Worst word award

[poppy]

Worst word: eight

I'm ok with freight and weight, but eight ... I feel like I am trying to say ought with a weird accent.

 

Runner up worst word: often

Because people *including my husband* pronounce the silent t.

 

Third place: February

Is the r silent? No one really knows.

[Miss Peregrine]

Brewery. I can't even say it.

[lamppost]

Rural. Even worse: rural juror.

[zoobie]

Brewery. I can't even say it.

Rural. Even worse: rural juror.

Hilarious! DH was making fun of me saying brewery and rural today. He said I need to open an orange rural brewery. For some reason occasionally orange comes out or-EEENJ.

[Belacqua]

"coin toss" (two words, granted, but I'm indulging in some artistic license here); it always, always comes out "toin coss"

 

and "lotion," just because the word makes me feel squicky.

[Mom in High Heels]

Worst word: eight

I'm ok with freight and weight, but eight ... I feel like I am trying to say ought with a weird accent.

 

Runner up worst word: often

Because people *including my husband* pronounce the silent t.

 

Third place: February

Is the r silent? No one really knows.

 

I don't know a single person who doesn't pronounce the 't' in often.

[Tap]

Worst word: eight

I'm ok with freight and weight, but eight ... I feel like I am trying to say ought with a weird accent.

 

Runner up worst word: often

Because people *including my husband* pronounce the silent t.

 

Third place: February

Is the r silent? No one really knows.

 

Do you also have a problem with the sound of ate? Or is it the spelling that bugs you?

According to Merriam-Webster, often can be said both ways.  I was taught to pronounce  the T in 'often' (sounds like off-ten). But to not pronounce the T in 'soften' (sounds like soff-en)

 

I say Feb-roo-err-ee  (definitely 2 R sounds)

[Tap]

"coin toss" (two words, granted, but I'm indulging in some artistic license here); it always, always comes out "toin coss"

 

and "lotion," just because the word makes me feel squicky.

 

I have a friend who can not stand the sound or imagery of of 'moist bumps'

[Ellie]

poem

 

In some places, people say "poym." :huh:

[Piper]

Crayon.  Every time my kids say it sounds *exactly* like "crown".  Drives me nuts.

[Melissa in Australia]

Worst word: eight

I'm ok with freight and weight, but eight ... I feel like I am trying to say ought with a weird accent.

 

Runner up worst word: often

Because people *including my husband* pronounce the silent t.

 

Third place: February

Is the r silent? No one really knows.

 

But it doesn't have a silent T

 

[Melissa in Australia]

I don't know a single person who doesn't pronounce the 't' in often.

 

:iagree:

 

[Xuzi]

Crayon.  Every time my kids say it sounds *exactly* like "crown".  Drives me nuts.

Heh, I was coming in to say "crayon" too! Different reason though. My DH pronounces it as two, hard syllables, like "CRAY-on", whereas I always grew up hearing it pronounced as kind of a quick, soft-syllable word. (not sure if that makes sense)

[Ravin]

Rural is up there. But I think I have to go with Douglas Adams: Belgium.

[gaillardia]

Funny, Xuzi! I just erased my post but since you mention it...my husband says cran for cray' ahn (my pronunciation). He used to say kyeller for color. I'm not sure if this has to do with the worst word or what my least favorite word is, I don't know if I have one.

[Sisyphus]

Interesting- only my English friend pronounces the t in often that I can think of offhand. And I've lived all over the us, it's "offen" 99% of the time.

 

I hate retch. It's so onamotopoeia-ish I can't stand it. Or however you spell that- my iPad underlines it but has no suggestions, but y'all know what I mean!

[Slache]

My mother in law says worsh instead of wash. Worshington. Worshing machine. No. You're wrong. It's wash.

[poppy]

Do you also have a problem with the sound of ate? Or is it the spelling that bugs you?

According to Merriam-Webster, often can be said both ways. I was taught to pronounce the T in 'often' (sounds like off-ten). But to not pronounce the T in 'soften' (sounds like soff-en)

 

I say Feb-roo-err-ee (definitely 2 R sounds)

Soften, christen, moisten, hasten......often.

 

I know the dictionary says pronouncing the t is ok, but it also say irregardless is a word.

Technically the t is ok to pronounce, and technically irregardless is a word.

