Mis-pronunciations that irritate you

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  • thefairydandythefairydandy Posts: 3,235
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    You see, I had a bad stammer when I was young and still sometimes slur my words a little or babble, which can be a little detrimental to my pronunciation. Also, because I stammered and had to repeat things for people, I can 'shut down' and feel awkward if people ask me to repeat things, even if it's legitimate due to noise or something.

    So I tend not to be a judgemental areshole when it comes to how people speak :p As long as meaning is clear, it's more important what people say.
  • bookaddictbookaddict Posts: 2,806
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    Bedsit Bob wrote: »
    When someone says to me "Can you borrow me a tenner"?, I reply, "Who would you like me to borrow it from"?

    Then there's those who say "Can I have a borrow of your phone"? :mad:
    Seemingly gaining in popularity...."they learned me what to do"...

    Yes, those both drive me crackers as well. In addition to "Can you borrow me a tenner?" I've also heard, "Can I lend your phone?" NO! No you can't! You can BORROW it!
    Noe Soap wrote: »
    Yes - very poor English, makes no sense, Simon Cowell does this, why?

    My pet hate = assuming pronounced by many people as ashuming.

    Anything Simon Cowell says is guaranteed to irritate me.
  • bookaddictbookaddict Posts: 2,806
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    You see, I had a bad stammer when I was young and still sometimes slur my words a little or babble, which can be a little detrimental to my pronunciation. Also, because I stammered and had to repeat things for people, I can 'shut down' and feel awkward if people ask me to repeat things, even if it's legitimate due to noise or something.

    So I tend not to be a judgemental areshole when it comes to how people speak :p As long as meaning is clear, it's more important what people say.

    But don't you think that there's a big difference between not being able to pronounce something (or appearing to be unable to pronounce something) because of say, a stutter or a stammer - and just plain laziness, or bad grammar? And when people can't get things right, it means that the meaning isn't always clear!
  • thefairydandythefairydandy Posts: 3,235
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    bookaddict wrote: »
    But don't you think that there's a big difference between not being able to pronounce something (or appearing to be unable to pronounce something) because of say, a stutter or a stammer - and just plain laziness, or bad grammar? And when people can't get things right, it means that the meaning isn't always clear!

    Well for one, I find it offensive when people correct, or ostentatiously misunderstand someone because they've pronounced something wrong - especially when you can tell they actually know what the person meant and they're just being deliberately mean.

    It's a really lazy way of dismissing someone, and even if it's not used in a dismissive way, I know how it feels to be blindsided like that when you're trying to express yourself.

    I agree that bad grammar and pronunciation can occasionally make meaning difficult to interpret, but if you DO have a high level of comprehension, you can normally understand what people mean without having to correct them.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 664
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    alycidon wrote: »
    It is generally recognised that the word 'get' is rather clumsy and should be avoided if at all possible. I edit my parish magazine, and if I carelessly let a 'get' past me, my proofreader always tells me to change it. And she is quite right! :)

    Quite right. When I was 10 I remember my teacher going on a 20 minute rant about the use of got and get. He insisted that they were not real words and completely unnecessary. It was caused by me saying something like, 'I've got to leave early for football because I've got to get changed'. In front of the whole class he made me correct myself in to saying, 'I need to leave early for football as I have to change'.

    I also cannot stand:

    'could of' instead of 'could've'
    'arks' instead of 'ask'
    HD pronounced as 'haitch dee' when it should be 'aitch dee'
    'demond' instead of 'demon'
    'drownd' instead of 'drown' especially where the past participle becomes 'drownded' instead of 'drowned'
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,139
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    Si_Crewe wrote: »
    See, that's never bothered me.

    Maybe it's cos my parents were sarcastic or summat but whenever I said "Can I have...." as a kid they'd just say "Of course you can" and then leave it at that, the implication being that they thought I was asking if it was okay for me to possess the thing rather than me actually requesting it.

    So, for me, saying "Can I get..." seems like a better way of actually requesting a thing rather than just confirming whether it's allowed for me to possess it.

