this has been bugging me since I was 7, I'm now 34 so I thought it would be a good time to ask

[sausagesandwich34]

extraordinary

is it really pronounced extra-ordinary???

surely that changes the whole meaning of the word

is it ex-trord-an-ry?

I had to say it in a school play when I was 7 and the teacher inisted it was extra-ordinary

just doesn't sound right to me

[MooncupGoddess]

Well - it means 'beyond the ordinary', but you're right, no one (except a few old school types) pronounces every syllable any more. Occasionally in a period drama one hears 'Ex-tra-ord-in-ary!' in a shocked cut-glass accent and it always cheers me up.

[sausagesandwich34]

she pronounced it extra-ordinary, and even at 7 I thought 'well that means it's even more ordinary'???

strange woman

but she's not the only one I've heard say it like that

[YDdraigGoch]

Extra-ordinary is technically correct. But most people would say extrodnary.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Trust one of the Cymry to come out in favour of a phonetic spelling

[YDdraigGoch]

Cymru. Not Cymry

[CaseyShraeger]

As TravelinColour says, 'extra' means 'outside' or 'beyond' - think of extra-vehicular activity done by astronauts (i.e. spacewalks).

I'd generally say "extrordinary" unless I were enunciating particularly clearly for dramatic effect or otherwise, though. Mr Tickle always has extraORdinarily long arms.

[ProcrastinatingPanda]

:o I can imagine a tiny 7yr old sausagesandwich frustratingly pondering this question.

[peeohayess]

Mr Tickle's extraordinarily long arms freak me the hell out. Sorry, OP, just had to hop in and mention that.

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Nope - Cymry as in one of the Welsh people, not Cymru as in the country.

Pedant yn Gymraeg fi, hefyd

[gymboywalton]

www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=extraordainry&submit=Submit

[gymboywalton]

like this

[Monty27]

Can't you just say 'amazing' instead?

Seriously, it's prounced eggstroydinary

Yes? depending where you're from clearly

[AitchTwoOhOneTwo]

i deffo say extraordinary. extrordinary sounds a bit nothingy.

[badtime]

I pronounce the 'a' sort of as a schwa rather than any sort of recognisable 'a', but I definitely pronounce it. Hearing people say 'extrordinary' (or, more precisely, 'extrawdinry') makes me feel slightly uncomfortable.

[MirandaGoshawk]

OP, I feel your pain (that is, the pain of your 7-yr old self) and I think you're right. Extrordinry. Teachers - pah!

I had a biology teacher who drawled on about the urilay system, at least that's what I wrote in my notes, because that's how it sounded when he said it. (Urinary - and no, I didn't get the GCSE)

[nickelbabeuntiladvent]

i pronounce it
extrordinary.

"extra" is latin for "outside"

so extraordinary means "outside of ordinary"

[neveradullmomentinparadise]

I must share this story re: the meaning of extraordinary. A few years ago 9 yr old DD proudly produces a scrapbook she'd been making in her bedroom....about "Extra-ordinary Trees". (Regretfully I can't remember WHY she was doing this). Anyway, there were pages titled "Ordinary Trees", with pictures below..followed by pages titles "Extra-Ordinary Trees", with pictures. The Extra-Ordinary Trees were captioned "Those other trees were quite ordinary, but these are even more ordinary". Makes me smile to myself even now

[CatchingMockingbirds]

Aw that really sweet never :o