Commonly mispronounced words - Page 11

Happy Monkey · 01-09-2006, 11:40 PM

The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy has some good grammar lessons, though unfortunately sales are currently suspended. Here's the most famous.

And a new one, for Canadians!

Frenchie · 12-29-2006, 05:03 PM

Yeah, Urbane Guerilla, Jaguar was right....since ignoramus wasn't a Latin 2nd declension masculine noun with the -us ending, it doesn't make sense that the plural would be ignorami....it's form the verb ignorare, and its ending is -mus, the 1st person plural. So the plural is ignoramuses.

xoxoxoBruce · 12-29-2006, 05:28 PM

Wecome to the Cellar, Frenchie.

busterb · 12-29-2006, 06:00 PM

I have no place in this thread.

12-29-2006, 06:06 PM

Not a mispronounced word. Not words... and never will be
I instantly lose respect and think less of the intellegence of those who use the non-words:
irregardless & proactive.

There is a difference between British and Trans-Atlantic, British is not necessarily "right", Trans is also correct.

Frenchie · 12-29-2006, 10:41 PM

Oh and on the actual subject of the board, this isn't a commonly mispronounced word (I hope), but once I heard someone pronounce icicle as "iss-ickle"...I nearly gagged

Crimson Ghost · 12-30-2006, 09:17 AM

I once mispronounced "Yes, I love you too, dear" by saying "Would you move your ass? I can't see the TV!"

They sound so similar............

DanaC · 12-30-2006, 09:23 AM

proactive is a word. It's in the dictionary. It might be a modern addition, but language is constantly developing and new words being added all the time.

CzinZumerzet · 12-30-2006, 09:55 AM

The way 'herb' is commonly mispronounced 'erb with emphasis on the fact of the dropped aitch, as though the speaker is somehow trying to make a point.

The word then emerges as Urb.... Can anyone explain it?

DanaC · 12-30-2006, 10:15 AM

That's just the way it's pronounced in some places I think. That's one of the problems with pronunciation, particularly in a language like English. Regional accents and dialects which have evolved separately mean that people from one part of the English speaking world may well pronounce things entirely differently to someone else from a different place.

Some words are mispronounced because the speaker has only seen the word printed rather than having heard it spoken, but with something like 'herb' I doubt that's the case.

I believe sounding the 'h' in herb is a British pronunciation, but even within Britian it varies.

DanaC · 12-30-2006, 10:20 AM

Ha. Okay I went searching:

Herb

The word herb, which can be pronounced with or without the (h), is one of a number of words borrowed into English from French. The (h) sound had been lost in Latin and was not pronounced in French or the other Romance languages, which are descended from Latin, although it was retained in the spelling of some words. In both Old and Middle English, however, h was generally pronounced, as in the native English words happy and hot. Through the influence of spelling, then, the h came to be pronounced in most words borrowed from French, such as haste and hostel. In a few other words borrowed from French the h has remained silent, as in honor, honest, hour, and heir. And in another small group of French loan words, including herb, humble, human, and humor, the h may or may not be pronounced depending on the dialect of English. In British English, herb and its derivatives, such as herbaceous, herbal, herbicide, and herbivore, are pronounced with h. In American English, herb and herbal are more often pronounced without the h, while the opposite is true of herbaceous, herbicide, and herbivore, which are more often pronounced with the h.

CzinZumerzet · 12-30-2006, 06:08 PM

Dana that's all fab and not a systemic explanation I have seen before, but imediately reminded me of "'umble, very very 'umble" but at this moment the Dickens character escapes me ... Heap? Uriah Heap...? Or 'eap.

My cockney late husband used to talk about 'ammerin' hup the hautobahn' on his return from a football match somewhere in the old West Germany, when all of the aitches were transposed - shifted abaht

Down here in the West its a whole different ball-game, as is the case for -I guess- all of the UK Cellarites. Vive la difference, it all adds colour and variety.

My condolences by the way on the loss of your friend. I am playing catch up as usual.

JayMcGee · 12-30-2006, 08:07 PM

Well, tbh, I think that all'n'all this thread has shown that all UK residents are incapable of mis-prouncitation..... ( with the notable exception of those born in Essex)......

Urbane Guerrilla · 01-09-2007, 04:33 AM

Not a mispro, but the American Dialect Society, which keeps an eye on the evolution of the language, voted the verb "to Pluto" as their je-ne-sais-quoi ineffable word of the year. It means to demote or devalue someone or something. It won out over such runners-up as "climate canary," an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon, and "murse" for a man's purse, and "flog" for a fake blog. "Macaca" gets a definition: an American citizen treated like an alien.

Aliantha · 01-09-2007, 04:35 AM

One word that I hear mispronounced on telly all the time is car-A-mel. So many shows of US origin have people prounouncing it as carmel.

What happened to the A?

01-09-2006, 11:40 PM	#151
Happy Monkey I think this line's mostly filler. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DC Posts: 13,575	The Ultimate Book of Perfect Energy has some good grammar lessons, though unfortunately sales are currently suspended. Here's the most famous. And a new one, for Canadians! __________________ _________________ \|...............\| We live in the nick of times. \| Len 17, Wid 3 \| \|_______________\| [pics]

12-29-2006, 05:28 PM	#153
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Wecome to the Cellar, Frenchie. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

12-29-2006, 06:00 PM	#154
busterb NSABFD Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: MS. usa Posts: 3,908	I have no place in this thread. __________________ I've haven't left very deep footprints in the sands of time. But, boy I've left a bunch.

