.”
Well Jeez Louise, where’d he think I learned it?
Versus. Teen boys say “verse.” Boys verse girls. Wrong!
VoLUMPtuous for voluptuous – oy
Husband says acrost (number one on your list) ANNOY-YING.
Mother says cholesterlol.
We can blame Forrest Gump for the shrimps.
Persnickity vs pernickity first one better I am keeping it.
p.s. I can’t spell either one.
Daughter said trowel for towel until about twenty I zaggerate
my parents own franchises. Hubby still says MACdonald’s instead MICKdonald’s!!!
My son said ‘fuck’ for ‘firetruck until he was three. And always at the top of his lungs.
My Grandpa taught me Baseball games are 9 “Injuns” long.
(In grade school, my mom got into fight with a boy that they were called Injuns….NOT Innings)
This item needs clean. All over ebay. ing, anyone? WTH?
Infrared: used to think it was in-frair-d. Biggest pet peeve: a whole nother.
born witness
Visiting 3-year-old girl’s favorite in manger scene: “Baby Cheezits”. Awwww
My Mother would say she was going to the CHOIR-practor, and that my Dad had and enlarged prosTRATE.
My husband, not a native English speaker, says busybuddy instead of busybody.
The boy child calls those marketing segments between TV shows commercinals.
Any way you say it, Bossy’s “Ten-Word Tuesdays” rule!
Easier than haiku, and much more ed u ca shonal
Family member says tyanol not tylenol. Makes me craaaaazy!
Our local (upstate NY) NPR affiliate has a newswoman who says “AdirOUNDack” and “munincipal.” Also, @Lee #2 — scrimps!
Auntie uses “irregardless” when she means “regardless.” So painful!
My daughter loved Cinnabrella when she was in her princess phase.
My aunt went to the hosplit when she was sick and took assburn for a headache.
Maybe he’s smart, but still says “supposubly” instead of “supposedly.”
A “couple” is two people. Everything else is “a couple of…”
(Oh wait — this peeve is not about pronunciation.
Sorry, Bossy!)
((And yet, apparently she’s hitting “send”, not “delete”))
French in-laws taught themselves English. I could post 1,000,000 comments.
Sim-U-lar instead of similar. Optober instead of October. Crackle Barrel instead of Cracker Barrel. Southern college degree hubby says trial for trowel, co-in for coin, and the ever famous orl for oil. And its gonna come a rain. (but I love that southern drawl)
When the pathologist examines a corpse, he performs an autospy.
My husbands family says wrougth iron instead of wrought iron, “i stood there for 2 hours” when they mean stayed there for 2 hours (they are not literaly standing up for 2 hours!), my mother- in -law says skin milk instead of skim milk. I’m sure I’ll think of more. Drives me crazy!
My mom says prostrate for prostate; refuses to accept correction.
Five, eight, and eighteen. Kate is right there with you Bossy.
Dis-com-BOOB-er-ated. And “on the neath.” LOVE my Korean sister-in-law. Love her!
I’m with Alison (#68). Buck naked or butt naked?
Also, I pronounce Foyer “Foy-A” (long A.) I do it because that’s how my mom pronounces it. Every one else I know pronounces it “Foy-er.” Which probably makes more sense. I have no clue which pronunciation is right.
I call a certain baby affliction “cradle crap.”
Friend uses artistic when she means autistic. Drives me crazy.
OnAcology instead of OnCOLogy. OtoLINGology instead of OtoLARYNgology. I’m nuts.
Angela — I looked it up, and it appears both are correct. One is an English pronunciation and the other is French. I say “Foy-A,” too.
Another pet peeve (I am on a roll today!) — it’s not a mas-ECT-omy, it’s a mas-TECT-omy. There’s a dinstict “T” sound before the “ect.”
I am a little sensitive to it since my mom had to have one.
Husband: conjugate when he means congregate
Kentucky peeps say “I have no ideal” (idea) and “I have a high hernia” (hiatal hernia).
It means you thought wrong so you need to re-think.
(It can’t be “thing” cuz that would not make sense)
This was an awesome idea for ten word Tuesday, Bossy.
Knew a lass who said “bain hoot” for bathing suit. (I still call them that just cuz I thought she was the most adorable little girl)
“And so forth on” What is up with that? Silly.
Brother-in-law: “Takes two to tangle” and “You’re off your rocket”
38 years I’ve heard WESTconsin – he’s too cute to correct.
In Colorado we say “onree” instead of ornery. oooops
I die a little inside each time I hear someone say the word license as if it’s plural. For instance, when a store attendant asks to see someone’s id: “I need to see your license…do you have them with you?”
stupid usband says the Grand Canyons: seriously, what a moron
on a different note: chronic Lyme disease is a serious problem which many medical doctors ignore. I think so many people are misdiagnosed b/c of the ignorance of the medical community. Anyway… just wanted to say that…
I’m gonna nip this one in the butt….
Principal. Every Day on morning announcements: “Have a Happy Birfday.”
Guacamole with hard G makes me want to strangle husband!
You talk the talk and then you’re meant to walk the walk. YOU DON’T WALK THE TALK!
And begging the question is avoiding it, not answering it.
These are on the media all the time, while I grind my teeth to stumps.
Person who helps with real estate transactions?
Real-tor not real-A-tor.
Idea! You have an IDEA. NOT an ideal. Drives me nuts when people say that.
My Mom says mirra instead of mirror. SIL say eye-tai-yun instead of Italian…Instead of scratch the itch please they will also say itch it….or my favorite from my 5 year old, more better, no dear it’s just better
I hear “incidences” instead of “incidents” all the time.
And hearing “REE-la-tor” (instead of the person who helps you buy a house) can drive me to drink. Of course, that doesn’t take much.
But, I have a question: is it “coming down the pipe” or “coming down the pike”?
My husband hates things done “half-hazard.” But I’ve got a Masters in writing and just learned the difference between jury-rigged and jerry-built, so I try not to say anything.
One drives me batty, and we hear it a LOT here in Texas, is vehicle….pronounced like ve-HICK-le. The H is silent people. Look it up. I’ve played the sound clip from Webster’s online a million times to folks that don’t believe me!
Also hate it when folks at S’s to names that don’t have them to begin with. Like “I’m going to Krogers”, “I hate WalMarts”, etc. Seriously disturbing unless you’re going to or talking about MORE THAN ONE, lol!
“Taking it in stride”, not “taking it in strides”
A friend always says, “Valentime’s Day”. Oy.
Okay, I just clicked on the link to the 100 most mispronounced words, and I’m going nuts (and this is going to take more than 10 words). “artic” is not a mispronunciation but a correct one; “arctic” is derived from Middle English “artic” from medieval Latin “articus.” The spelling “arctic” is an alternative form first attested in 1569, but the c-less spelling persisted well into the seventeenth century, and the c-less pronunciation remains correct. “Aks” is not a 1000-year-old mispronunciation; the original form of the word was “aks” (Old English “acsian,” actually) and by a linguistic process called metathesis (a fancy word for pronouncing stuff wrong) it got changed to “ask.”
That only gets me through “A.” I’d better not read any more.
“Watch on that boy’s bike! Don’t hurt your crouch!”
Crotch
Every conceivable misprounced word resides in New Orleans…hear it everyday.
It’s “I couldn’t care less” NOT “I could care less.”
It’s the-ah-ter (accent on the ” the”) NOT the-ate-tur (accent on the “ate”) and no matter what the Word, Office paperclip says, it is spelled theatre
172- my oldest son used to call Crocs “crotch”. Fun time at a swim meet:)
It’s supposedly. Not supposively. Or supposably. Learn it, love it.
I say ah-curl-ic instead of acrylic. Can’t seem to stop.
My mom, on something not worth mentioning: “a mute point.”
When I was 5 I told everyone my mother had “god bladder” surgery. Couldn’t understand what was so hilarious.
Philly pholk say…”Antlantic City’ and mine and yours is pronounced: :Mayan and youren…and why or why is it “Crown” instead of crayon?
Husband: Heith (Height), acrossed (across) and crown (crayon)
An onion is not an ung-yun. Don’t be so redickaliss.
In one fell swoop, sis discovered the foop wasn’t swell.
lie-berry instead of library
who-ver instead of “hover” over something
My grandfather used to say “al-you-MINium” (accent on the MIN) rather than the standard pronounciation of aluminum. Ha!
Ill-in-noise instead of the correct Ill-In-Oy.
The “Irregardless” probably comes from aunties who watched too much Phil Donahue on daytime TV – he was notorious for that.
I don’t mind regional “accents” – and “Warshington” and such are often regional things. I do love children’s misconceptions – my daughter liked to page through “Mazagineens”, and was scared stupid of the “Lawn Motor”.
But hearing an adult on the telephone telling me she needs to “Axe” her supervisor if she can help with something grates on me to no end.
Younger daughter says SEE-rup; we all say SIR-rup. Television? Dunno.
A coworker says “part and partial” instead of “part and parcel”. She also says “Six in one, half dozen in the other” instead of “six of one…”. Drives me nuts, but so does my husband when he says he’s “fustrated”.
Ague – Correct = ag-way
Me – Aug (like the start of August)
Husband was speechless.
My friend says “k” after any word ending in “ing.”
#2. I just found out you say “prob-ab-ly” not “prob-ly.”
expecially for especially. oat for out(sorry Cdns).
Dad always says Chimley and Fashlight…….we laugh, he doesn’t!
Supposably = Fork in my eye. It’s “supposedly,” peeps!
Here’s one that hasn’t been mentioned so far… Often, is often improperly pronounced “off-TEN” instead of “Off-en”.
Shoot, I am a day late…but this is funny. During my dysfunctional marriage to my son’s ex-step father, my son said “I need a piece of quiet”. Not ten words, but worth sharing.
Ohmigawd. And my mother says “ibruprophren”. Bless her little heart.
Mis•chie•vous. 3 syllables! Not mis•chiev•i•ous. Almost as bad as nucular!
I have friends who say Santa comes down the chimbley.
I have friends who say they need to mersure something.
My Mama: Separated by birth (instead of at birth.)
I have one friend who says hyalarious especially while drinking.
Another friend can’t trust someone with a ten foot pole.
This same friend says spitting twin instead of spitting image.
(which I see is really spit and image, who knew?)
Used to call measuring device a tape measurer. Husband choked.
I agree with everyone and must add simularities and orientated.
Hmmmmm, re “off-ten” from dictionary.com:
—Pronunciation note
Often was pronounced with a t -sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without the ?/t/ came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor. Common use of a spelling pronunciation has since restored the ?/t/[t] for many speakers, and today ?/??f?n/[aw-fuhn] and ?/??ft?n/[awf-tuhn] [or ?/??f?n/[of-uhn] and ?/??ft?n/[of-tuhn]] exist side by side. Although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a /t/[t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.
I can’t stand it when women say “I was pregnant for (insert child’s name here)”.
Father says “fillim” (film), mother says “men-us-tration” for menstruation.
Oh! And I don’t know how many people in my family get their pet spaded or neutered. Spay, people, spay!!! You get your pet spayed. It’s not Tuesday anymore so to heck with the ten words
#186 – the British still say ‘Al-u-MIN-i-um, and they spell it with the extra ‘i’ before the ‘um’ also.
#190 – I had only read the word ‘ague’ in older books, and have never heard it spoken, so I looked it up and every dictionary I found said it is pronounced ‘a-gyoo’. Check it out!
Finally, I really don’t care whether ‘off-ten’ is accepted speech again, it hurts my ears!
207, I just couldn’t get it wrong right. it’s simularly.
Ten words won’t work for this entry: My niece Jessica’s boss says “I can’t even phantom how that would feel!” instead of fathom. A different niece has a friend who saw some Amish people and said “Awwww, look at the Pilgrims!” SIGH
Ague is very popular in crossword puzzles.
Old roomie used Acrost instead of Across practically every day! Drove me batty!
College grad son says Sigh-ox for Sioux. Love him.
Number 4 is my favorite one hahahaha NIce
Sweet sister: I’ll nip that in the butt!
Yes, do.
Alls I know
Yous guys. Yas. Seems to be a favorite of waitresses around here. “How are yous guys doin’? I’ll give yas a few more minutes”.
Here in the South, I hear a lot of people say, “Well, I used-to-could, but I can’t now” DRIVES ME NUTS! Also, there’s a lot of errant R’s thrown into words, such as “warsh cloth”. Finally, I hate, hate, hate to hear people call it “The Wal-Marts” or “The K-Marts” as in, “I went shopping at The Wal-Marts yesterday”. Really? did you go to multiple Wal-Mart stores? And why the “The”?
Many of my old-timer Italian friends call sauce “gravies” in the pleural
How about onliest (don’t know about spelling, pronounced only-est) – “I am the onliest son.”
Thanks to Barry, our Harvard graduate prez:
The United States Marine Corpse” – ouch.
my mom: ascared (as in afraid)
OK, this one’s from my childhood: crepe myrtle, not crake myrtle
It’s Coupon, not q-pon; cannot instead of can not; and caulk is pronounced like talk. btw, love the “it’s not Tuesday” concept!
Gee, it’s a shame you don’t get any comments.
Moving on: there’s “long-lived” (the “lived” is like “liver”), and there’s “long-lived” (like “life” when you say “lived”). Riddle me that shizz, indeed.
Okay, so I used to think the girl’s name, Phoebe, was “foe-eeb-eh.”
Flummoxed!! And, I usually spell it wrong, too (flummuxed)! Seriously, I cannot get the emphasis right on this word, so I started staying “flammished” instead. My daughter and I decided that this is the Jewish version of flummoxed and it works just fine…!
I made my SIL an AFF I GAN. It kept her warm. I guess the extra syllable helped.
“Seen”, as it “I seen her yesterday”…drives me batty!!
Wow, couldn’t read all the comments. A good friend of mine (who is a teacher) with the “supposably” Drives me CRAZY!!!! and it is said in every conversation we have, no matter how short!!!
Thought of you when I saw this, this morning:
http://failbook.failblog.org/2011/03/11/funny-facebook-fails-hard-headed/
@77/Karen: it was my completely inability to pronounce Feb-BRU-ary instead of Feb-YOU-ary that landed me in multiple weeks of speech therapy as a kindergarterner.
My MIL has acid-reflex. She gives me a head-ick.
My grandma has a vir-g-eye-na, you know, lady business.
It’s Realtor, not Realator. One of the HGTV home selling shows has a woman on there (a Realtor in fact) that pronounces it Realator, It makes my brain itch. It’s a good thing, you’re not asking about screwed up song lyrics… I would then have to embarrass myself.
The fire department does not have ammalances, we have ambulances.
Where I’m from, you’re “ignernt,” not ignorant. How ignernt is that?
Manager says I have to “orientate” a new employee.
Heard short-lived 3 times today and all rhymed with sieved.