Words that people mispronounce!

is_that_so

walshb wrote: »

In the two words I used, it is not the accent, it is the misplacing of certain
letters or the inclusion of letters that do not belong. Accent is simply a
variation on how a word is pronounced.

Tremendous: the 'd' and th 'o' are replaced with a 'j' and a 'u'. Nothing to do with accent.
Modern: the ern is replaced with rin resulting in a mispronunciation.

The first is more of a learnt pronunciation and a mispronunciation at that.
The second one is more likely to be a localised pronunciation and down to accent. The speaker has not actually changed the core sound and all they are doing is pronouncing the final two consonants as separate sounds. To do that you need to add an extra vowel sound. In some Scottish variations,the rolling r also gives a variation on the sound. The Hiberno English version of the ending ern is also a variation on the British non-pronunciation of the r sound which would give us moden.

is_that_so

walshb wrote: »

Actually, it's A hotel!

Actually it's not. See my post above.

Spiritoftheseventies

is_that_so wrote: »

The first is more of a learnt pronunciation and a mispronunciation at that.
The second one is more likely to be a localised pronunciation and down to accent. The speaker has not actually changed the core sound and all they are doing is pronouncing the final two consonants as separate sounds. To do that you need to add an extra vowel sound. In some Scottish variations,the rolling r also gives a variation on the sound. The Hiberno English version of the ending ern is also a variation on the British non-pronunciation of the r sound which would give us moden.

No i think its just their accent. how they sound out the word. a classic example of mis pronunciation is people who say Definitely (middle part rhyming with rightly) and same with advertisement (again middle part of the word rrhyming with lies).

walshb

is_that_so wrote: »

Actually it's not. See my post above.

Well, the correct written way is A Hotel as far as I know and I would pronounce those two words as A Hotel and not An Hotel. Same with: An historic, should be A historic or a historic

http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html

walshb

bayviewclose wrote: »

No i think its just their accent. how they sound out the word. a classic example of mis pronunciation is people who say Definitely (middle part rhyming with rightly) and same with advertisement (again middle part of the word rrhyming with lies).

I remember someone saying that it is ad ver tis ment and not ad ver tise ment.

I thought, how silly. If we pronounce advertise and ad ver tise, then logically we should follow this and simply add the ment for ad ver tise ment

Spiritoftheseventies

walshb wrote: »

Well, the correct written way is A Hotel as far as I know and I would pronounce those two words as A Hotel and not An Hotel. Same with: An historic, should be A historic or a historic

http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html

i think its pronounced an historic but written as a historic.

walshb

bayviewclose wrote: »

i think its pronounced an historic but written as a historic.

Yes, by many, and many incorrectly. I have heard it being
pronounced correctly by those who know. I pronounce
it A hotel and A historic. The majority may do it
the incorrect way, doesn't make it correct!

The key to highlighting it is to say it with a little emphasis
on the word A or a; with a slight pause before the word hotel
and historic

is_that_so

walshb wrote: »

Well, the correct written way is A Hotel as far as I know and I would pronounce those two words as A Hotel and not An Hotel. Same with: An historic, should be A historic

http://www.betterwritingskills.com/tip-w005.html

Written yes, but both forms do exist in speech and both are still considered correct pronunciation. As a form the silent h was considered the correct way of saying it, although now somewhat archaic. If you want to look at usage the :The Collins Wordbanks Online English is a far better source. A search for historic shows the word an occurring a lot.

walshb

is_that_so wrote: »

Written yes but both forms do exist and both are still considered correct pronunciation. As a form the silent h was considered the correct way of saying it, although now somewhat archaic. All that links shows is the way to write it. There are distinct differences between the spoken word and the written word. If you are going to use liensk adn argue about usage then try a proper credible source :The Collins Wordbanks Online English. A search for historic shows the word an occurring a lot with your example.

Well, to me it's fairly black and white. The correct way to say and write the word is A or a and not An or an. Now, thru the years it may have changed and deviated, but the proper and original way is the way I listed

BTW, I wouldn't consider both forms a pronunciation issue. The two forms are completely
different with one containing an extra letter. So, a hotel is not a mispronunciation of
an hotel, or vice versa. They are two separate phrases.

is_that_so

walshb wrote: »

Well, to me it's fairly black and white. The correct way to say and write the word is A or a and not An or an. Now, thru the years it may have changed and deviated, but the proper and original way is the way I listed

Written as I've already posted, you are absolutely correct with hotel however with spoken word I am afraid you are not. Even in your link both forms of historic are considered correct although my own feeling is that BE still prefers an historic.

walshb

Well, if the written form is as I say, then it should also be said like this.
I see it written incorrectly all the time and this is why these
words and phrases become part of the language. It never
makes them correct though.