But they are both in the running for worst word!

 

8 is fine. It is seeing 'eight' spelled out that makes me shudder.

[Mom in High Heels]

We say CRAY-ahn.  My grandmother said crayn.  It was a long time before I knew what she was saying.  My mom cannot say the word sherif.  She say sure-f.  It drives me crazy.  I've tried over and over to get her to pronounce it correctly, but she always pronounces it the same and swears she's saying exactly what I'm saying.  She doesn't hear a difference.

[Tap]

Interesting- only my English friend pronounces the t in often that I can think of offhand. And I've lived all over the us, it's "offen" 99% of the time.

 

I hate retch. It's so onamotopoeia-ish I can't stand it. Or however you spell that- my iPad underlines it but has no suggestions, but y'all know what I mean!

 

I swear I must have learned to read, using books from the UK.  I have quite a few quirks that relate directly to being taught the English version of things. For instance, I spell the color grey, with an e.  I grew up in Oregon until I was 10 and my first 4 years of school were using A'beka.

[eternalsummer]

most of these are legitimate regional pronunciations

 

I can't stand rather, though - used instead of whether

[Serenade]

In some places, people say "poym." :huh:

Can't. stand. this.

[Cinder]

poem

 

In some places, people say "poym." :huh:

 

 

Can't. stand. this.

 

 

:iagree: 

[Cinder]

And my latest peeve is when arctic is pronounced ar-tic. Same for antarctic. I know it's an accepted pronunciation but it still bugs me. It sounds like a different word, like climatic vs climactic.

 

I also don't like saying "rural." I *can* say it; I just don't like to. Those two r's are just too close together. Who came up with that word anyway? :glare:

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Shamzanne]

I am so maddened by people who say "wallah" or worse, spell it out instead of saying or writing "voila". Catch me in the wrong mood and I'm afraid I won't be able to bite my tongue and let this one slide.

[Unicorn.]

Do you also have a problem with the sound of ate? Or is it the spelling that bugs you?

According to Merriam-Webster, often can be said both ways.  I was taught to pronounce  the T in 'often' (sounds like off-ten). But to not pronounce the T in 'soften' (sounds like soff-en)

 

I say Feb-roo-err-ee  (definitely 2 R sounds)

 

I say Feb-you-air-ee

 

I also say poy-em  my ds says poe-im  drives me bonkers.

 

I can't say social..

 

And I absolutely go off my rocker when I see people use:  burnt instead of burned.  (yes, I know the great book of Webster says it's okay, but it's not, it's really, really, not)

 

Dd2 and I both spell theatre, instead of theater 

 

eta: and the t is pronounced in often, but not soften

[fraidycat]

We say CRAY-ahn. My grandmother said crayn. It was a long time before I knew what she was saying. My mom cannot say the word sherif. She say sure-f. It drives me crazy. I've tried over and over to get her to pronounce it correctly, but she always pronounces it the same and swears she's saying exactly what I'm saying. She doesn't hear a difference.

Is it like Joey learning French in Friends? Because that immediately jumped to mind when I read your post and I giggled out loud.

[Mom in High Heels]

Is it like Joey learning French in Friends? Because that immediately jumped to mind when I read your post and I giggled out loud.

 

YES!  That's exactly what it's like!  

[Ailaena]

 

and "lotion," just because the word makes me feel squicky.

 

Forget about worst word, I nominate "squicky" for Best New Word ;)

[Tammi K]

Crayon.  Every time my kids say it sounds *exactly* like "crown".  Drives me nuts.

 

I hate to hear it pronounced  'cran'.  It has 2 syllables!!!!! Cray-on.

 

Now I feel better.

[Laura Corin]

'Quantitative easing.'  Even the news readers have a problem with that one.  

 

I have a problem with 'Rural Brochure' and the town of 'Inverurie' (both words I have to say daily at work).  I have a light-to-non-existent southern English 'R' and these words come out all woolly.

 

L

[amyinva]

Temmashure. As in, when the weather guy says, "the high temmashure tomorrow will be around 70 degrees." Closely followed by tempachure.

 

My grandmother, who grew up in the Deep South, can't say "ruined," but thinks she can. It sounds like Rurnt.

[nevergiveup]

Lawyer--law yer?  loi yer?

 

Realtor--real tor?  re la tor?

