Words you feel silly saying properly

[bridgy]

Ordering a Grande latte at Starbucks I never know whether to pronounce it "granday", "gronday", or just "grand" - why can't it just be called a "large" - or more accurately actually a medium?!!

My Mum pronounces avacado "advacado" for some reason, and she once pronounced Mange Touts (as in the green beans) "mangy towts" - she's stopped doing that since I wet myself laughing!

 

[Rhythm Thief]

"Mange Tout, Brute", as my brother is fond of saying. For some reason.

 

[mickle]

I spent a long time trying to convince an Amercan that the correct pronounciation is Wooster sauce not War-chest-err-shire-sauce

 

[mickle]

Did anyone mention 'awry' yet?

 

[NigC]

My wife is from Hong Kong, so has a few quirks. The best one being for peanut butter: peanus butter - say it out loud and watch the reaction of those around you

 

[rh100]

in McDonalds - Fill- itt of fish or fillay of fish - I have to try not to laugh at the sound of them pronouncing it, even though I'm not sure which is correct.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

In France garlic is called aix and I'm not sure even the french know how to say it.

 

[ChrisKH]

Maori always gets me. It should be Maa owri (I suppose) but I always try and say Ma-ori.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Vincent Van Gogh is usually good for a laugh. He lived in England for a bit - I wonder how he told them to pronounce his name?

Vince?

 

[Will1985]

And that big race in Italy at the moment is pronounced jeer-oh (well, simplified for English purposes).

What kind of person would to watch an unemployment cheque?

 

[swee'pea99]

There are a number of American pronunciations that anger me (well, there are a number of things about Americans in general that anger me! But we won't go there ...).

For example:
"Note-re Day-m" for Notre Dame
"Van Go" for Van Gogh.
"Eye-Rack" for Iraq
"Vee-Hicle" for Vehicle.
etc ...

Yet you insist on the (American) "c'ntro-ve-si", as against the (English) "contra-versy". Hmmm.

One that gets me is Ree-search (Yank). English is a short 're', as in 'return'.

 

[goo_mason]

Still love the pronuciation "Vee-hick-el" in the US!

 

[mickle]

[quote name='swee'pea99']Yet you insist on the (American) "c'ntro-ve-si", as against the (English) "contra-versy". Hmmm.

One that gets me is Ree-search (Yank). English is a short 're', as in 'return'.[/QUOTE]
We shouldn't complain too loudly. It has been suggested by higher authorities than us that Amerca as it is spoke today is closer to Olde Englishe than we'd like to think. English English has evolved faster than Amercan English. English words, pronounciations and phrases which we long ago abandoned are still in every day use the US. Which means that the citizens of those United States are, in effect, the guardians of our cultural heritage.

 

[TheDoctor]

We shouldn't complain too loudly. It has been suggested by higher authorities than us that Amerca as it is spoke today is closer to Olde Englishe than we'd like to think. English English has evolved faster than Amercan English. English words, pronounciations and phrases which we long ago abandoned are still in every day use the US. Which means that the citizens of those United States are, in effect, the guardians of our cultural heritage.

Kill me. Kill me now.

A particular bugbear of mine is latte - the milky coffee drink. The first syllable rhymes with 'Hat', not with 'car'.
It is not a larrr-tay.

 

[fimm]

Espresso not "expresso".

My boyfriend for some reason always pronounces Barcelona with the c sounding like a th, "Bar-the-lona". Now I think this is the correct way to say it if you are Spanish but I don't know why he does it in English. The weird thing is that I'm picking up the habit from him...