Funny mispronunciations

[coochicoo]

I had to have a giggle at my lovely friend the other day. Not only did she describe someone as being 'lapsidaisy', but she also said they'd taken 'humbridge' at something. Thankfully she can laugh at her self so wasn't offended when I corrected her!

What mispronunciations have you heard...and do you correct people?

Pronouncing the double 'o' in words like look and book (as luke and buke) isn't mispronunciation, it's a regional variation and perfectly valid, as is pronouncing words like grass and bath with a short 'a'.

Standard English (or the Queen's English) is just one way of speaking - not the only way!

By Sawyer64 on Tue 21-Apr-09 22:24:46
Ibuprofen is the "Chemical" name,and Brufen is the Brand name.Don't see Brufen so much now,just Nurofen.

Thank you so much for explaining this. I (unreasonably) want to lamp people in the chemists when they say Brufen. I didn't know it used to be a brand name, I thought people were just stupid!

things my family mis-pronounce on purpose include:

"le-anto" instead of "lean-to" this comes from an estate agent trying to talk up the scruffy shed attached to the house in a very Hyancinth Bucket way

icky crem - ice cream
Beena - Ribena
Pooter - Computer
Veggyburbles - vegetables
Squizzle - squirrel

etc - we may have to change our ways in case DS starts picking up the wrong words

My mother cannot understand italian pronunciation so always says the G in tagliatelle and wa argue about CHI-a-batta vs cha-batta

Oooh you made me sweat then GetOrfMoiLand

Thought you were quoting me for Mispronounciation!!!

I nearly fell out with my bf when I inadvertently corrected her for - oh it was a series of malapropisms rather than mispronunciations. She got very arsy about it suddenly. Since then I have reined in my inner pedant, with moderate success.

A lot of people use the word flout for flaunt
don't they.

pmsl at avant garde phone artiste

My MIL suggested going to the John Lewis "brassiere".

She mentioned "Convent Garden" and "Petersborough".

She is sending PIL to a "psychotherapist" about his leg.

She read DS a book called "The Mixed Up Sham-ell-on" (chameleon).

All in one day! Endless source of amusement.

John Lewis "brassiere" for a coffee I should add.

My mother calls Duran Duran 'Dure-un Dure-un', with emphasis on the first syllable of each word.

I distinctly remember her also asking for a 'Baggle' in a deli once, and small organisations attached to larger organisations are 'sub-sigh-daries' in her tongue (are they falling over the edge of a cliff?!)

DP replaces his 'e's with 'u's: fush and chups, hulth, wulth, wulfare. He's a Kiwi though, so I'll let him off.

My mum announced loudly in the hospital that my dads eye problem was 'a genital problem' (rather than congenital).

My sister always says advert-ize-ment instead of advertisement, cracks me up

I know a lady who tells me her daughter is die-lex-ic (dislexic)

Oh and curtins (curtains)

My mother refers to the 'synagod' (synagogue).

Hmm..MIL says 'Merlott' rhyming with cot when talking about the wine and Sev - ill marmalade like the place Seville but sounds like DEVIL. Makes me wince...along with mispronouncing my name EVERY time....(has been corrected) and it is a very simple English name!!

my sister was mortified when I corrected her pronunciation of "shitake" mushrooms from shit-ache. We always call them shitache's now though as it was so hilarious.

My mum insists on pronouncing demand "de-maaaaahnd" which I just find annoying, especially coming from a family that says grass to rhyme with lass .

Great thread, looking forward to reading them all later.

I'm from a long line of mispronouncers...

My Dad: says arncle instead of uncle
My Mum: seems to have lost the ability to say muslin (it ends up sounding a bit like muslim)
My Nan: says chutley instead of chutney
My DH (an Aussie): says cream fraysh for creme fraiche

LOL at gingerwench - we have a lot of deliberate ones too (although we obviously don't need them given the above) - we also have pooter but squiggle for squirrel as well as sainsbubble for a well know supermarket chain!

What about 'Let me tell you somethink' instead of 'something' and pronouncing the letter 'H' as haitch!

At a funeral a lady said to the recently bereaved husband 'It couldn't have happened to a worst person'. It was embarrassing for everyone.

An italian boyfriend I had announced he was going to brush his hairs.

Once i was admitting a lady to a ward she told me she had carpet tunnel syndrome.

I hear lots of medical mispronunciations, i'll have to have a good think and see if i can remember them, they make me chortle to myself.

I hate when people say "i'll axk him" instead of ask.

Merlot is called Merrylot here, which stems from a pre-christmas chat when ds was about 5.

He announced that he was going to ask santa to bring some gin for daddy, and a bottle of merrylot for mummy. What does that say about us ???

My dh always says, 'tenderhooks'

And another one which I've heard and seen writtten several times is, 'rest bite care'

See I knew my brother was talking cobblers when he told me ADIDAS was an acronym for All Day I Dream About Sport. Adolf Dassler makes a lot more sense.

I had no idea that tagliatelle had a silent g!!

How do you pronounce it?

My dear old dad used to say 'seceratary' instead of secretary, used to drive my mum insane but she never corrected him!

My DH always says tenderhooks too. He gets lots of things wrong like that, always makes me laugh & I never correct him! He gets words in songs wrong too, that drives me up the wall!

Also what is it with Americans and 'Aluminium'...if it was pronounced 'aluminum' that is how it would be spelt!!! No offence intended to any Americans but it is really silly & quite annoying! Also can you pronouce herbs with the 'H', thanks!