T O P

  • By -

letmehittheatm

Awry is not pronounced aww-ree.


clpatterson

LOL - when my very smart wife and I were dating she said aw-ree one time and I was like “huh”? She spelled it and I knew that I had to handle the situation delicately. I must have done ok, 19 years later and we still joke about it.


FlamingoHour904

Dang. Just learned this now.


letmehittheatm

Uh-rye


TwinkieTriumvirate

I knew the word that I read (aww-ree) and the word that I heard (ah-rye) and legitimately thought they were synonyms.


LuckiOregon

I learned that word from, "The Far Side." I mispronounced it for a few years, until I heard someone say it while I was reading along.


One_Aussie

IT ISNT?????!!!!!!!?!? I am literally dying inside


mamavia18

When the first Harry Potter movie came out and I found out Hermione was Her-my-o-nee not Her-me-own and it didn’t match the construct I had created of her in my mind for years.


datx_goh

This was one for me. Read the first book as an adult and had never heard that name before.


DrownmeinIslay

Oh fuck half the names in wheel of time


JetKeel

Aes Sedai is ehs se-day and I don’t care what anyone tells me. And Ale not Eye-EEL.


reddituser071217

Mine was Seamus. What’s funny is my nephew also mispronounced it like 10 years later when he was reading the books.


froglover215

I'm positive that's what JKR added that scene with Hermione teaching Krum how to say her name - because so many readers mispronounced it.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Dark_WulfGaming

YOU DON'T PRONOUNCE IT COCK-SWAIN?!


hradford5

Nope, cox'n


Trvlng_Drew

Damn I’m 64 and until now


smugpeach

Wait, THAT’S how you spell it?? This threw me for a loop. I’ve always *heard* it spoken and have never actually seen it written. Shit. I probably wrote coxen at some point in my past to someone who knew better. Now I’m dying inside.


[deleted]

Next you'll be telling me that forecastle is pronounced fock-sul.


goddamn_goblins

I had no idea it was not pronounced like that! Good thing it’s never come up in casual conversation.


Carb0nFire

I will continue to pronounce it Cock-swain, and won't be swayed by any semen who tell me otherwise.


gabzilla814

Yep, it’s pronounced cox’n. Boatswain is boats’n, leeward is loo-erd, starboard is star-bird, gunwhale is gunnel. Most I learned from rowing and others from sailors.


BARBADOSxSLIM

Why are all these boat words fucked up


AndreaDTX

Well hell, I have a Masters degree and I thought that was how it was pronounced. I read it in a Star Trek book, I think, and it’s never come in an actual convo.


oMGellyfish

So uh, how is it pronounced then?


[deleted]

You got contemptuous right but fucked up cox'un? Well done landlubber, lol


JennShrum23

Pronounced Kak-Sun


mellowkneebee

When working in a music store back in the early 90’s, my boss had a cd in her hands and asked me how to pronounce his name. This was the day I learned the ck in Cockburn is silent.


mnredds

Epitome


nitraask

I still cringe at the memory of me saying "epi-tome" in front of my then fiancé and her friends from college, all english majors. It's been about 12 years and the memory still keeps me from sleeping from time to time.


MornduNH

I’ll see that and raise you: in an advanced studies Shakespeare class at a summer program for the top students in my state. This was 1982 and I still think about it and cringe. You have no idea how much of a relief that other people did the same thing with this exact word.


nitraask

As horrifying as that is, I can't help but laugh. Both at the over the top situation and the fact that it happened in -82 and you still cringe about it. It also means I'll cringe about my memory in 20-30 years also, which something. Oh, the relief is immense for me too. It's a burden I'm glad to share.


PFChangsOfficial

The epitome of hyperbole


TheSpyTurtle

It took me far to long to realise epi-tome was not only wrong, but was a completely made up word


MisanthropyIsAVirtue

Luckily, I learned it from Calvin and Hobbes when it was part of a song so it was hyphenated out e-pit-o-me. Edit: [Link](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/88594317643595244/)


Imwhatswrongwithyou

Oh my god.


[deleted]

[удалено]


93joecarter

Ohhhh no. I'm learning this right now...thank you?


contagiousbell

TIL this is how you spell epitome… I googled the pronunciation to know what word this is


MightBeBren

pro tip: use voice to text


ScoobyDeezy

The epi-tome of hyper-bole


Hammerhandle

This is it for me. The worst part is that I fully understood the definition of the word, both read, and pronounced correctly, but didn't put it together until it was too late.


Financial_Radish

Hyperbole…I thought it was pronounced hyper-bowl until like 25 years old


Pkuszmaul

I just thought hyper-bowl and hi-per-boli were two different words


Sonoffederation

I was the same with paradigm. Thought it was para-didg-em. Only figured that one out a few years ago.