It's similar to names. Many folks names are often
misspelled and because of this, the misspelled name
becomes 'legitimate' and accepted over time and a name
that was once Kavanagh, for example, eventually
becomes Cavanagh.

Same with my surname, Walsh. The Walshe is a misspelling
of the original and correct name, Walsh. It was altered and changed
thru the years and it became for some, the 'correct' name.

siobhan.murphy

fabalas instead of fabulous

walshb

siobhan.murphy wrote: »

fabalas instead of fabulous

Gotta' love that one; it's a real Dublinese word.

Spiritoftheseventies

walshb wrote: »

Gotta' love that one; it's a real Dublinese word.

definITEly

walshb

bayviewclose wrote: »

definITEly

The word definitely should phonetically be pronounced deaf i nite lee
It's a strange one and one I wouldn't accuse of a mispronunciation.
Annoying? Maybe!

So, the 'correct' way is deaf i nit lee, but this leaves out the 'e'.

I guess it's a silent 'e'.

Spiritoftheseventies

walshb wrote: »

The word definitely should phonetically be pronounced deaf i nite lee
It's a strange one and one I wouldn't accuse of a mispronunciation.
Annoying? Maybe!

So, the 'correct' way is deaf i nit lee, but this leaves out the 'e'.

I guess it's a silent 'e'.

yes but some dubs pronounce it with the e left in. hence def-in-ite-lee

Aard

Too many people here are mixing up spelling and pronunciation.

EdgarAllenPoo

When people say ex-specially instead of especially it really grinds my gears.

Spiritoftheseventies

Aard wrote: »

Too many people here are mixing up spelling and pronunciation.

see previous posts for explanation

walshb

Aard wrote: »

Too many people here are mixing up spelling and pronunciation.

I don' think it's very clear cut. Spelling and accents and mispronunciation
are all part of the reasons for the variations of a world pronunciation.
So, maybe the title should be variations of pronunciations?

walshb

bayviewclose wrote: »

yes but some dubs pronounce it with the e left in. hence def-in-ite-lee

I do, but I am aware of it and also pronounce it the other
way. It depends on my mood!

Aard

bayviewclose wrote: »

yes but some dubs pronounce it with the e left in. hence def-in-ite-lee

"Defi-night-ly" is what's called a hypercorrection. People see the "nite" part and assume its analogous to other "ite" words, such as "mite", "trite", "excite", and pronounce it so. It's a mispronunciation. It has nothing to do with accent or spelling. The closest word to describe it would be part of a sociolect.

Penn

Don't know if this counts or has been said before but I'd like to take this chance to remind everyone that irregardless is not a word. The word is regardless.

Spiritoftheseventies

paddyirishman85 wrote: »

Don't know if this counts or has been said before but I'd like to take this chance to remind everyone that irregardless is not a word. The word is regardless.

for further explanation see
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/irregardless.html

is_that_so

walshb wrote: »

I remember someone saying that it is ad ver tis ment and not ad ver tise ment.

I thought, how silly. If we pronounce advertise and ad ver tise, then logically we should follow this and simply add the ment for ad ver tise ment

Advertisement is the older word and probably French in origin.

Aard wrote: »

"Defi-night-ly" is what's called a hypercorrection. People see the "nite" part and assume its analogous to other "ite" words, such as "mite", "trite", "excite", and pronounce it so. It's a mispronunciation. It has nothing to do with accent or spelling. The closest word to describe it would be part of a sociolect.

It's also a form of overlearning as well where assumptions are made about perceived rules. In the examples here the ite is the stressed part of the word and would be expected to have the longer English ai sound.

datk

Archie tec - Architect
PuRRshow - Peugeot
Turty Tree

I hate when radio news readers who say 20 grand was taken - rather than 20 thousand.

irish_goat

Dunno if it's been said but RTE news people always pronounce "finance" as "fin-ance" instead of "fi-nance" like most people and it does my head in.

walshb

And the latest craze is the snobby iss u instead of ishoe, for the word issue

is_that_so

irish_goat wrote: »

Dunno if it's been said but RTE news people always pronounce "finance" as "fin-ance" instead of "fi-nance" like most people and it does my head in.

