Pronunciation Pet Peeves

Aw. Don't go. He's just messin' with ya.

It drives me nuts when Northeasterners say "Waiting on line" instead of "Waiting IN line" Like there's actually a line on the ground.

I have to admit, while grammatically correct, I did a double take the first time I heard "Do you need a sack?" (bag) when checking out of a grocery store in Ohio.

Pop also confused me at first, but I got over that as it is common throughout the midwest.

Ask me for a sweeper (vacuum) and I'll hand you a broom (Ohio also).

If we're going to talk about Southern mispronunciations we can't possibly leave out vee-hickle or po-leese.

in Michigan its Pleece

Well, get back to me when you drive a "kyoop" or stage a "kyoo" against the gov't.

It's interesing to me that "moot" is such a hard concept for folks.

It's pronounced as if a cow was saying it and putting a "t" at the end.

It's not pronounced like when you kill the volume on the tv..."mute."

It means that an argument is pointless due to a preceeding circumstance or fact.

Clem

Not a pronunciation thing, but completely new to me: I called a customer to tell her that her car was ready. She's an older 'country' type, laughs all the time. I tell her it's fixed, she asks how much and I tell her zero, it's under warranty. She starts laughing and says 'I love yo' dirty drawers'!

Like I said, I never heard THAT one before.

ClemSparks wrote: It's interesing to me that "moot" is such a hard concept for folks.

+1! A "mute" point is the gesture a mime makes to indicate what he's not talking about.

curtis73 wrote: I can't believe no one has picked up on the big ones... Real-a-der. The person who helps you sell your house

People who say "realitor" are the reason why shotguns were invented.

walterj wrote:

DirtyBird222 wrote: why the f do the british say "Zed3" or "350Zed?"

Apparently the entire rest of the world calls the letter 'Z' Zed. We are the oddballs it seems.

In German (where our language, such as it is, stemmed from) it is pronounced "set/zet". In other, older languages, it was similar. Yes, we're the oddballs. Revel in it. I wonder if outsiders get confused when they see an E-Z-Pass on the road and wonder just what the hell it is supposed to mean.

I learned German in one of the last years where they taught us the ß. It was frustrating because I changed school districts at one point, and the new district was NOT teaching it. Had to learn to spell all over again. But that letter (alt-225) is used in the middle or end of a word, and has been substituted with a double S, and is pronounced the same. It's called an esset (forget correct spelling).

I never made a connection, though, until I started watching some eastern European videos online. Hungarian, Czech, I dunno where they're from. But I noticed in the captions that whatever language it is seems to have strict spelling guidelines. S in a word is a soft S. Z sound is spelled Z. But a "double S" is spelled SZ. After a while it dawned on me... S Z. Es-set. ß. Thanks, internet!

How could I have neglected our Eastern PA brothers

wood-er. The liquid stuff you get when you turn on the faucet.

spik-it. The other name for a faucet.

phiww-ee. That big city in eastern PA where the Eagles play.

I also can't handle when Okies say, "just putt it over there." Its PUT ya dimwit.

I once walked into a mini-mart in MO and bought some snacks. The girl (who was rather impressively endowed) asked me if I wanted a "poke." My first thought was an enthusiastic "hell yes." So she put my things in a bag. At least she didn't putt them in the bag. Some areas call a bag a poke.

My dad grew up in WV so I spent a good bit of time there. I went to a HS baseball game and got some Nachos from the concession stand. They asked me if I wanted juh-LOP-in-ohs on it. That's WV for Jalapeños.

A common treat in upstate NY (very limited areas) is a thing called a "speedy" which is actually spelled Speidie. Its a greek-marinated skewer of beef. Not knowing this, I once entered a greek restaurant and ordered the speh-DEE. I might as well have said, "screw the Jets" after the looks I got from the locals.

We spent some time in the northern midwest when I was a kid and another regional favorite was the Pasty. Thinking we would have some of this local food, we went into a restaurant and ordered a PAY-stee. Turns out its pronounced PASS-tee. We inadvertently ordered a booby tassle.

curtis73 wrote: A common treat in upstate NY (very limited areas) is a thing called a "speedy" which is actually spelled Speidie. Its a greek-marinated skewer of beef. Not knowing this, I once entered a greek restaurant and ordered the speh-DEE. I might as well have said, "screw the Jets" after the looks I got from the locals.

