25 Words You're Probably Pronouncing All Wrong | Slideshow

Pronunciation varies widely in American English, and you might be surprised to hear that the dictionary offers more than one correct way to say ... Skiptomaincontent Menu Search 25WordsYou’reProbablyPronouncingAllWrong Home Home 25WordsYou’reProbablyPronouncingAllWrong April8,2019 By HollyVanHare istockphoto.com 25WordsYou’reProbablyPronouncingAllWrongistockphoto.comYoumightbegoingintothisthinkingthere’snowayyou’llbefooledbythewordsonthislist.You’reapronunciationpro!Youknow“nuclear”isn’tpronouncedhowGeorgeW.Bushsaiditin2001.Youknowthere’sno“x”in“espresso.”Andyouknowyoucansay“either”eitherwayandit’dstillbecorrect.Butbidyourconfidencegoodbye,becausethewordsonthislistmighthaveyoueatingyourwords.PronunciationvarieswidelyinAmericanEnglish,andyoumightbesurprisedtohearthatthedictionaryoffersmorethanonecorrectwaytosaysomeofyourfavoritewords.Ofcourse,therearereasonswhycertainpronunciationsmightbepreferredoverothers—sometimesbecausetheywillbemorereadilyunderstood,sometimesbecausetheybetterfollowthespellingoftheword,andsometimesbecausetheybetterreflecttheword’shistoryoritslanguageoforigin.Allthisvariationmeansthat,nomatterhowmuchyouthinkyouknow,someonesomewherethinksyou’resayingthesewordsallwrong. Asteriskistockphoto.comThereisnoasteriskattheendofthisrule,andthereisnoXattheendof“asterisk.”YoushouldendyourpronunciationofthiswordontheK,likeintheword“risk.”K? Bruschettaistockphoto.comAmericanscan’tmakebruschettaasgoodasItalianscan,andtheycan’tpronouncethewordforitaswell,either.Ifyouwanttosoundauthentic,“bruschetta”ispronounced“broo-sket-ah.”PreferablywitharolledRanda“buonappetito!”tofollow. Celticistockphoto.comYoucanblamesportsforthisoneifyouwant.TheBostonCelticspronounceCelticsas“sell-ticks,”butIrishmenwouldthinkyouweretryingtopawnoffparasites.WhilethispronunciationisconsideredacceptableinU.S.English,thepreferredwaytosaythisethnonymis“kell-tick.” Clothesistockphoto.comThe“th”doesn’thavetobesilent!Stopbeinglazyandpronouncethisword“clothes,”not“close,”andtherewon’tbeasmuchconfusion.Caseclothesed. Comfortableistockphoto.comItmightfeelmorecomfortabletopronouncethisword“cumf-ter-bull,”butwhynotletyourselfrelaxalittlebitandjustsinkintoeachletterandsyllableoftheword?Trypronouncingit“come-fer-tuh-bull.”It’stoughtosayatfirst,butgiveitalittlepracticeandit’llfeelcozyinnotime. Crêpeistockphoto.comYouprobablypronouncethisdelectableFrenchtreatas“crayp,”butthestreetfoodactuallygoesbyanothername.ThewordandthefoodarebothFrench—andso,asanyFrenchmanwillsneeratyou,it’sbettertopronounceit“crep.”TheEsoundsasflatasthepancakesthemselves. Electoralistockphoto.comThisone’sdivisive,andit’sallintheemphasis.Mostpeoplesaythisword“ee-lek-tor-al.”Emphasisonthe“tor.”Butthat’sactuallyincorrect.Thepreferredpronunciationis“ee-lek-tor-al.”Butifthatsoundstooawkwardtoyou,youcanelecttosayithoweveryouwant,becausebothpronunciationsaresowidespreadthatfewpeoplewillevennotice. Erristockphoto.comErronthesideofcautionwhentryingtopronouncethisword.Thevastmajorityofpeoplesayitsuchthatitrhymeswith“hair”—inotherwords,exactlylike“air.”Butsomeonewhopronouncesit“ur”(sothatitrhymeswith“her”)hasnoterred.Thistooisanacceptablepronunciation. Forteistockphoto.comSpeakingEnglishisreallynotyourforte,huh?Theterm“forte”inmusicispronounced“four-tay”becauseit’sfromItalian,butinthephraseabove,itshouldtechnicallyjustbepronounced“fort.”That’sbecausethissenseofthewordcomesfromafencingtermforthesturdiestpartofasword,andourlanguageborrowedthewordfromMiddleFrench.BothsensesareultimatelybasedonaLatinwordthatmeans“strong,”sowhetherit’syourforteoryourfort,you’llprobablycomeofflookingprettycapable. Hummusistockphoto.comPreparetobeannoyed.Likemanyofthegreatestfooddebatesofourgeneration,thepronunciationof“hummus”neverfailstorufflefeathers.That’sbecausethisdeliciousMediterraneandipmadeofchickpeas,oil,tahini,andspicesisapopularfoodinsuchawiderangeofcountriesthattheexactpronunciationvariesbasedonlanguageanddialect.Youmaybesurprisedtolearnthatmanypronounceitmorelike“hoo-mus”—oftenwithathroatyHsoundatthebeginning—ratherthat“hum-us,”whichisthemostcommonwaytosayitintheUS.Takeyourtimedigestingthat. Larvaeistockphoto.comYoumightpronouncethis“lar-vay.”Howyouthinkofthewordforbabybugsprobablydependsonthewayyourscienceteachersaidit,buttheonlytwopronunciationslistedbyMerriam-Websterare“lar-vee”and“larv-eye.” Liableistockphoto.comIfyou’reskippingtheAin“liable,”you’reliabletobecorrected.SkippingtheAmakesitsoundexactlylike“libel,”whichisadifferentwordwithadifferentmeaning.Thinkabouthowyousay“liability,”whichyou’dcorrectlypronounceasthoughitmeant“theabilitytolie.” Mauveistockphoto.comYourpronunciationofmauvemaybealittleoff-color.BecausethewordcomesfromFrench,youcangetawaywithswitchingoutthemorecommon“mawve”forthefancy,continental-sounding“mohve,”whichrhymeswithtrove.Ordrove,grove,orstove. Mischievousistockphoto.comThere’snosneakingaroundthisone.TheIisbeforetheV,notafter.Itjustmakesmoresensetopronounceithowit’sspelled—“mis-cheh-vus,”not“mis-chee-vee-us.” Oftenistockphoto.comYou’lloftenrunintofolkswhopronouncethis“off-ten,”butyou’llalsooftenhear“off-en,”whichisn’tjustalazybyproductofsayingthiswordtoooften.TheTisactuallymoreoftensilent,accordingtoMerriam-Webster. Prescriptionistockphoto.comPrescribeyourselfapronunciationlesson,becauseitmighthelpyoutobetterunderstandthisword.Whilemostpeoplepronounceprescriptionas“pur-scrip-shun,”thecorrectpronunciationis“pre-scrip-shun.”The“pre”and“script”areactuallycluestotheword’smeaning—youprobablycan’tpickupyourprescriptionifyourdoctordidn’twriteitfirst. Pronunciationistockphoto.comOh,theirony!Yourpronunciationof“pronunciation”isallkindsofmessedup.Youpronouncepronunciation“pro-nun-see-ay-shun,”not“pro-now-n-see-ay-shun.” Quasiistockphoto.comYou’reprobablypronouncingthisquasi-correctly,becauseaswithmanywordsthatoriginallycomefromLatin,thepronunciationinEnglishcanbealloverthemap.Pronunciationslistedinthedictionaryinclude“kwayz-eye,”“kwa-zee”andseeminglyeverythingothervariationbetween. Reconditeistockphoto.comReconditeactuallyhasquitethereconditepronunciation.Recondite,whichmeans“difficultforsomeoneofordinaryunderstandingorknowledgetocomprehend,”ispronouncedeither“rek-un-dyte”or“ri-kon-dyte.” Seussistockphoto.comLet’sletthewordsofTheodoreGeisel’sfriendAlexanderLaingexplainthisone:“You’rewrongasthedeuce/Andyoushouldn’trejoice/Ifyou’recallinghimSeuss/HepronouncesitSoice.”Seusswasactuallythefamousauthor’smiddlenameandhismother’smaidenname,andthefamilypronounceditjustasLaing’spoemdescribes.Professionallyspeaking,however,Dr.Seusswasfullycomfortablewiththefactthatpeoplethoughthisnomdeplumerhymedwith“MotherGoose.” Sherbetistockphoto.comNo,thiswordisnotspelled“sure,Bert.”Mostpeoplepronounceitthatway,though,andthere’snoreasonweshouldbemistreatingthissweettreat.“Sherbet”ispronounced“shur-bit.”Not“shur-bay.”“Shur-bit.”Likethenonsensicalphrase“surebit,”itrhymeswith“curbit.” Sphericalistockphoto.comPreparetohaveyourmindblown.“Spherical”doesn’thavetosoundlike“sphere”atthebeginning.Alesscommonbutalsoacceptablepronunciationis“sfer-i-kuhl.” Supposedlyistockphoto.comSupposedlytherearepeoplewhopronounce“supposedly”as“supposably”—whichisactuallyatotallydifferentword.It’ssupposablethatthey’reusing“supposably”initscorrectcontext,inwhichitisasynonymof“conceivably.”Butthey’reprobablynot. Victualsistockphoto.comYoumightthinkthisoldwordispronounced“vikt-chew-uhlz,”butyou’dbewrong.Meaning“suppliesoffood,”victualsispronounced“vit-uhlz”—justasinthesynonymousword“vittles.”Victuals,whichcouldincludeanythingfromdozensofeggstobasketsofbread,rhymeswithriddles. Zoologyistockphoto.comBasedonthespelling,youmightthinkit’spronounced“zoo-loh-gee,andbasedonthefactthatweallknowthatwecanstudyanimalsinazoo,youmightthinkit’s“zoo-ah-loh-gee.”Butthepreferredpronunciationis“zoh-ah-loh-gee”becauseoftheGreekrootsthewordisbuiltfrom.Anotherwildwordfact:Oologyisalsofoursyllableword—“oh-ah-loh-gee”—anditreferstothestudyofbirds.Nowstudythesebabybirdiesandenjoythequasi-cutephotosofthem!MorefromTheActiveTimes:22PhrasesEveryoneUsesWrongTheWeirdestSlangTermsFromAroundtheWorldTheCoolest,OddestandFunniestBabyNamesFromaCenturyAgoTheOddestNamedTowninEveryState35WordsWeDon’tHaveintheEnglishLanguage(butNeed)