A facebook group I belong to recently had a very entertaining discussion of words that its members had mispronounced for a very long time because they had only ever seen them written.
The culprits:
| WORD | MISTAKEN PRONUNCIATION | CORRECT PRONUNCIATION |
| Placebo | PLACE-bo | Pluh SEE bo |
| Pinochle | Pin OACH'll | PEE nuckle |
| Epitome | EPPY tome | ip PITTA mee |
| Awry | AWEree | Uh RYE |
| Rely | RELLee | Ruh LIE |
| Asylum | ASSY lum | Uh SYE lum |
| Misled | MIZZ'ld, MIZE'ld | Miss LED |
| Underfed | Un DERFD | Under FED |
| Ascites | ASS kitties | Uh SITE eez |
| Whodunit | WODD you nit | Hoo DUNNit |
| Subunit | Soo BUNNit | SUB you nit |
| Fatigue | FATTY goo | Fuh TEEG |
| Anathema | ANNA THEEmuh | Uh NATH uh muh |
| Voila | VOYL uh | Vwah LA |
| Infrared | In FRAIRD | IN fruh RED |
| Flamingo | FLAY ming go | Fluh MING go |
| Sundried (tomatoes) | SUN dreed | SUN dried |
| Nauseating | NAW seeting | NAW zee ate ing |
| Paradigm | Para DIDGE um | PARA dime |
| Omnipotent | Omnee POTE 'nt | Om NIP uh t'nt |
| Redolent | Ree DOLE 'nt | REDDA l'nt |
| Picturesque | PICK chur skew | Pick chur ESK |
| Cesarean | Seez ur EEN | Suhz AIR ee 'n |
| Pseudo | Puh SWAYED oh | SOO do |
| Hyperbole | HIPE ur bole | Hi PURR buh lee |
| Colonel | Koe l'n ell | KER n'll |
| Bedraggled | BED ragg 'lld | Buh DRAG 'lld |
| Hitherto | HITHER toe | HITHER too |
| Indict | In DICKT | In DITE |
| Chaos | CHAY oze | KAY oss |
| Fajitas | Fuh JYE tiss, FADGY tass | Fu HEE tuhzz |
| Aspartame | A SPARTA mee | ASS purr tame |
| Inchoate | INCH oh ate | In KO uht, INKO uht |
What words have you had this experience with?
P.S.
If you find the English language fascinating, you might enjoy regular
updates about English usage and word origins from Wordlady. Receive
every new post delivered right to your inbox! You can either:
use
the subscribe window at the top of this page
OR
(if
you are reading this on a mobile device): send me an email with the
subject line SUBSCRIBE at wordlady.barber@gmail.com
Privacy
policy: we will not sell, rent, or give your name or address to
anyone. You can unsubscribe at any point.
Follow
me on twitter: @thewordlady