12-30-2006, 09:17 AM	#157
Crimson Ghost Larger than life and twice as ugly. Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 5,264	I once mispronounced "Yes, I love you too, dear" by saying "Would you move your ass? I can't see the TV!" They sound so similar............ __________________ We must all go through a rite of passage. It must be physical, it must be painful, and it must leave a mark. I have no knowledge of the events which you are describing, and if I did have knowledge of them, I would be unable to discuss them with you now or at any future period. Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years

12-30-2006, 09:55 AM	#159
CzinZumerzet .....short for Caz Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The West Coast of England Posts: 358	The way 'herb' is commonly mispronounced 'erb with emphasis on the fact of the dropped aitch, as though the speaker is somehow trying to make a point. The word then emerges as Urb.... Can anyone explain it? __________________ ..down by the zea zippin' zider

12-29-2006, 05:03 PM	#152
Frenchie O_o Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2	Yeah, Urbane Guerilla, Jaguar was right....since ignoramus wasn't a Latin 2nd declension masculine noun with the -us ending, it doesn't make sense that the plural would be ignorami....it's form the verb ignorare, and its ending is -mus, the 1st person plural. So the plural is ignoramuses.

12-29-2006, 06:06 PM	#155
rkzenrage Guest Posts: n/a	Not a mispronounced word. Not words... and never will be I instantly lose respect and think less of the intellegence of those who use the non-words: irregardless & proactive. There is a difference between British and Trans-Atlantic, British is not necessarily "right", Trans is also correct.

12-29-2006, 10:41 PM	#156
Frenchie O_o Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 2	Oh and on the actual subject of the board, this isn't a commonly mispronounced word (I hope), but once I heard someone pronounce icicle as "iss-ickle"...I nearly gagged

12-30-2006, 09:23 AM	#158
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	proactive is a word. It's in the dictionary. It might be a modern addition, but language is constantly developing and new words being added all the time.

12-30-2006, 10:15 AM	#160
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	That's just the way it's pronounced in some places I think. That's one of the problems with pronunciation, particularly in a language like English. Regional accents and dialects which have evolved separately mean that people from one part of the English speaking world may well pronounce things entirely differently to someone else from a different place. Some words are mispronounced because the speaker has only seen the word printed rather than having heard it spoken, but with something like 'herb' I doubt that's the case. I believe sounding the 'h' in herb is a British pronunciation, but even within Britian it varies.

12-30-2006, 10:20 AM	#161
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	Ha. Okay I went searching: Herb The word herb, which can be pronounced with or without the (h), is one of a number of words borrowed into English from French. The (h) sound had been lost in Latin and was not pronounced in French or the other Romance languages, which are descended from Latin, although it was retained in the spelling of some words. In both Old and Middle English, however, h was generally pronounced, as in the native English words happy and hot. Through the influence of spelling, then, the h came to be pronounced in most words borrowed from French, such as haste and hostel. In a few other words borrowed from French the h has remained silent, as in honor, honest, hour, and heir. And in another small group of French loan words, including herb, humble, human, and humor, the h may or may not be pronounced depending on the dialect of English. In British English, herb and its derivatives, such as herbaceous, herbal, herbicide, and herbivore, are pronounced with h. In American English, herb and herbal are more often pronounced without the h, while the opposite is true of herbaceous, herbicide, and herbivore, which are more often pronounced with the h.

12-30-2006, 06:08 PM	#162
CzinZumerzet .....short for Caz Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The West Coast of England Posts: 358	Dana that's all fab and not a systemic explanation I have seen before, but imediately reminded me of "'umble, very very 'umble" but at this moment the Dickens character escapes me ... Heap? Uriah Heap...? Or 'eap. My cockney late husband used to talk about 'ammerin' hup the hautobahn' on his return from a football match somewhere in the old West Germany, when all of the aitches were transposed - shifted abaht Down here in the West its a whole different ball-game, as is the case for -I guess- all of the UK Cellarites. Vive la difference, it all adds colour and variety. My condolences by the way on the loss of your friend. I am playing catch up as usual. __________________ ..down by the zea zippin' zider

12-30-2006, 08:07 PM	#163
JayMcGee Cardigan-wearing man Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Much Binding In The Marsh Posts: 1,082	Well, tbh, I think that all'n'all this thread has shown that all UK residents are incapable of mis-prouncitation..... ( with the notable exception of those born in Essex)...... __________________ I like wearing cardigans...... my current favourite is an orange cable-knit with real leatherette buttons.

01-09-2007, 04:33 AM	#164
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	Not a mispro, but the American Dialect Society, which keeps an eye on the evolution of the language, voted the verb "to Pluto" as their je-ne-sais-quoi ineffable word of the year. It means to demote or devalue someone or something. It won out over such runners-up as "climate canary," an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon, and "murse" for a man's purse, and "flog" for a fake blog. "Macaca" gets a definition: an American citizen treated like an alien. __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course.

01-09-2007, 04:35 AM	#165
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	One word that I hear mispronounced on telly all the time is car-A-mel. So many shows of US origin have people prounouncing it as carmel. What happened to the A? __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

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