Pronunciations you had wrong!

[WeirdArchitecture]

I am ashamed to admit that I previously struggled with 'froth' and actually pronounced it 'throff' .....there needs to be an eccentricity emoticon, I'm not that daft, I promise!

I also know someone who until her late 40's struggled with 'canopy' and pronounced it 'canape'.

DP was convinced that Moët was 'moway' as opposed to 'mwett/mowet'.

I had also previously pronounced the composer Saint-Saëns as 'san sayens' as opposed to the correct 'sahn sonz'...or something.

Anyone have any amusing ones to share?

In Scotland Carl is often carol drives me mad for some weird reason. I have a friend Eilidh another friend called her eye lid.
I said nuclear wrong too, although def no ‘uh’ sound think that’s an accent thing.
Also we have a Touch road - pronounced tooch rather that took but I think that is a Scottish ‘ch’ as my step dad is English and loch is lock touch would be took it’s just his accent. My mum is English and my Scottish accent is peppered with unusual pronunciations from friends my boyfriend sometimes points them out.

It’s more songs I get mixed up. I was talking about bananaRama recently and I said I always thought the line in love in the first degree was guilty as a coco bean, clearly is is guilty as a girl can be but I have terrible hearing so it stuck, there are many many similar examples of my getting it wrong though it’s funny.

In Scotland Carl is often carol drives me mad for some weird reason
In the walking dead Carl and Carol are completely the same word. Used to drive me mad too

I have a friend Eilidh another friend called her eye lid
I too have a friend called eilidh and she told me to say eelish but I think that's not right either.
I said nuclear wrong too, although def no ‘uh’ sound think that’s an accent thing

I dont think its accents so much as mauling the word.
It's supposed to be new clear
But many people say new cu lar

@JellyfishandShells

My husband pronounces aficionado with a hard k sound in the middle ( it’s a soft sh)

This was one I had wrong as a child. I said Afia Condo in my head rather than Afish ee oh nado. It was one of those that I thought was two different words, the one I’d seen written and the one I’d heard.

Eilidh - I’d say ay leee
I have a rag doll called Carl my ex used to drive me mad saying carol. I think it’s a roll of the tongue but it just sounds wrong.
I am just going to put it out there that I said nuclear wrong until recently I think sometimes you don’t know until you’re corrected 😂😂 I’m dyslexic so think I read words wrong too, theres a few I just can’t get my head around it being the way it’s supposed to be. I must drop a few clangers 😳😊

Can not work out if DAIS is day-uss or dye-uss

@Turtleoo

Several in my family ask for a slither of cake when they want a small piece, instead of sliver. Even after many years of correcting and ribbing they still find it hard to say the right word. We now all say slither deliberately

that reminds me of a family member who would always say tay-vel for table. i presume it was a hang on from his infancy, but he chose to continue it, almost daring anyone to notice. i find myself doing it now, in honour of him.

I have been teaching about Catherine Trotter Cockburn.
I had no idea Cockburn was not pronounced as spelt. Me and my year 13 class watched a revision clip and of course they mocked me mercilessly.

never heard of the lady.
but i did know that the name is pronounced co-burn.
wasn't there an xmas advert for some kind of alcohol with that name ?
there are lots of names where you kind of jump over some of the letters.
mahoney is one. the americans say it as spelt, but i prefer marny, with a kind of long are sound in the middle.

Mischievous - I used to say miss-cheev-e-us for a very long time.

Thank God I’m not the only one who has been mispronouncing Moët and Chandon all these years.

Caribbean.

@alexdgr8

never heard of the lady. but i did know that the name is pronounced co-burn. wasn't there an xmas advert for some kind of alcohol with that name ? there are lots of names where you kind of jump over some of the letters. mahoney is one. the americans say it as spelt, but i prefer marny, with a kind of long are sound in the middle.

It's pronounced Ma-hunny, Americans have mangled that into Ma-HONE-ee, just because you "prefer" to say marny doesn't make ita valid pronunciation in any way!