Both forms are perfectly acceptable. With the likes of RTE, although the BBC are far better at it, they tend to have defined or approved ways of saying things.
Like the discussion on spelling earlier some spoken forms have survived in more than one version. Some of that can be attributed to our American cousins but some exist in our variety anyway.

Spiritoftheseventies

is_that_so wrote: »

Both forms are perfectly acceptable. With the likes of RTE, although the BBC are far better at it, they tend to have defined or approved ways of saying things.
Like the discussion on spelling earlier some spoken forms have survived in more than one version. Some of that can be attributed to our American cousins but some exist in our variety anyway.

Im guessing RTE would be up on pronunciations but they are very liberal on the accents there.

Aodan83

Was talking to a guy today who pronounced subtract as "sup-ract". Did my head in.

honeymonster

every Italian I have met who is learning english can not say the word sheet correctly, they say something else....

Spiritoftheseventies

honeymonster wrote: »

every Italian I have met who is learning english can not say the word sheet correctly, they say something else....

now we are entering interesting territory. Can he pronounce the word Banker?

dancingqueen

Preformance instead of performance. There's one that gets my blood boiling! Also my Gran says hundert for hundred, and childer for children

I'm a culchie and get slagged for saying haarse..... (horse)

Aard

dancingqueen wrote: »

Also my Gran says hundert for hundred, and childer for children

Mine says "millins" and "hollycopters". It must be a granny thing.

walshb

This is strictly for Dubs me thinks, but air instead of our, as in, "Air jobs," or "Air livelihoods."

Also, another Dub one is ren instead of ran, as in, "I ren to the shops."

walshb

This is probably not a pronunciation issue, as more a variation issue.

The two most famous ones are Threwn and Cetch for Threw and Catch.
Hilarious.

Alun

Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge has just asked the teams if they could remember the "pneumonic" for the counties of Northern Ireland (FAT LAD). Grrrr. (He can't pronounce German words to save his life either, peasant!)

Aard

Alun wrote: »

Jeremy Paxman on University Challenge has just asked the teams if they could remember the "pneumonic" for the counties of Northern Ireland (FAT LAD). Grrrr. (He can't pronounce German words to save his life either, peasant!)

Cue people arguing about Derry/Londonderry.

walshb

Aard wrote: »

Cue people arguing about Derry/Londonderry.

Thanks, for the life of me I couldn't think of the 'L'
Twats!

Alun

Aard wrote: »

Cue people arguing about Derry/Londonderry.

He did give the alternative of FAT DAD as well

Spiritoftheseventies

Alun wrote: »

He did give the alternative of FAT DAD as well

back on to the subject in hand "I seen him" or "he done that". Bad grammar I know but lets open it up a bit.

Sleipnir

Alun wrote: »

He can't pronounce German words to save his life either, peasant!

Well, I think some allowances could be made. For example, Jeremy Paxman not being German is hardly his fault.

Spiritoftheseventies

Alun wrote: »

He did give the alternative of FAT DAD as well

who calls it Londonderry now. thought we were done with all that nonsense.

CUCINA

When Scotland last qualified for the World Cup, you might have overheard a couple of old timers talking about it in a Dublin pub, "Oy see the Scotch have qualified for the Wurldled's Cup!"

Spiritoftheseventies

CUCINA wrote: »

When Scotland last qualified for the World Cup, you might have overheard a couple of old timers talking about it in a Dublin pub, "Oy see the Scotch have qualified for the Wurldled's Cup!"

???

bayviewclose

bayviewclose wrote: »

who calls it Londonderry now. thought we were done with all that nonsense.

About 98% of the UK population

Spiritoftheseventies

Deleted User wrote: »

About 98% of the UK population

yes thats another minefield and we wont go there. but drove through North during marching season last year. must be tough for our northern cousins sometimes.

walshb

I always found it odd how someone could score a goald in football:P

bernardo mac

Pretentious types often flaunt their seeming knowledge with Genre..with emphasis on "re" bit.:D:rolleyes: