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100 Most Often Mispronounced Words...

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Originally posted by: DanTMWTMP
they don't have development! ggrrr! I can't seem to get myself to initially prounounce it "Dee-veh-lop-ment." I've always pronounced it from "DEV." I've always used "devs" for short for developers. So, since I was young, I've always pronounced it "DEH-VEH-LOPE-ERS" or "DEH-VEH-LOPE-MENT." Of course, nowadays, I realize what i sound like, and I have to make a concerted effort to say it the common way "Dee-Veh-Lope-Ment." I oftentimes miss, and my mouth spits out "DEH-VEH..." etc.. 🙁


I've seen people prounounce "Harassment" like "Hair-ress-ment." wtf? Shouldn't it be "Hur-Ass-Ment?"
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I would think that in America (with pronounced vowels) you would pronounce it "dee-" but here in the UK, it's "dev-" and always has been.

"Hur-ass-ment" is also correct.
 
Originally posted by: sao123
Hello... I cant believe they forgot
Don't say
Warsh (Worsh)


Say
Wash (Wosh)
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Only people in Pittsburgh say Worsh. And people in Pittsburgh have a whole language to themselves. This list isn't nearly complete enough to fix their language.
 
Originally posted by: sandorski
Originally posted by: iamaelephant
The "forte" one is just plain wrong, sorry to dissappoint.

From Merriam Webster:

Main Entry: forte
Pronunciation: 'fOrt, 'fort; 2 is often 'for-"tA or for-'tA or 'for-tE
Function: noun
Etymology: French fort, from fort, adjective, strong
1 : the part of a sword or foil blade that is between the middle and the hilt and that is the strongest part of the blade
2 : one's strong point
usage In forte we have a word derived from French that in its "strong point" sense has no entirely satisfactory pronunciation. Usage writers have denigrated \'for-"tA\ and \'for-tE\ because they reflect the influence of the Italian-derived forte. Their recommended pronunciation \'fort\, however, does not exactly reflect French either: the French would write the word le fort and would rhyme it with English for. So you can take your choice, knowing that someone somewhere will dislike whichever variant you choose. All are standard, however. In British English \'fo-"tA\ and \'fot\ predominate; \'for-"tA\ and \for-'tA\ are probably the most frequent pronunciations in American English.
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Thanks. I was pretty sure that "forte" was correct, I mean "Not my fort" sounds stupid. 😀
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I think this (and several others) are a case of the the "official" pronunciation being modified to reflect common usage. The spelling, definition and pronunciation of words often changes to reflect common usage, because there is no official governing body that defines the English language.

So apparantly the people who made up this list are "purists" and would rather we use the original pronunciation.

The word myriad has an interesting history. I believe it was originally a noun ("a myriad of _______"), then poets started using it as an adjective ("myriad ______s") leading some to believe that was the proper usage. Now it has swung back to being a noun which is the way most people use it, but some pretentious people insist that the only "proper" way to use it is as an adjective. Silly people.
 
Originally posted by: ForumMaster
who aks around here? who the hell says aks instead of asks? this is kind of stupid. not a lot of people speak like that who know the english language.
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I worked with a woman that said aks.. drove me nuts.
 
Originally posted by: Triumph
Originally posted by: sao123
Hello... I cant believe they forgot
Don't say
Warsh (Worsh)


Say
Wash (Wosh)
Click to expand...

Only people in Pittsburgh say Worsh. And people in Pittsburgh have a whole language to themselves. This list isn't nearly complete enough to fix their language.
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My Grandmother is from Pittsburgh, Kansas and she says it. Guess you were right.
 
Originally posted by: Rill22
Where's the "irregardless" entry?
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Under I 😕

irregardless regardless "-Less" already says ''without'' so there is no need to repeat the same sentiment with "ir-."
 
Duck tape is actually a correct way to say duct tape. Duck tape was the original brand name for the waterproof tape when it was developed for the US military during WWII.
 
