Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn.
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Page Table of Contents
Most of the information on this page was adapted from the following book:
The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations
The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker
By Charles Harrington Elster
Buy it from Amazon (#ad).
Your favorite dictionary is probably wrong. Read the Big Book (#ad) to find out why. If you have any arguments with this list, check out the book before complaining. You might be able to find it at your local library, but it's better to own your own copy if you can.
I made the list below because I have trouble remembering how to pronounce some of the words correctly and it's nice to have a fast way to look them up. The rest of the words are ones I have heard other people mangle in person, in movies, on TV, or at YouTube. It's fun to look through the list to see which words you may still mispronounce. You'll need to read the Big Book (#ad) for detailed explanations for why a word should be pronounced a certain way in the USA. You might also want to read the blog post called Why All This Verbal Pickiness? by Charles Harrington Elster.
For those who want to know, Charles Harrington Elster said it was OK for me to have this page online. I'm just not allowed to post the key to pronunciation from his book.
If you like this page, you might also be interested in my page called Grammar Errors and Goofy Mistakes.
About Link Colors
Links that jump to other places on this page are blue. Links that lead to other pages online are red.
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If you'd like to share a link that jumps directly to a certain word, click on the permanent link for it, then copy the address.
Saying double-u instead of win.
Typing w is quicker than typing win, but it takes longer to say the three-syllable word double-u. How about saying win instead?
(This is a new section. I'll add more to it over time.)
Top 25 mispronounced words I've heard in movies, on TV, or at YouTube.
1. often
AWF-in or AHF-in < Correct
AWF-tin or AHF-tin < Wrong
The T is silent for people raised in the United States. Americans who desperately want others to think they're classy or British will usually pronounce the T. If you don't want people to think you're a pretentious wannabe/never-will-be, avoid the T. Those of us who were raised in the United States also do not pronounce the T in words such as sof[t]en, lis[t]en, glis[t]en, fas[t]en, chas[t]en, gris[t]le, epis[t]le, apos[t]le, bris[t]le, rus[t]le, has[t]en, and mis[t]letoe.
2. obvious
AHB-vee-us < Correct
AHV-ee-us < Wrong
The B is pronounced. Movie stars are famous for mispronouncing this one.
3. sure
SHUR < Correct
SHOR < Wrong
Sure rhymes with words such as cure and pure. Sure does not rhyme with words such as shore, chore, floor, and door.
4. sorry
SAR-ee < Correct
SOR-ee < Wrong
The first syllable of sorry rhymes with words such as bar, car, and jar. The first syllable of sorry does not rhyme with words such as shore, chore, floor, and door.
5. culinary
KYOO-li-ner-ee < Correct
KUHL-i-ner-ee < Wrong
The friend of every cucumber.
The first syllable of culinary does not rhyme with gull or skull; it rhymes with the letter Q. You don't say kuhcumber when you pronounce the word cucumber, so that's a good way to remember how to pronounce culinary (Q-linary or cue-linary). Think of cucumber (a food) before you say culinary (related to food) and you'll always pronounce it correctly.
6. vs. (versus)
VER-sus < Correct
VURS < Wrong
Uninformed children will read vs. without knowing what it stands for and try to pronounce the abbreviation the way it looks. Some parents seem to be so desperate to look “cool” and fit in with their unenlightened “fresh and current” children that they will also pronounce vs. incorrectly instead of pointing out that we should be saying versus instead of verse.
7. athlete
ATH-leet < Correct
ATH-uh-leet < Wrong
Athlete is a two-syllable word and it rhymes with path feet.
8. GIF
JIF < Correct
GIPH < Wrong
According to Wikipedia, Steve Wilhite was the engineering lead on the team that created the GIF image file format. Steve Wilhite said that GIF should sound like JIF when spoken. End of story.
If you find out that you've been pronouncing a word differently than the creator of the word intended, just update your mental software and move on. No need to argue about it. For example, some people mispronounce the company name Nike as if it rhymes with Mike. It's actually supposed to rhyme with eye key. No need to cry about it if you've been saying it wrong for years. Again, update and move on.
I mispronounced various words when I was a child. I used to say wheel barrel instead of wheelbarrow. Simple mistake when you don't know what a “barrow” is yet. I also said jute box instead of jukebox until I was around 13 years old. Every time I found out that I was mispronouncing a word, I just updated my mental software.
There are many words and names that can't be sounded out by simply looking at them. We actually have to learn how the words are pronounced. In the case of names, where we've all seen how the spelling can be very different from the pronunciation, we have to get the correct way to say it from the source instead of guessing. The source for GIF is Steve Wilhite from CompuServe and he said that GIF sounds like JIF. If the engineering lead on the team that created the GIF image file format said that GIF sounds like JIF instead of GIPH, isn't the argument over?
I think the hard G camp might be similar to people who join a cult and are too proud or embarrassed to admit they made a mistake, so they stubbornly dig their heels in and wildly grasp at anything that might help them hold tight to their tattered beliefs.
I've been pronouncing GIF like Jif peanut butter since I first saw the acronym in the late 1990s. Yay for me! I actually got one right the first time! Howtoreallypronouncegif.com wants us to believe that GIF must have a hard G sound, like gift, but some people already pronounce the word gift as if it doesn't have a T on the end. That bad habit can sound lazy or ignorant to a lot of people, so why attach that baggage to GIF?