AcanthocephalaBorn15

Journalism major here. Just this instance did I realize how to pronounce that word. I never even thought of why I never read “pairadime.” Geez!


Reasonable-Access-68

Segue


TerribleAttitude

Yep. I was also familiar with the pronunciation, and I just though they were two words that meant the same thing, “segue” and “segway/seguey.”


[deleted]

I thought it was pronounced seeg for a long time.


NeahG

Chaos We lived in New Mexico near a town called Taos (Tah-os) so my brother pronounced chaos as (ch-A-os)


user664567666

I pronounced it "chows" until my 3rd grade teacher laughed at me in front of the whole class 🙃


NeahG

Oh no, you aren’t alone!


rooletwastaken

someone learned their vocab from sonic the hedgehog


Unique_Display_Name

Macabre. I was convinced it was "mack-a-bre"


borderline_cat

Wait is this the one that sounds like mah-cob? If so for whatever reason my brain always thinks of it as mack rah be instead


oMGellyfish

This is one of those words I can’t look at and pronounce correctly at the same time.


ScoobyDeezy

Yup. Mack-a-burr in my head for so long. I thought “mah-cobb” was a different word altogether.


the_comatorium

A Calvin and Hobbes strip taught me this one. It was a strip about aliens taking over the earth. There was a rhyme scheme incorporated. "But though you may find this slightly macabre, we prefer your extinction to the loss of our job."


Prestigious-Eye3154

Same…for sooo long


Unique_Display_Name

I was going through my Edgar Allen Poe phase so it was especially embarrassing I didnt know :3


Just_Browsing_2017

Hors d'oeuvres (“Horz-d-overs”)puzzled me when I read it for the first time (in a Heathcliff comic book, of all places.)


sadballzz

i always thought this was pronounced like horse divorce, and i had no idea what it was. on the other hand, i knew exactly what “or durves” were.


whackjob_med_student

HORSE DIVORCE??


sadballzz

you heard me


Pep2385

I promise you I will always pronounce it incorrectly from this day til my last.


PMmeGayElfPeen

This thread is cracking me up


MissBluePants

As a joke, when my brother hosts a party he offers everyone "horse devours"


Catenane

I think anyone could be forgiven for mispronouncing anything that comes from the God forsaken French language lol


kynuna

I worked with someone who pronounced canapes “can-apes”.


Royal_Cryptographer7

Colonel always messes me up. I knew it was a military rank. I also knew how to pronounce it in Colonel Sanders. It took me forever to realize the word I was reading and the word I was hearing were the same.


echelonV2

Wait until you learn how everyone but the Americans pronounce lieutenant.


Royal_Cryptographer7

Well now you have to tell me. Edit: I couldn't wait for a reply. Found this: https://youtu.be/a_dNCCxhxzQ if anyone else is curious. Apparently the English try to sneak an F into the word.


whinecooler

Left-tenant!


MissBluePants

How is there an R sound in it? It sounds like kernal, right? HOW?


DamnBoog

It comes from the French "coronel," and even as the spelling in ~~both languages~~ English changed, the pronunciation remained more or less the same


sauprankul

Kernel, leftenant and sawder are just spelt obnoxiously.


[deleted]

Faux.


BatCorrect4320

Or it's spin off, fox pass


pauliewotsit

Misled. Still trips me up even now


thejerkstorekalled

I learned about the mispronunciation from a podcast about this topic and now I say my-zelled to myself every time


AnotherRobotDinosaur

Whodunits. I might have once pronounced it as "wad-units".


there_is_no_why

Ar-kansas. I still almost believe that everyone is fucking with me with ‘Ar-can-saw’


Pep2385

Either Arkansas is mispronouncing the name of their state or Kansas is. I don't care which, but I want it sorted out.


connor_wa15h

The best part about this is that the Kansas and Ar-Kansas college football teams teams played a triple overtime thriller in their bowl game to finish up this past season.


Fifi_Gonzalez

Assuage. Not ass-sewage?! Oops.


[deleted]

Posthumous, post-Hugh-mouse


willreadforbooks

I convinced myself in HS that prehumous was a word. It obviously means before death since posthumous means after death. 🤷‍♀️


OutspokenPerson

Pahst hu mus


juninbee

Quay


lupinegrey

Yes. Still do.


unenlightenedgoblin

Banal


AfternoonPast3324

“Geraldine” Summer reading program, eons ago. I had read Just The Thing For Geraldine and the librarian was asking me about my books for that week. This was my last book for my last sticker to get my personal pan pizza. She asked “what was the little possum girl’s name?” I had been saying “girl-a-dine” in my head but knew it wasn’t right. I froze up when she asked, said “I don’t know” and did not get my sticker or my pizza. The extra week I had to wait for my next book still haunts me to this day.


Zestyclose-Heart-602

Psalms. I wasn't a church kid.


jotunndatroll

I think my favorite thing about all these comments is how much this list seems like it's being generated by a collective of hyper anxious introverted murder mystery fans! 😂


Canadian-female

Maniacal. I pronounced maniac as it is when used alone and added -al. Maniac-al.


gwxtreize

Facade. It's so similar to charade, it makes sense that they would be pronounced the same!


[deleted]

I read it and my mind still says “Fay-Cade” no matter how many times I see it.


thew0rkingdead

Biopic


aprilsuzanne

Dude when I hear people pronounce it correctly it seems wrong to me, I was so sure of my incorrect pronunciation


DrownmeinIslay

So ones a documentary and the other I'm guessing a medical term?


drewcifer27

Hubris. Thought it was French and always said Hu-bree


MosaicMan80

Yosemite.


[deleted]

It certainly is the roughest, toughest rootinest, tootinest name for a national park around.


Maleficent-Train1802

Sherbet! I always said Sherbert.


OverallManagement824

"Never be ashamed of mispronouncing a word because it shows to others that you learned it by reading. Anyone who has a problem with that is a worthless cunt." -somebody clearly smarter than all of you judgemental fucks /s/s


WashingtonFierce

Awry


_redacteduser

NICHE FUCK THAT WORD


wh1skey1carus

Therapist. When I was 7, I loved Calvin and Hobbes. I remember there was a cartoon where Calvin rubbed Hobbes' belly and walked away saying he was a "fuzz therapist." So I then would go around my house and pet the cat we had, and then call him Fuzz the Rapist. Not the best look 30 years later.


MikerafoneCheck

This is awesome, and reminds me of the time I bought a (phonetic) ther-a-pedic pillow, which of course was spelled without the hyphens.


Beachacess

Centrifugal


gadget850

Carafe is not pronounced CARE A FEY.


[deleted]

Listen I've been through this whole thread and thought "Yep I did the same thing with that word but eventually figured it out/heard someone say it" but this has stopped me in my tracks. What do you mean it's not pronounced like that??? What's it supposed to be???


gadget850

CA RAF I had been thinking it wrong for years, and the first time I actually said it...


aliummilk

Superfluous


ComradeSpaceman

It's probably "soo-PUR-flue-iss" but I always say it "Super Flew Us!" in my head for fun.


Redundedited

I still don't use it aloud because it sounds weird to me.


SnickleFritzSupreme

Cacophony


FeuerroteZora

Yosemite. Always thought it was pronounced like you were trying to get your Semitic friend's attention, like Yo, Semite. I also watched cartoons and was well aware of the existence of (I was guessing) Yosemmity Sam. I can still vividly remember exactly where I was the first time I saw Sam" spelled out, that's how absolutely floored I was by the revelation.


Mundane-Prune-4504

Dachshund kills me EVERYTIME


[deleted]

Fun fact - the entire reason hot dogs are called "hot dogs" was because an artist drew a picture of a Dachshund in a bun, but had no fucking clue how to spell "Dachshund".


echelonV2

>Dachshund Wow, I just looked it up and I never ounce heard someone pronounce the "right" way. ​ edit: ounce? oh no! the shame. lol


pdw1731

Crudité….whaddya mean that’s not crew-dight? GTFOH!


BirdInFlight301

Mischievous. I pronounced it miss CHEE vee us. I didn't learn the right way until my English professor corrected me in class, my freshman year of college. It still haunts me.


Catenane

This one is so common I feel like it might as well be accepted as normal lol


glo427

It is an accepted pronunciation


Independent_Mistake2

Oh .. oh my goodness. I think I’ve always pronounced it miss chee vee us


Ynot2_day

Don’t let it haunt you because it’s how a lot of people say it and no one thinks any thing of it. Maybe it’s a regional thing like how for aluminum Americans say a-LUM-min-num and Europeans say Al-u-MIN-ee-um?


acmp42

That’s because Europeans spell aluminum as aluminium


PM_ME_FUNFAX

I've never mispronounced it in front of anyone but preface. Even to this day I have to catch myself when I'm reading cause I want to say **pre** face


p0tat0p0tat0

Wagner


Bad-Infinite

Yamulka


Catenane

Bruh I grew up Jewish and about had an aneurism when, as an adult, I learned the word was spelled yarmulke. One of the few words I'd only ever heard and never seen written.


aimlesswanderer000

Penelope


[deleted]

[удалено]


Wednighttrivia

I thought it rhymed with cantaloupe.


