Mispronounced words that make me crazy

[edbutler3]

Your first instinct was correct:

A-toz with an A as in "hay" and a toz as in rhymes with "laws"

Really? That was my first impression too, but then it occurred to me that it was more likely intended as "A to Z". But now I guess not...

So it's the "Aytahz" emoticon, after all?

 

[Marlat]

No, but those are clearly the main dialects...

An English speaker from South Africa has a dialect more closely resembling someone from Australia.

If by "closely resembling" you mean "nothing alike". Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans have very distinct ways of pronouncing things. I would say that Australians and New Zealanders have a dialect that "closely resembles" each other, but South African? Very disctinct from either of those two with much more influence from the Dutch / German than either of Aus or NZ.

Like India, closer to Australia, sounds like British (former colony).

Both Australia and India were former British Colonys and India is roughly equidistant from Britain and the original populated part of Australia (ie East Coast).

 

[Stumbo]

Now if we just went to spelling everything phonetically, this thread would be gone.

Confusing the contraction of You are (You're) with possessive pronoun Your.

I'm going to you're house.

 

[lexxmexx]

How about pronouncing "th" like 'D'?

This > Dis
That > Dat
Three > Tree
Then > Den

the list goes on.........

 

[TheDarkReaver]

However it was officially listed as Aluminium due to either pressure from his pears or ignoring his wishes etc.

My god, the man must've been a bit nutty! I mean, fruit was talking to him!

 

[Jools4001]

Australians speak Ozzy

What? As in mumbling f***** swearwords in a Birmingham accent Sharon?

Most of the pronunciations and spelling mistakes that grate on me have already been explored except for Dart Calm, when you really mean Dot Com.

Another thing that I hate is people who insist on saying things like "I am liking that" instead of simply "I like that" - I blame Ronald McDonald, perhaps it's the early onset of CJD from eating too many mad cow burgers - "I'm loving it" - Oh, please!

And, at least here in the UK, many people now reply to a question or start a sentence with both yes and no! As in:

Q: "Nice weather we're having isn't it?"
A: "Yeah, no, it's really nice"

or

Q: "George Bush's pronunciation leaves a lot to be desired doesn't it?"
A: "No, yeah, you're right"

Gaaaaaaahhhhh - why do people do that?

And while we're talking about George Bush, if I didn't know better I would swear that he had declared "a war on tourism"

 

[Jared Lash]

And while we're talking about George Bush, if I didn't know better I would swear that he had declared "a war on tourism"

To me it always sounds like "war on tear" Or "war on tare" for those of you that love calibration.


Useless side comment: Here's how much of a science and music nerd I am. When I'd have to tare/adjust triple beam balances for my classroom, under my breath I'd always be mumbling (in my best Kool & the Gang), "Calibrate good times, come on. Let's all calibrate and have a good time."

 

[bobalew]

what about Houston?

is it Hue Ston or How Ston??

YEW-stin

"Ah et me sum fine hull-ah-PAIN-yos winst ahz in YEW-stin-ta-cious."

 

[Dan1099]

And while we're talking about George Bush, if I didn't know better I would swear that he had declared "a war on tourism"

We're fairly sure he did. The problem was, when he decided to strangle it out by destroying our economy. "Heh, if nobody can afford to go on vacation, there'll be none a'them tourists. Heh."

 

[Dan1099]

To me it always sounds like "war on tear" Or "war on tare" for those of you that love calibration.


Useless side comment: Here's how much of a science and music nerd I am. When I'd have to tare/adjust triple beam balances for my classroom, under my breath I'd always be mumbling (in my best Kool & the Gang), "Calibrate good times, come on. Let's all calibrate and have a good time."

I hate you. I calibrate things daily. It's a significant part of my job. For the rest of my life, I'll have this song in my head. I hate you so much.

 

[lowenduser]

How about pronouncing "th" like 'D'?

This > Dis
That > Dat
Three > Tree
Then > Den

the list goes on.........

You would HATE Ireland so! Apparently that's how American actors think that's the only aspect of the Irish accent though!

Incidentially, an example of different accents/dialects and proximity.... apart from the range in accents in Ireland, thae "standard" Irish one is completely different to it's nearest neighbours - the English, Scots and Welsh.

 

[Jared Lash]

I hate you. I calibrate things daily. It's a significant part of my job. For the rest of my life, I'll have this song in my head. I hate you so much.

 

[Rusty Chainsaw]

You would HATE Ireland so! Apparently that's how American actors think that's the only aspect of the Irish accent though!

Incidentially, an example of different accents/dialects and proximity.... apart from the range in accents in Ireland, thae "standard" Irish one is completely different to it's nearest neighbours - the English, Scots and Welsh.

Apparently, Britain has the greatest density of significantly different accents per square mile in the world. Go 100 miles in any direction from London, and people will have a totally different accent (Birmingham, Bristol, Wales, etc), and go 100 miles from any of those places, and it's totally different again (Manchester, Cornwall, Yorkshire), and all bets are off once you get further up north (Newcastle, Scotland).

I love the range of accents in Ireland, although the Cork and Kerry accents are rather severe and, for some reason, put me on edge every time I hear them! Also, for some reason, the Northern Ireland accent kinda grates on my ears...

 

[Mingo Sanders]

When I was young, my dad, he had went to work in a steel plant. He was so tired when he got home every night that he always had to lay down.

 

[andysick]

Back home on the east coast gyros are donairs, "Doh nairs"
Hadn't even heard the word gyro till i went to T.O, but the guys there were calling them "j eye rohs"....long I.

Anyway.......my additions

Chicago = Shikargo
Chimney = Chimley

 

[bassteban]

When I was young, my dad, he had went to work in a steel plant. He was so tired when he got home every night that he always had to lay down.

Yes- yes, of course.

 

[TheDarkReaver]

Chicago = Shikargo

well how is it meant to be pronounced...

by "shikargo" do you mean like Sheye-kar-go?

 

[andysick]

There is no "r" in Chicago

 

[Jools4001]

Apparently, Britain has the greatest density of significantly different accents per square mile in the world. Go 100 miles in any direction from London, and people will have a totally different accent (Birmingham, Bristol, Wales, etc), and go 100 miles from any of those places, and it's totally different again (Manchester, Cornwall, Yorkshire), and all bets are off once you get further up north (Newcastle, Scotland).

You're not wrong! You don't have to go 100 miles though, when I was a kid my parents moved to a new town just 10 miles away from where we lived before and I couldn't believe how different the accent was, I could barely understand people who spoke with the broadest accents.

It's levelling out now with the ease of travelling, after all the streets in the UK are no longer cobbled and you can be 100 miles away in less than 2 hours, so people mix more than they used to even 10 years ago, and TV has flattened out a lot of local dialects as well, but you can still hear different accents from 25 miles apart.

I used to go to the US a lot on business and once had trouble getting a glass of wine in Palo Alto. I asked for a glass of Merlot (pronounced Mer-loh) and the barman simply didn't know what I wanted even after 3 or 4 attempts, until a guy next to me at the bar said "I believe he wants a glass of Mu-loooow"

 

[TheDarkReaver]

There is no "r" in Chicago

Well no but in words like this there is sometimes an "r" sound, particualry in Southern England. Words like Bath, Grass and Path etc are pronounced Barth, Grarss and Parth.

If you pronounce Chicago with the 'A' sound it doesn't flow nearly as well.

Shi-kay-go?

Shi-kar-go?

Shi-kah-go?

Shi-kag-o

Invalid Link Removed

from "chicago tonight" they pronounce it Shi-kar-go too...but on another thing they say shi-kag-o...hmmm

The 'R' sound comes more naturally to me.