[AnIslandGirl]

For the regional pronunciations, this NYT quiz was interesting. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

[countrygal]

Ok, maybe this is a farm thing, but I say manure as man - OO - er

 

Lot of locals just say mun- ER

They are SO wrong, even if they've farmed their whole life.

 

[kwg]

A lot of people around here play corn hole. That word (s) gives me the shivers :ack2: .

[Tap]

For the regional pronunciations, this NYT quiz was interesting. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html?_r=0

 

That was really interesting...I was all over the map!  LOL  I moved around from the ages of 10-16. My sister and I used to practice sounding like locals so I am sure that is how I ended up with the odd spread of answers.  Our new words started settling into our vocabularies and I guess they stuck around.

[nmoira]

Libary... drives me nuts.

[Pawz4me]

Libary... drives me nuts.

 

A long-time radio personality in this area says libary.  And one of the local TV reporters pronounces Saturday w/o making the "t" sound, so it comes out as something like Sa-er-day.

 

I can overlook and forgive bad pronunciation in most people, but IMO those who earn their living talking on TV or radio should be held to a higher standard.

[Belacqua]

I hate to hear it pronounced  'cran'.  It has 2 syllables!!!!! Cray-on.

 

Now I feel better.

 

The Crayon Donnybrook my freshman year of college was truly legendary. Six girls who didn't speak for three days after a screaming fight about cran/cray-on/crown. Our RA said at least it was something different from the usual Pop/Soda Fracas.

 

 

And my latest peeve is when arctic is pronounced ar-tic. Same for antarctic. I know it's an accepted pronunciation but it still bugs me. It sounds like a different word, like climatic vs climactic.

 

 

I'm reminded of an old tv show in which somebody said "anticlimatic" and another character (God, actually) corrected her, pointing out that he didn't think she was actually opposed to weather. 

 

 

 

 

[DragonFaerie]

Realtor.  It's re-al-tor.  NOT re-li-tor. 

[Dmmetler]

For me, irrelevant -it either comes out irrevelant or sometime irrevenant. Irreverent has the same problem.

 

I have speech issues, finally identified as dyspraxia only after about 18 years of therapy, so a lot of things with final /r/ sounds come out with two syllables, and not quite an /r/-so dear is more like de-arh. I finally usually have the initial and medial r's mostly correct unless I'm really tired, but that final....

[Mom in High Heels]

Lawyer--law yer?  loi yer?

 

Realtor--real tor?  re la tor?

 

Real-tor.  There is no letter between the l and t.  I used to be a Realtor, and it was all I could do not to correct them.

 

A lot of people around here play corn hole. That word (s) gives me the shivers :ack2: .

 

Hahaha!  My friend is from Indiana and the first time she ever said that, I was like  :ohmy:   

 

 

My grandfather couldn't say climbed.  He always said it with a short i (or short e, depending on how you look at it).  Clem-d.  He could say climb correctly, but when you added the ed to it, it changed.  Isn't that weird?

[idnib]

"panty"

 

I hate this word.

[Mom in High Heels]

"panty"

 

I hate this word.

 

Oh, oh, yes, yes, yes!!!!  I abhor that word!  It makes me feel squicky.  It sounds like something a dirty old man would say in a creepy voice.  Blech.  I call them underwear or if I'm feeling fancy, unmentionable.  

[Lang Syne Boardie]

You mean we only play corn hole here??? I thought it was a midwestern thing and not for Hoosiers only.

I say "crown" for crayon and "oinge" for orange. I probably invented "prolly" for probably, because I have a really hard time getting the "bub" syllable in there. But I did finally conquer warsh, feesh, ain't, and y'all (most of the time) so this level of proficiency in articulation is prolly the best I'm ever gonna git.

[poppy]

Had to google to find the non-crude definition of corn hole!

[poppy]

Had to google to find the non-crude definition of corn hole!

[Pawz4me]

Had to google to find the non-crude definition of corn hole!

 

You're a brave person. ;)

[Seeking Squirrels]

I can't say rural. I get tongue tied over the two r's and end up saying "ruru" over and over until I give up.

 

Around here I hate "across" because everyone adds a t. So they say "I'm going acrost the street" Actually a t gets added to a lot of words and taken out of many it belongs in. It drives me crazy.