Yup. Me too. Along with "Nukular" instead of nuclear and "Am-buh-lance" instead of ambulance Actually, that's the correct pronunciation
How about pronouncing the days of the week Mon-DEE, Tues-DEE, etc. I about flipped my wig when I heard Roger Clemens say Tues-DEE when they were interviewing him after a game a while back.... Completely tripped me up. I'd expect it from Oswalt, but not from Clemens.
in austin there's a pub called the Draught House. i actually know people who say "drought house" (as if it hadn't rained there for months -- which, actually, it hadn't, but that's beside the point.) that drives me CRAZY! come on, people...how do you pronounce "laugh?" what do you call beer that comes from a tap? that's right, "draft." ugh...
My mom does that. It drives me nuts. Some others that people are guilty of: "liberry" for library "pitcher" for picture "crick" for creek and pronouncing "measure" like "MAY-sure". I notice it when someone has to use that word a lot, like a geometry teacher or an orchestra conductor. I wonder what kind of accent that is - Midwestern?
I think a lot of it is a Texas thing. con-ti-nen-tal con-de-nen-nal I just know that when I start drinking, my southern dra-awl gets re-al thick and heavy. I laugh at myself when I do it.
My mother pronounces wash or anything containing that word such as washing or Washington with a "ar" sound at the beginning so it sound like "warshing the clothes" or "over on Warshington Avenue." Drives me crazy...
I think the whole discussion here is not PRONOUNCIATION, but emPHAsis on a certain SYL-la-ble, not syl-LA-ble. Truer words have not been [posted]. English words such as "dessert" and "dessert" depend on context. But accent and pronounciation is also dictated by regional accent, just like Ruby said. In Spanish, there are only 4 rules of pronounciation: 1. If the word ends with a vowel or an "s" or an "n", the EMPHASIS goes on the second-to-the-last syllable. examples: PEH-roh = pero = but, NA-da = nada = nothing, "su CAsa es mi CAsa" 2. If the word ends with a consonant other than "s" or "n", the EMPHASIS goes on the last syllable. examples: all the "-er -ar -ir" verbs, pa-PEL = papel = paper 3. If the word is spelled exactly like another word, one of those words has to have an accent somewhere, or follow the rules above. examples: sí = yes, si = if, como = I eat, cómo = how 4. If the word doesn't follow any of the rules above, it must contain an accent or a diphthong, AND you will have to learn its pronounciation and the place . examples: árbol = tree, teléfono = telephone, día = day, diéresis = dieresisI don't pronounce anything with an ALTERNATE pronounciation. The way it is in Webster's dictionary is how I pronounce it, unless there are several if not two pronounciations, then I pick one. I made fun of George Bush once saying "Missourah" instead of how I was used to hearing it pronounced, and I felt sheepish looking it up in Webster and seeing that "Missoureh" is also accepted. I guess it goes with where you learned it. We don't have that problem in properly-spoken Spanish. It's either one way or the other. Even if you're educated or not. My uncle pronounces "Tuesday" as "tee-oos-dey", while everyone else in the family says "toos-day". How's that for different? tim, is your mom Mexican, like me? And, please, people... if you're going to illustrate pronounciation, emphasize SOME syllable, at least... with bold or CAPS, or something... how are we supposed to know what you mean?
I do that with "the," "either," and "neither." Not so much that it's random when I get to the word, but that the way I pronounce those depends on the words that come before and after. I'm not sure what the rules are that govern it, but they're there. I remember when HARRISment became a thing. It was harASSment to everyone I knew ever until the Clinton thing. Even in the early days of reporting it, they were saying harASSment on the radio. Then the Cabal decided that HARRISment should be invented and everyone would insist that it was the proper pronunciation and that anyone who said harASSment was a yokel ignoramus bereft of any proper education. Among Katrina's long-lasting after-effects is having to listen to the news people try to say New Orleans. The locals all say Na-Ohlins, but the newsfolk all feel compelled to pronounce every last vowel. At least say New Orleenz. Do they also say di-a-mond when the subject comes up?
think about this.. Pear = Bear = Fear?!?! Shouldn't it be Fey-er? or should it be Peer and Beer.. Zebra... is it supposed to be Zeh-bruh? English is my first language, with Spanish coming second.. Nowdays I have no clue how to pronounce new English words I've never heard before since the pronounciation rules seem to come from what's popular rather than actual rules. Luckily in Houston I can just pronounce it in spanish and get away with it LOL
Growing up in Alabama, I have a few of my own. I pronounce "pen" like "pin" I pronounce coupon as "q-pawn" as opposed to "coo-pawn" We southerners get a lil' riled up when Northerners butcher Atlanta. They try to over pronounce it as At-lant-ta. When it's just supposed to roll of your tongue with soft t's. It's hard to write out the pronunciation, but it'd be something like atlannta. Soft t's, hard to explain...
This is one that drives me nuts when my mother says it- mostly because she would tell me to be it when I was a teenager: Mature She would pronounce it 'Mah-tOOre' with the emphasis on the U. Drove me nuts. Most people pronounce it 'Ma-chure'. Say it to yourself and you will know what I am talking about.
