Mispronounced words

[PuffPuffSea]

I have embarrassingly only just realised that "ballache" isn't pronounced ballash... obviously I know the word ballache but I'd always pictured it in my mind as two words or at least hyphenated.

Are there any words that you mispronounce due to only having seen it written down and not said aloud?

I always thought albeit was pronounced all-bite...felt like a right knob when I was informed it's all-be-it 🤦‍♀️

Hyperbole and segue were my two, I was mid thirties before I ever had occasion to speak them out loud. And got them wrong.

If I can divert into words that I "amusingly" pronounce wrongly intentionally, there's Penelope to rhyme with antelope. Sorry BFF.

"Disorientated" really irks me, because it's so widespread. It's "disoriented", people!

Dictionary would disagree with you there, Red - disorientated is the British English version, disoriented is the US version. Both correct.

www.google.ca/amp/s/www.collinsdictionary.com/amp/english/disorientated

A tangent, but that should you do when you hear someone else mispronounce? Should you take them to one side and tell them, or does it depend on your relationship?

Personally, I don't mention it with collegues because I don't think there's any way of correcting someone without potentially offending them and sod's law means I might be pronouncing the word wrong too. But that does risk that they go ahead and mispronounce in formal situations, where they would probably prefer to be correct.

Harem

Oh sorry I used to say "plah sate" instead of plack Cate! Still confused!

Red you're wrong. Disorientate is right.

I said recidivism yesterday and my partner asked me to repeat it as he's only ever seen it written down before. Yes, our conversations are scintillating.

@brizzledrizzle yes it is! Segue is pronounced Segway.

I remember being loudly when I was telling someone at guides about this book I had read about ProTESTants and Catholics. They were quite disgusted that I didn't know the right pronunciation (thanks, peers).

And in primary school I called Matron in Mallory Towers Mat-ron instead of May-tron (hard a). The listener's mum was a nurse and clearly thought I was too stupid to bother with.

Loudly corrected that is.

@wingbing Segue is pronounced Segway

Well that's something i got wrong for the last 54 years then

I learnt it from a book....

When I was young enough to be enjoying the Flower Fairies books, my favourite was the Fuck-seeyah Fairy. It was some time before anyone told me, 'Er, we don't say it like that, dear, it's Fyousha.' (fuchsia)

My brother had some good ones. A voracious reader very early, he often came across words he'd never heard spoken. 'I know it was you, so you needn't denny it!'
And we still say Gribble-ayter (as in Rock Of).

"
Yesterday 23:28 Silkei

Thirty years ago a teacher told me I was wrong for pronouncing Pasty as Pay-stee. It referred to the food item, a Pah-stee. But pasty and pasty are spelled the same so I don’t see how I was wrong? Pasty can indeed be correctly pronounced Pay-stee. Still bugs me, I never forgot it."
I don't understand this. Pasty is pass-tee. Pay-stee sounds like pastry but it's not correct is it?

Love the monogomy wood and I think I also enjoyed reading about the fuck-see-ya flower fairy :)

Infinitesimally. I didn't realise it was infiniTESimally until I heard Brian Cox say it on TV. I thought it was infinite-simally. There's been a few others over the years. I've never quite got over the embarrassment of reading fatigue as fati-gew when we were doing group reading aloud at school

I've been getting a few on this thread wrong til now, too

I suspect the people who have never got something wrong just don't use big words :o

StealthPolarBear I think the poster meant that you can pronounce it pay-stee as well as pass-tee as in the word to mean the pallor and texture of someone's face like in pasty faced.

I heard a newsreader say 'ant-ar-tic' yesterday. In a piece about polar exploration, they really should have known better.

I have a friend who catches trains from St Pancreas.

I don't understand this. Pasty is pass-tee. Pay-stee sounds like pastry but it's not correct is it?

Pasty also means “you look pasty” ie pale. Or the consistency is pasty (like paste). Both of those are pronounced pay-stee. The alternative pronunciation pass-tee only refers to the food item. If you see the word written it could be pronounced either pay-stee or pass-tee. Stupid teacher gave me 9/10 for spelling because she refused to accept that pay-stee was a valid pronunciation for the word.

I say Ad-ver-TISE-ment whereas dp informs me it’s ad-vertis-ment.

I also say invenTORY and he says it’s invenTRY.

Not really a mispronunciation, but my sisters step-daughter is called Caoimhe, and I know how to say it, but I read it in my head phonetically.

Oh no, I say play-sate as well! Is that wrong?

Someone told me I was wrong to say bal-ay-aage the other day, and it was Bale-age like hay bales. They actually took the piss out of me quite a bit for it too, until I did the YouTube pronunciation thing! Ha!

Also, my mum says certifi-kit and choc-lit. Me-chelle instead of Michelle.