A list of 21 words by pedalinfaith.
- glacierwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 53 lists
- vehementwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 136 lists
- interestingwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 51 lists
- facsimilewas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 73 lists
- porschewas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 2 lists
- probablywas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 21 lists
- supposedlywas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 14 lists
- cementwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 21 lists
- asphaltwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 35 lists
- pronunciationwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 26 lists
- jaguarwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 36 lists
- asteriskwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 45 lists
- walkwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 53 lists
- februarywas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 24 lists
- poinsettiawas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 20 lists
- mischievouswas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 51 lists
- wednesdaywas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 30 lists
- askwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 43 lists
- nuclearwas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 42 lists
- specieswas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 35 lists
- espressowas added by pedalinfaith and appears on 46 lists
angharad commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Some of my peeves: realtor, athlete, library, tsunami.
You might also take a look at
http://wordie.org/people/Kaichi?wl=173
December 8, 2006
kad commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I often hear "supposably" instead of "supposedly." Then there's Oregon. How most of America can mispronounce the name of one of our own states is beyond me.
I love this list, by the way :)
December 8, 2006
pedalinfaith commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Wonderful! Thanks, kad and angharad, for the additions and the pointer to Kaichi's list.
December 9, 2006
agreatnotion commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Great list. Don't forget how "aluminium" was reduced to "aluminum."
December 10, 2006
john commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Great list. Though butchering language -- and some of these words -- is an international pastime. This page talks in particular about "ask" being mispronounced through the ages (google "ax"), and this amazon review claims that Chaucer wrote "ask" as "aks".
December 10, 2006
seanahan commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
For the record, the spelling "Aluminum" predates the spelling "Aluminium". Therefore it is the British who are screwing up
butchering the language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium#Spelling
December 10, 2006
nkocharh commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I would like to propose the addition of asterisk, which I often hear pronounced "asterik".
December 12, 2006
asativum commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I'll second asterisk, which I usually hear as Asterix. (No Obelix, though.)
December 15, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Words my dad can't pronounce, and I don't think he's alone:
jaguar -- he says "jagwire"
cement -- he says "sment"
asphalt -- he says "ashfalt"
salmon -- he says "sammin"
Not sure about the last one actually, maybe that's how it's really pronounced, but I try to include an "l" sound when I say it. Maybe I'm the weird one. :-)
December 15, 2006
pedalinfaith commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I could probably live with jagwire because I'm first generation Yankee and it makes up for all of the Southerners who pronounce "ire" words as "ahr" (for example, squire is pronounced squahr, which of course rhymes with square. :) I could probably go with sment too since it counteracts all of my relatives who pronounce it CEEment. :)
But ashfalt is unforgiveable. And that's definitely going on the list. In fact, maybe we need a list of the words with their mispronunciations spelled phoenetically (e.g., ashfalt, febbuary, reelator, and so on).
But, uselessness, I think you are the odd one out when it comes to salmon, though. Both the pronunciation guides for m-w and dictionary.com have the 'l' as silent.
This reminds me ... pronunciation is often mispronounced as pronounciation.
Thanks for the suggestions!
December 15, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I'm never ordering fish for dinner again. And that color -- it's pinkish.
Oh, as long as we're on the car/road theme, how about Porsche?
Also, probably? ('probly')
December 15, 2006
pedalinfaith commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
So, she sheepishly admits, I had to look it up and--gack--I've been pronouncing Porsche incorrectly all these years and thinking it was the "POR-sha" people who were being pretentious!
December 15, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Okay, we're one-for-one. ;-)
December 15, 2006
seanahan commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I pronounce both Porsche and Jaguar the "American" way, because people look at me so strangely when I say them correctly.
December 16, 2006
angharad commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Seanahan, what I love about jaguar is that there's the correct way, the American way, *and* the UK way (jag-yoo-er).
December 16, 2006
inkhorn commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
facsimile
Fak-sim-uh-lee, NOT fax-a-mile.
December 16, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
interesting (intresting)?
December 16, 2006
pedalinfaith commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Or, what's even worse, the egregious 'inner-resting'.
December 19, 2006
inkhorn commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I like this list. I even like the URL. Beastly.
December 19, 2006
inkhorn commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I've never been able to get my tongue around the word vehement, no matter how many times I hear it.
December 19, 2006
pedalinfaith commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
That list is spun gold! I'm heretofore pimping it in the list description. And, of course, you've just created another hour or two of pleasure reading for me. Hooray for PBS.
