English words that are spelled differently then how they are pronounced

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Atomic Playboy

Atomic Playboy

Lifer
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
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Champagne and colonel are both French words adopted into the English language, and bologna might be as well. If you're going to use that qualification, there's a bunch of shit like rendezvous, hors d'oeuvres, etc. that make no sense.

Anything with a "gh." Half the time it's an "F" sound, as in tough, and the rest, it's a long vowel, as in night. The g is always silent. What a load of shit.

There are so many in English. It's almost like a language founded on exceptions. Like having a word "lead," that can be pronounced two different ways. Well what the hell is that? One spelling, two pronunciations? That's silly.
 
S

Steve

Lifer
May 2, 2004
15,945
11
81
Originally posted by: BrokenVisage
Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Originally posted by: Steve
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Originally posted by: Steve
Toilet.
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I'm real curious as to just how you pronounce toilet...
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The 'P' in toilet is silent...
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no, its the "p" in swimming that is silent.
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M-O-O-N, that spells silent!
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Goodnight, Moon! Goodnight, Moooooooon!

Goodnight Cow, jumping over the moon!
 
W

WHAMPOM

Diamond Member
Feb 28, 2006
7,628
183
106
Mostly words adopted from foreign languages and spelled with the english alphabet.
 
Atomic Playboy

Atomic Playboy

Lifer
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
81
Epitome. Every time I was reading that, I would say "ep ih tohm." I knew the word epitome, but I thought it was epitomy.
 
Billb2

Billb2

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2005
3,035
70
86
Texans pronounce tire and tower that same, so i guess at least one of them sounds different than the way it's spelled ...for Texans anyway
 
H

Howard

Lifer
Oct 14, 1999
47,982
11
81
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Champagne and colonel are both French words adopted into the English language, and bologna might be as well. If you're going to use that qualification, there's a bunch of shit like rendezvous, hors d'oeuvres, etc. that make no sense.

Anything with a "gh." Half the time it's an "F" sound, as in tough, and the rest, it's a long vowel, as in night. The g is always silent. What a load of shit.

There are so many in English. It's almost like a language founded on exceptions. Like having a word "lead," that can be pronounced two different ways. Well what the hell is that? One spelling, two pronunciations? That's silly.
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ghost, ghastly
 
S

Saint Michael

Golden Member
Aug 4, 2007
1,877
1
0
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Champagne and colonel are both French words adopted into the English language, and bologna might be as well. If you're going to use that qualification, there's a bunch of shit like rendezvous, hors d'oeuvres, etc. that make no sense.

Anything with a "gh." Half the time it's an "F" sound, as in tough, and the rest, it's a long vowel, as in night. The g is always silent. What a load of shit.

There are so many in English. It's almost like a language founded on exceptions. Like having a word "lead," that can be pronounced two different ways. Well what the hell is that? One spelling, two pronunciations? That's silly.
Click to expand...
ghost, ghastly
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Ghostly, ghastly, lead, led, see, saw. All those are examples of Germanic vowel gradation. It's common in most other Germanic languages (like German: ich sehe - I see, ich sah - I saw). They aren't exceptions, really, it's just there aren't any rules one can use to predict the proper forms because the signs required for recognizing the need for such rules have long since disappeared. I'm learning Old Norse right now, for example, and the only way to recognize many conjugations and declensions is through already knowing what the word was in Proto-Norse, the language that preceded Old Norse, because the identifying word endings had disappeared by Old Norse times (~800-1300). The same thing happened to English.
 
Atomic Playboy

Atomic Playboy

Lifer
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
81
Originally posted by: Howard
Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy
Champagne and colonel are both French words adopted into the English language, and bologna might be as well. If you're going to use that qualification, there's a bunch of shit like rendezvous, hors d'oeuvres, etc. that make no sense.

Anything with a "gh." Half the time it's an "F" sound, as in tough, and the rest, it's a long vowel, as in night. The g is always silent. What a load of shit.

There are so many in English. It's almost like a language founded on exceptions. Like having a word "lead," that can be pronounced two different ways. Well what the hell is that? One spelling, two pronunciations? That's silly.
Click to expand...
ghost, ghastly
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Sure, when it starts the word. But there's that old riddle about ghoti spelling fish (gh as in tough, o as in women, ti as in ration), so maybe ghastly is supposed to be pronounced "fastly" (or is it quickly?).

Oh, and that brings us back to silent letters at the start of words (I'm looking at you "p"); pneumatic, psychotic, pterydactyl... how pointless.
 
ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Mar 20, 2000
102,402
8,574
126
Originally posted by: Billb2
Texans pronounce tire and tower that same, so i guess at least one of them sounds different than the way it's spelled ...for Texans anyway
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what the fuck are you talking about?






viscount
 
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