On the other hand, I very much enjoy the Mediterranean sandwich made with roasted lamb, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and cucumber sauce on a folded pita (not quite a Big Mac, but it is special sauce)...

So I frequently order a "yhrroh" in restaurants that feature them on the menu. That's how it's pronounced (more or less) in Greek.

8 times out of 10 I get blank stares until I pronounce it "gyro", like the stabilizers on Tom Swift's atomic space rocket.

walterj wrote: Funner is not a word, your car does not have a raydeeator (its a heat exchanger anyway) and my goddamn car is not a Porsche-uh.

Damn, I am the complete opposite on this one... I used to say Porsch, but I had a friend who's dad was a master tech for Porsch-uh, and he used to correct me when I said it "wrong".

After then, and always hearing more "official" type people using the Porsch-uh pronunciation it absolutely bugs the crap out of me when people just say "Porsch"

Judges ruling?

Another one, doesn't annoy me, but makes me laugh... The Diabeetus. Oddly enough I have never heard ANYONE other then that spokesman use that pronunciation.... I have always wondered if he is just saying it wrong, or if that is a common pronunciation in some parts of the country?

Lastly, and this one isn't exactly pronunciation... I have a professor this quarter who follows just about every sentence with "is-this-correct-or-not" all ran together as one word from how used to saying it he is. After a friend pointed it out it just sticks out like a sore thumb and all I hear is "isthiscorrectornot" for an hour and a half...

love this thread!

As Cinci Reds owner, Marge Schott was know to say:

" If the King's English was good enough for Jesus Christ, It's good enough for me!"

RedS13Coupe wrote:Lastly, and this one isn't exactly pronunciation... I have a professor this quarter who follows just about every sentence with "is-this-correct-or-not" all ran together as one word from how used to saying it he is. After a friend pointed it out it just sticks out like a sore thumb and all I hear is "isthiscorrectornot" for an hour and a half...

I once had a client who added "you know?" or "and stuff." to the end of every sentence in conversation. Sometimes he used both, so his sentences would end with "youknow?andstuff."

In Oklahoma I've heard the word "Jalalopy" a lot to describe an old rusty car.

Just heard a new texasism today.

Shernce - the financial protection you pay for health, auto, and life.

Now that I've moved to TX, I can probably single-handedly keep this thread going :)

RedS13Coupe wrote: Damn, I am the complete opposite on this one... I used to say Porsch, but I had a friend who's dad was a master tech for Porsch-uh, and he used to correct me when I said it "wrong". After then, and always hearing more "official" type people using the Porsch-uh pronunciation it absolutely bugs the crap out of me when people just say "Porsch" Judges ruling?

Do you drive a hard-CH, hard-T Chev-ro-let?

Or a shev-ro-lay?

(Shev-ro-lay... from Dee-troit)

point made. I will, from now on, pronounce Detroit, Day-twa.

EastCoastMojo wrote: "Oh no you di'nt!"

amen!

When Alan Decrapanet says Zed F for ZF.

When people put an R in wash. Warsh my clothes, indeed!

spitfirebill wrote: When Alan Decrapanet says Zed F for ZF.

...but I loved when he described an old race car on Hoosiers as being on its original type "Oozie-ay tyres".

"Monkey-er" for "monicker." The fact that you're trying to use "monicker" in a spoken sentence already means you're an overinflated windbag; getting it wrong and mispronouncing it like some sort of primate is just icing on the cake. Rancid icing. On a urinal cake. Don't do it.

Jay wrote: "Monkey-er" for "monicker." The fact that you're trying to use "monicker" in a spoken sentence already means you're an overinflated windbag; getting it *wrong* and mispronouncing it like some sort of primate is just icing on the cake. Rancid icing. On a urinal cake. Don't do it.

And if you misspell moniker?

And if you misspell moniker?

Anyone who does that is clearly just completely awesome.