[quote NeedAHoliday2021]@DropYourSword then you differ from Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries as I’ve discovered they have audio files attached. It’s definitely rant as in ant if you’re in the UK.[/quote]
I think maybe you meant to tag someone else, as I've said ant, aunt, rant and pant all rhyme to me!

It's pronounced Ma-hunny, Americans have mangled that into Ma-HONE-ee, just because you "prefer" to say marny doesn't make ita valid pronunciation in any way!

The people I know called Mahoney pronounce it Mah-nay. Guess I should tell them they're pronouncincing it wrongly!

Dh once told me how everyone at work, including him - had a good laugh at a female co-worker who pronounced UPS (the delivery company) as Ups, as in ups and downs.
I had a serious go at him, since I knew I might well have done the same, if I’d ever had to say it.

I should have reminded him of how - despite a supposedly excellent education - he once used to mispronounce ‘restaurant’ and some American make of car I can’t recall ATM - which is driving me mad! No use asking him - he can’t remember it either.

@alexdgr8, yes, it was an ad for Cockburn port.

‘Don’t say cock - say co.’

I find 'banal' really difficult. It should obviously rhyme with anal.

I’m pretty sure it is ‘Moway’. The T is only sounded when you follow the word with ‘et’ (I.e. soft sound instead of hard consonant)

I used to say ONvelope instead of ENvelope and vorse instead of varse (vase) - don’t know why. Oh, and I say COVVid rather than COEVid, which is apparently wrong too 😳

And Archipelago (aargh!)

It would be moway if it was a French word, but it's not, it's Dutch.

@Notarealmum

I’m pretty sure it is ‘Moway’. The T is only sounded when you follow the word with ‘et’ (I.e. soft sound instead of hard consonant)

I used to say ONvelope instead of ENvelope and vorse instead of varse (vase) - don’t know why. Oh, and I say COVVid rather than COEVid, which is apparently wrong too 😳

And Archipelago (aargh!)

I'm struggling to understand how vorse could be vase.

What sort of accent do you have?

Re the Cockburn pronunciation: we had a teacher at school called Mr Woodcock and the mother of a friend referred to him as Mr Woodco. We lived in an area that had lots of pheasants ( widely available legally and otherwise…..) and my own mother had an unintentionally funny conversation with her about the merits of cock vs hen pheasants for cooking.

@PoxyAndIKnowIt it's definitely pronounced Ma hunny or Ma honny . It's a fairly common Irish surname and that's how we pronounce it here. But obviously they are entitled to pronounce it whatever way they want to 😀😀😀.

Of course @minniep, but obviously they’re not alone as a PPs comment would suggest. The name has clearly evolved in different ways as it’s travelled out of Ireland, and presumably my neighbours pronounce it that way because forebears did, not just because they felt like it.

We’re in South Wales… maybe Welshness has something to do with it!

What about the name McGrath? I have known people (from Ireland) with this name, and they answered to 'mac-grath' with the 'th' at the end and it didn't occur to me it could be said any other way. Then there's the comedian Rory McGrath.

But recently my DF told me that it should be Mac-Graah. All to do with some Australian rugby player or something. Confused. Can anyone explain?

@Pemba

What about the name McGrath? I have known people (from Ireland) with this name, and they answered to 'mac-grath' with the 'th' at the end and it didn't occur to me it could be said any other way. Then there's the comedian Rory McGrath.

But recently my DF told me that it should be Mac-Graah. All to do with some Australian rugby player or something. Confused. Can anyone explain?

I'm Irish in Ireland, we say McGra.

I've only ever heard it as MacGraah here in Ireland, Pemba. Had a quick google and it's from the Irish Mac Craith. The sound th makes is different in Irish and English. In Irish the t part isn't pronounced. You can hear it in this link (the Canadian speaker goes a bit overboard though)

forvo.com/word/mcgrath/

Names do change outside the country of origin of course, so it all depends on the particular McGrath family too.