Things I will fix in my own speech:
card shark => cardsharp
chomp at the bit => champ at the bit
forte => fort
'erb => herb
mawv => mauve
pottable => potable
respite => respite
spitting image => spit and image
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Issues:
long-lived => long-lived, This compound is not derived from ''to live longly'' (you can't say that) but from ''having a long life'' and should be pronounced accordingly. The plural stem, live(s), is always used: "short-lived," "many-lived," "triple-lived."
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Interesting...So would one also pronounce a long [ I] when saying, "Long live the queen"

duck tape => duct tape, Ducks very rarely need taping though you may not know that ducts always do to keep air from escaping through the cracks in them.
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I still think this one is debatable. Check the archives; We've had multiple threads discussing which is correct, each side with their own validating sources.

 
Originally posted by: b0mbrman

duck tape => duct tape, Ducks very rarely need taping though you may not know that ducts always do to keep air from escaping through the cracks in them.
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I still think this one is debatable. Check the archives; We've had multiple threads discussing which is correct, each side with their own validating sources.
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Duct tape was originally developed to seal ventilation ducts; duck tape is a brand name. I really don't see how duck tape can be validated.
 
Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Hahaha, who the hell pronounces ask like aks? I thought that was limited to the pun in Last Action Hero. Hmmm... just noticed that they didn't include brocktude.

EDIT: Heineken remover? :laugh:
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You've obviously never heard a black person speak.

 
Usage Note: The word forte, coming from French fort, should properly be pronounced with one syllable, like the English word fort. Common usage, however, prefers the two-syllable pronunciation, (fôrt), which has been influenced possibly by the music term forte borrowed from Italian. In a recent survey a strong majority of the Usage Panel, 74 percent, preferred the two-syllable pronunciation. The result is a delicate situation; speakers who are aware of the origin of the word may wish to continue to pronounce it as one syllable but at an increasing risk of puzzling their listeners.
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dictionary.com
 
Originally posted by: CPA
Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Hahaha, who the hell pronounces ask like aks? I thought that was limited to the pun in Last Action Hero. Hmmm... just noticed that they didn't include brocktude.

EDIT: Heineken remover? :laugh:
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You've obviously never heard a black person speak.
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He could have listened to thousands of black people speak and never heard it pronounced "aks".
 
The only ones I see that I've been wrong about, or have known the correct way, but still tend to pronounce them wrong anyway are:

spit and image
sherbet
pernickety
long-lived
diphtheria
champ at the bit
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That's a pretty cool list. I will work on these a bit.
 
Originally posted by: yowolabi
Originally posted by: CPA
Originally posted by: HamburgerBoy
Hahaha, who the hell pronounces ask like aks? I thought that was limited to the pun in Last Action Hero. Hmmm... just noticed that they didn't include brocktude.

EDIT: Heineken remover? :laugh:
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You've obviously never heard a black person speak.
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He could have listened to thousands of black people speak and never heard it pronounced "aks".
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I think it's more of a regional thing. In the South, you hear "aks" 75% of the time.
 
Originally posted by: DainBramaged
Originally posted by: Triumph
Originally posted by: sao123
Hello... I cant believe they forgot
Don't say
Warsh (Worsh)


Say
Wash (Wosh)
Click to expand...

Only people in Pittsburgh say Worsh. And people in Pittsburgh have a whole language to themselves. This list isn't nearly complete enough to fix their language.
Click to expand...

My Grandmother is from Pittsburgh, Kansas and she says it. Guess you were right.
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I think triumph is wrong...
worsh originated from the tristate area of west pa, ohio, and wv.
 
Originally posted by: guoziming
Originally posted by: b0mbrman

duck tape => duct tape, Ducks very rarely need taping though you may not know that ducts always do to keep air from escaping through the cracks in them.
Click to expand...
I still think this one is debatable. Check the archives; We've had multiple threads discussing which is correct, each side with their own validating sources.
Click to expand...

Duct tape was originally developed to seal ventilation ducts; duck tape is a brand name. I really don't see how duck tape can be validated.
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There was a study that showed that duct tape is mostly useless for sealing ventilation ducts.
 
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