    I think saying "may I have" makes it a request. When I was in school, most of the time if you asked "can I go to the toilet?" you'd get shot down with "I don't know, can you? If you can't you should probably see a doctor" or something equally droll. You'd only be allowed out if you asked "may I go to the toilet?"
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,029
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    When somebody uses 'accept' in place of 'except'. For example, "I have all of them accept for this". It's even worse when they spell accept wrong!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,168
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    "nothinK", everythinK"
    and Mark Wright's pronunciation of "entourage"... sounds like "amoulage" ha ha ha (damn ITV adverts)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 300
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    iHelix wrote: »
    When somebody uses 'accept' in place of 'except'. For example, "I have all of them accept for this". It's even worse when they spell accept wrong!

    This - absolutely. I try and tell people that accept is the noun and except is the verb....to no avail.
  • Madridista23Madridista23 Posts: 9,422
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    Marylebone. Lots of people pronounce this Marleybone - ie, putting the 'le' before the 'y', instead of the 'le' AFTER the 'y'.

    Phonetically, it's pronounced Mar-e-le-bone. :cool:
  • bookaddictbookaddict Posts: 2,806
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    Well for one, I find it offensive when people correct, or ostentatiously misunderstand someone because they've pronounced something wrong - especially when you can tell they actually know what the person meant and they're just being deliberately mean.

    It's a really lazy way of dismissing someone, and even if it's not used in a dismissive way, I know how it feels to be blindsided like that when you're trying to express yourself.

    I agree that bad grammar and pronunciation can occasionally make meaning difficult to interpret, but if you DO have a high level of comprehension, you can normally understand what people mean without having to correct them.

    Point taken about deliberately mis-understanding things, when it's obvious what the person really meant.

    I still think there is a huge difference between pronouncing something incorrectly, or apparently incorrectly because of a speech impediment, and just being lazy.

    Yes, I do despair at the slipping standards of grammar! If people can't read or write properly, or even speak properly, what does that signify for their future?!
  • ribtickleribtickle Posts: 6,361
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    For some time I have been irked by Americans pronouncing thorough as furrow (or thurrow, if you prefer).

    The last time I posted this some US members protested they didn't pronounce it that way, but I've recently sat through all 8 series of '24', and 'Jericho', and heard it used many times.

    When they say, in FBI/crime scenes, "we'll do a furrow investigation", I imagine they're going to plough (furrow) a field, perhaps to look for a body.

    http://howjsay.com/index.php?word=thorough&submit=Submit
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 81
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    Marylebone. Lots of people pronounce this Marleybone - ie, putting the 'le' before the 'y', instead of the 'le' AFTER the 'y'.

    Phonetically, it's pronounced Mar-e-le-bone. :cool:

    Actually dude you're wrong, it is not pronounced phonetically and is pronounced Marley-bone. :D
  • thefairydandythefairydandy Posts: 3,235
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    bookaddict wrote: »
    Point taken about deliberately mis-understanding things, when it's obvious what the person really meant.

    I still think there is a huge difference between pronouncing something incorrectly, or apparently incorrectly because of a speech impediment, and just being lazy.

    Yes, I do despair at the slipping standards of grammar! If people can't read or write properly, or even speak properly, what does that signify for their future?!

    Well I suppose there are three cases - when someone is doing deliberately to be cool, in which case it depends how irritating they are, if someone is just being sloppy, and someone who through no fault of their own doesn't know better.

    I was really trying to get across that a lot of these people can be more self conscious of their lack of learning than a few people give them credit for, and then rant on.

    I work with schools and see the same thing with kids with 'chavvy' names - the parent gives them some godawful name and it sticks like mud and they seem to struggle - sometimes because the teachers just don't expect much of them. They can then go their whole life being looked down upon when they were damned from the start and it annoys me.
  • ffawkesffawkes Posts: 4,489
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    Bulletguy1 wrote: »
    People who use the term "off OF" instead of "off".

    Example; "I removed the plant off OF the shelf", instead of "I removed the plant OFF the shelf" :rolleyes:

    It seems to be yet another Americanism which has crept into our language and I notice it is in regular use now by TV presenters.

    Grrrrrrrr.........hate it! :mad::mad:


    yet an American throws a plant out the window whereas you/we throw it out of the window ...
  • Invent MeridianInvent Meridian Posts: 642
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    Barth, parth, marths, larf. The sound is 'a' not 'ar'.

    Persons originating from southern England (such as myself) pronounce Bath, Path and Laugh as Barth, Parth and Larth. Maths is pronounced as it is spelt, I have never heard it being pronounced as Marths, then again I do not like shortened versions of words and therefore say the full word Mathematics.

    Glass, Pass and Past are pronounced here in southern England as Glarse, Parse and Parst.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,699
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    Persons originating from southern England (such as myself) pronounce Bath, Path and Laugh as Barth, Parth and Larth. Maths is pronounced as it is spelt, I have never heard it being pronounced as Marths, then again I do not like shortened versions of words and therefore say the full word Mathematics.

    Glass, Pass and Past are pronounced here in southern England as Glarse, Parse and Parst.

    How do you pronounce Ass then?.

    :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,699
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    One of our local radio presenters who says Twenny as in Twenny Twenny cricket, Thirdy and Fordy, instead of Twenty,Thirty and Forty. It sounds horrible.
  • catherine91catherine91 Posts: 2,636
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    wuffles wrote: »
    People who pronounce the word 'secretary' as 'secertary'.
    Also 'sekkiterry'!
  • catherine91catherine91 Posts: 2,636
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    And has anyone mentioned 'pronounciation'!?
  • angelafisherangelafisher Posts: 4,150
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    I was 27 before I realised tortoise wasn't pronounced 'toytoyse'!!
  • The Exiled DubThe Exiled Dub Posts: 8,358
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    It's 'aitch' not 'haitch'. :rolleyes:

    In some regions, it's 'haitch', despite what textbooks may say. Like in Dublin for example. Everybody, absolutely everybody, I encountered growing up pronounced it as 'haitch', even the so called posh people. When you are born into a region where a text book pronunciation is not used, you are going to learn a colloquialism, despite what purists may think. For me, listening to southern English saying 'aitch' made me laugh. Even now, after living in the UK for some years, 'aitch' still sounds wrong to me.
  • valkayvalkay Posts: 15,726
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    Pet1986 wrote: »
    I loved Beyonce at Glastonbury but everytime she said it, it was GLASTONBERRY and drove me nuts.

    That sounds right to me, how do you pronounce it?
  • JELLIES0JELLIES0 Posts: 6,709
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    Bulletguy1 wrote: »
    People who use the term "off OF" instead of "off".

    Example; "I removed the plant off OF the shelf", instead of "I removed the plant OFF the shelf" :rolleyes:

    It seems to be yet another Americanism which has crept into our language and I notice it is in regular use now by TV presenters.

    Grrrrrrrr.........hate it! :mad::mad:

    If Americans take a plant "off of" a shelf,It makes me wonder why they don't put a plant "on of" the shelf. :confused:
  • JELLIES0JELLIES0 Posts: 6,709
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    alycidon wrote: »
    Skedule - instead of shedule

    Train station - instead of railway station

    Get instead of have - as in 'Can I get a cup of coffee.'
    [This one is my nemesis and can turn me quite violent!]

    Train - instead of engine. A train is what its name implies - a long, complete, train of carriages or trucks, NOT the thing at the front that pulls them!

    I feel much better now! :eek::eek::eek::mad:

    Precisely the things that annoy me. Where did "train station" suddenly appear from ?
    I'm a Countdown addict and when (usually) a youngster says "can I get a vowel" I usually hope they lose :D

    Another one that annoys me on Countdown is when doing the numbers game someone says "take 10" instead of "deduct 10" or "take away ten".
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