December 19, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Excellent link! There, too, I find myself busted for "salmon." Dang dang dang.
December 19, 2006
colleen commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
there was that great bit on the Simpsons when Lisa flipped on Marge for insisting on saying "foilage" for "foliage."
December 19, 2006
billifer commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
This was one that was recently featured on the KPBS show A Way With Words: dour. The correct pronunciation, which I didn't realize until hearing the show, is not (IPA) /daʊɹ/ ("sour") but actually /dʊɹ/ ("sure").
December 22, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
To billifer: I could never pronounce it like that. Sounds too much like "dur," which as we all know is a bastardization of "duh." Kinda defeats the purpose of an intellectual word like "dour." :-)
Another word for this list: associate. People insist on turning that "c" into an "sh."
December 22, 2006
uselessness commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Also, hover. It only has one "o," not two.
December 26, 2006
lorilori commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
How about escape? I can't stand when people say "excape."
January 5, 2007
abiohphobia commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
awesome list
how bout caramel
October 27, 2007
chained_bear commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I hate to say this, but it isn't that Americans butcher these words--it's that lots of people don't pronounce things right, regardless of where they live or grew up. I have a lot of these words on my own "GAH!"-type list. And I would imagine a lot of the people who are posting here and complaining about those who mispronounce things, are American themselves.
I'm not trying to argue or anything--just wanted to point that out. It makes me sad to witness discussions about British and American English that don't compare the two so much as complain that one of them is wrong. To use a phrase I hate (in keeping with the style of this page!), "it's all good." :)
October 28, 2007
picklechipsluva5 commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Another word would be roof, although it is debateble. It is listed in the dicionary as both "rufe" and "roof (oo as in book)." Which do ya'lls (ha) use? I use roof, not rufe.
November 2, 2007
picklechipsluva5 commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Sorry about the misspelling below. *Debateable
November 2, 2007
picklechipsluva5 commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Oh yeah, and the misspelling two below. *Dictionary
November 2, 2007
bilby commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I heard a radio announcer say escalate twice yesterday with a pronunciation that resembled eskewlate. Nasty.
June 20, 2008
johnmperry commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
How about 'buoy'? We Brits rhyme it with boy, whereas Americans rhyme with phooey.
June 20, 2008
bilby commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
That's it. I'm burning my Mickey Mouse ears.
June 20, 2008
frogapplause commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I've heard "specific" pronounced as "pacific" (wince, shutter).
June 20, 2008
frogapplause commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Statistics pronounced as "stuh-sti-sticks" (said often by someone I knew who did NOT have a fluency disorder).
June 20, 2008
chained_bear commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Can we just say that people mispronounce things all the time, and not make it something that's distinctively American?
P.S. frogapplause, did you mean "shudder," by any chance?
June 20, 2008
Prolagus commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I'm with you c_b! (but maybe this list is about Americans specifically).
June 20, 2008
bilby commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
My radio announcer was Australian. Conclusion: we mangle with the best of them. And all this on a day where a medical survey showed that Australians have surpassed Americans in levels of obesity.
Doctor interviewed on TV news: "If there was a Fat Olympics, we'd be favourites for the gold medal."
I'm sooooo proud *glowing*.
June 20, 2008
reesetee commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Jmp: I say "boy" for "buoy," and I'm American. I wonder whether that's a regional thing? Actually, I wonder whether many of these pronunciation differences are regional rather than national.
June 20, 2008
frogapplause commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Yes, chained_bear... shudder, shudder, shudder. Egads! I better get back to my cartooning work. I'm losing it.
June 20, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
I'm American, too, and I always hear buoy pronounced to rhyme with phooey. Reesetee, I think you're right about regional variations, and I have to ask -- did you grow up in Pennsylvania, or are you a transplant?
June 21, 2008
reesetee commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Grew up in PA, ptero.
June 24, 2008
asativum commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Wait, our kind host on this page says: "I'm talking about adding letters that aren't even in the word or skipping ones that aren't silent (syncope and apocope). I mean, c'mon."
But if you skip saying letters that aren't silent -- is this a koan?
June 25, 2008
wordwench commented on the list there-is-no-x-in-espresso-words-butchered-by-americans
Mine: "Mechanize" as "Mek-ig-nize". You would not believe how many corporate suits insist on pronouncing it as if it contained a 'G'.
My mom says "Ext-ree" for Extra, but I think that's kinda cute.
Pffffft.
October 1, 2008