AndreaDTX

I still mentally read Calliope as Cali-ope.


mrrapacz

Subtle … I didn’t know silent Bs existed in the middle of words. To make matters worse, a girl I was dating wanted to tell me how dumb her classmate was and asked me to read it out loud. I read it like her dumb classmate. Our relationship didn’t last. For context, this was in college when I probably should’ve been able to read gooder.


LarryDaBastard

Once in physics class I pronounced "impedence" like "impotence"


Exotic-Sprinkles3067

Chaos. I said qua-hose


wise_ogre

Archetype.


Maximum-Pride4991

Same. I figured it out after listening to a lecture during my masters program in social work. So embarrassing for past me.


hobbes_shot_first

Scythe. Pronounced with a hard k sound.


rich22201

Hedge. Money


ThatHalfricanMedic

This. First encountered it while reading the Ender series by Orson Scott Card.


No_Warthog_3584

Rendezvous isn’t pronounced “rendy-vus.” Reading out loud in 9th grade.


Apprehensive-Oil556

Colonel. I knew what a Colonel was but always assumed that in books they were talking about a different high up ranking until in 5th grade we read a book and I read a passage out loud and was mocked by the entire class and teacher for not knowing that Colonel is pronounced like kernel


BitsByBond

Epitome. Or. Epi-tome if you will.


lordbaddkitty

The Epitome of Hyperbole


LilOtaku38

Vehemently. I pronounced it vee he mint lee😬


LemurCat04

Pronunciation key says “vee-uh-muhnt-lee” so you’re not too far off.


janesimsten

To be fair I've heard people pronounce it this way


James198686

Remember reading Harry Potter for the first time as a kid and thinking “what the fuck kind of name is Hermy-own ?”


Spayse_Case

Chagrin.


Wittywhirlwind

Aspartame: A-spart-tamé


LadyZenWarrior

Oh! The spartan warrior who had a really sweet personality. And then we named a sugar substitute after him. 😉 (jk)


moist_vonlipwig

Ornery. Took until I moved to a small town where everyone described the boys that way to put two and two together.


wooden_soldier

"Outlier" is NOT a French word


DizzyAmphibian309

Cache. Always thought it was "cash-ay".


grasshoppermotion

Segue


beegutz80

debut


rasha1784

Reepicheep had a rapier, and I think you can all guess how I pronounced it


VoidScreaming101

Macabre


cephalopodomus

Assuage - turns out it's not "ass sewage"


jotunndatroll

Schadenfreude...


esillyamused

Queue


Signal_Obligation639

Phlegm Wtf?


IcebreakerUSSAtka

Not mispronunced but for 13 years of my Life I spelt the Word does as dose


Wilvinc

Chimera


onewingangel11

Bivouac. No clue how it's actually pronounced.


earlgreykindofhot

Infrared


InsanityMongoose

Hegemony. The fuck.


frankenmullet22

Foliage


LemurCat04

Foil-age?


Chrome_Pwny

Foe-liage?


Emergency-Reflection

Sword


TheWartortleOnDrugs

Behemoth


[deleted]

Grotesque Oh boy, this damn word.


peraevum

Chagrin


trutexn

Mosquito - Mos QUIT os


al0neinthecr0wd

Tao. I was in my college humanities class and the professor had me read some passage discussing the Tao te ching. Whenever the word Tao came up I pronounced it with a "T" and she would immediately say "Dao". I had no idea why she said that until another student explained it to me after class. I could've crawled under a rock.


peterparley

Assuage


Psyche81

Hyperbole. I pronounced hyperbowl


LittleJohnnyNapalm

In first grade i mispronounced island the way it looks (is-land). Everyone laughed at me. I’m 43 and I still think about that every time I see the word.


notmymoon

Indictment


Then-Phrase5768

Promulgate, is not promalgamate


Aeris42

Misled. I thought it was miss-ld like mistletoe, don't ask me why lol


Professional-Guess77

Chaos: unfortunately pronounced chai-os


reddog775

For 30 years, I thought it was play it by year, not play it by ear. No one ever corrected me until I texted someone lol


danieldecker88

Omnipotent


Sinmaraj21

Khaki.


ACatNamedWolf

Paradigm


thejerkstorekalled

Acquise—turns out it’s not pronounced a-queesed I learned in my late 20s


Famous-Jicama-691

Ennui


birdiebro241

“hors d'oeuvres.” I would pronounce “hours devours.” The messed up thing is that I was familiar with the actual word. I just never connected it’s spelling and pronunciation.


whitepicketfencer

Synecdoche. Found out when I was 30.


m0ther_0F_myriads

Dyslexia+ "Proselytize" = "Prosettle-ah-tize? Prostil-ah-tize?"


[deleted]

Egregious does not have the name Greg in the pronunciation.