17 Words People Mispronounced For Way Too Long Until They Heard Them Spoken
So sometimes, I take a little jaunt over to the English Language & Usage forum on StackExchange because I always learn something new. Recently, I stumbled upon a question asking, "What words are commonly mispronounced by literate people who read them before they heard them?" I have to say, I've been fooled by at least 10 of these myself.
1."[Hyperbole]. The mispronunciation is HY-per-BOWL, and the correct pronunciation is hy-PER-bo-LEE."
— andyvn22
2."I had quite a few of these growing up. The one I think is most common is 'segue.' Did you know it's pronounced 'segway'? I didn't for a very, very long time."
3."Colonel. This has to be the worst word for me. I know that it is pronounced ker-nil, but EVERY time I read it, the pronunciation in my head is col-o-nel. How is colonel "ker-nil" anyway?!"
— bryan
4."Paradigm (par-uh-dahym). I've winced a couple of times when people have said 'par-uh-di-jum.'"
— Matt
5."Rapport (pronounced ra-PORE, not ra-PORT)."
— res
6."Epitome. For years, I thought this was EPPY-tome."
— njd
7."Facade should be pronounced 'fuh-SAHD.' At first, I pronounced it 'fack-AID.'"
8."Height sounds like high+t, which is logical, I suppose, but I used to think it rhymed with eight."
— bbleeker
9."Ennui. Imagine my surprise at learning that it's pronounced 'on-wi' and not 'eh-new-ee!'"
— Jonik
10."Misled. When I was a kid, I thought it was pronounced like a strange combination of 'miser' and 'tiled.' You know, mise-uld!"
11."Biopic, which does not rhyme with 'myopic' (stress on 'o'). It's pronounced like bio-pic (primary stress on 'bi'). Even after I found that out, I still don't like it."
12."Behemoth. I always stress the first syllable (BEE-heh-moth), even after hearing it with the stress on the second syllable (buh-HEE-muth). I just can't seem to get past it."
— user362
13."Queue. I've never known how to pronounce this. On the rare occasions when it comes up in conversation, I generally say 'Qu... K... Line.'"
— Obsidian
14."Worcestershire, as in the sauce. The obvious pronunciation is 'wor-chest-er-shy-er,' but apparently the correct pronunciation is 'werst-er-sher.'"
— Gary
15."I was in my twenties before I learned that hors d'oeuvres (ôr dûrvz) was NOT pronounced (whores duh vree)."
— user4597
16."One I've just learned of: viscount. Apparently, it's pronounced VYE-count. Who knew?"
— francois
17.Finally, here's one I learned while making this post: "Draught, as in draught beer, pronounced as 'draft' and not dr-aw-ght."
— JoseK
What's a word you've always mispronounced? Tell us in the comments below!
Note: Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