Below are some random things from the Internet about the subject.
Tony Francis Degan at YouTube:
People need to stop pointing to the “graphics” word as a baseline for the pronunciation, as it doesn't work that way with acronyms; they're treated as their own word. So the common rules of English apply, in which: G followed by E, I, or Y is commonly a soft G, while G followed by A, O, or U commonly makes a hard G.
Why people don't understand this is beyond me.
The word gin is more closely related to gif than gift, pronunciation-wise, because 1) only one letter needs replacing in gin, and 2) gift is ended with a hard consonant (T), as are most words that exhibit a hard G followed by an I, e.g. git, gimp, etc.
SCUBA stands for “Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.” You do not pronounce the U in SCUBA the same as the U in Underwater.
LASER stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.” You don't pronounce the A in LASER like you pronounce the A in Amplification, nor the S as you do in Stimulated, nor do you pronounce the E the same as in Emission.
The most famous counterexample is JPEG, short for “Joint Photographic Experts Group”; by the logic of the hard-g-graphics argument, you should pronounce “JPEG” as jay-pheg instead of the mainstream jay-peg because of the “ph” at the beginning of “photographic”.
9. height
HYT < Correct
HYTH < Wrong
The word height does not end with a TH sound. It rhymes with words such as bite, kite, and night.
10. length
LENGKTH < Correct
LENTH < Wrong
The word length does not rhyme with the word tenth.
11. strength
STRENGKTH < Correct
STRENTH < Wrong
The word strength does not rhyme with the word tenth.
12. poem
POH-um < Correct
POH-eem < Wrong
POYM < Wrong
POHM < Wrong
Show ‘em your poem.
The first syllable of poem rhymes with words such as go and snow. Poem does not rhyme with toy. The second syllable of poem does not rhyme with beem.
13. data
DAY-tuh < Correct
DAT-uh < Wrong
What a nice day to look at the data.
The first syllable of the word data sounds like day. The first syllable of the word data does not rhyme with words such as that, cat, and bat.
14. jewelry
JOO-wuul-ree < Correct
JOO-luh-ree < Wrong
JER-ee < Wrong
JEW-ree < Wrong
If you can say jewel, you can say jewel-ree. The word jewelry does not rhyme with the word jury or the name Beulah with ree slapped on the end. Also see jewel.
15. salmon
SAM-un < Correct
SAL-mun < Wrong
Does Sam like salmon?
The L is silent. On a similar subject, the word salmonella is based on a man's last name, not the fish, so we're supposed to pronounce the L, but has anyone wondered why his family pronounced their name that way? If they didn't know the L is supposed to be silent in the word salmon, they could have been mispronouncing their own last name for a long time. Instead of being a victim of their possible ignorance and to avoid confusion, why not keep the L silent in salmon and salmonella?
16. calm
KAHM < Correct
KAHLM < Wrong
The L is silent. Also see palm, psalm and qualm.
17. palm
PAHM < Correct
PAHLM < Wrong
The L is silent. Also see calm, psalm and qualm.
18. sandwich
SAND-wich < Correct
SAN-wich < Wrong
SAM-wich < Wrong
SAM-mitch < Wrong
The D is pronounced.
19. sale
SAYL < Correct
SEL < Wrong
Sale rhymes with words such as ale, male, and whale. Sale does not rhyme with words such as bell, cell, and tell.
20. fail
FAYL < Correct
FEEL < Wrong
FEL < Wrong
Fail rhymes with words such as ale, male, and whale. Fail does not rhyme with words such as eel, squeal, and wheel or bell, cell, and tell.
21. deal
DEEL < Correct
DIL < Wrong
Deal rhymes with words such as eel, squeal, and wheel. Deal does not rhyme with words such as bill, grill, and shill.
22. feel
FEEL < Correct
FIL < Wrong
Feel rhymes with words such as eel, squeal, and wheel. Feel does not rhyme with words such as bill, grill, and shill.
23. mauve
MOHV < Correct
MAWV < Wrong
Mauve rhymes with words such as cove, grove, and stove.
24. gala
GAY-luh < Correct
GAL-uh < Wrong
You're sure to have a gay old time at the gala.
25. voilà
vwah-LAH < Correct
wah-LAH < Wrong
The V is pronounced.
AHRK-tik < Correct
AHR-tik < Wrong
The first syllable of the word arctic sounds like ark.
AS-tuh-risk < Correct
AS-tuh-rik < Wrong
AS-trik < Wrong
The last syllable of this three-syllable word sounds like risk, just like it's spelled.
BYE-nairy < Correct in the USA
BYE-nuh-ree < Correct in the UK
BYE-uh-nairy < Wrong
As it says here, the UK version rhymes with “winery” and the version used in the USA rhymes with “bye Mary.”
KECH-up < Correct
KACH-up < Correct
KAT-sup < Wrong
There is no cat in catsup.
SHAM-ee < Correct
CHAM-oys < Wrong
SHAM-oys < Wrong
cham-WAH < Wrong
sham-WAH < Wrong
Chamois rhymes with words such as clammy and whammy.
SHEEK < Correct
CHIK < Wrong
Chic rhymes with words such as creek and speak.
klan-DES-tin < Correct
klan-DES-tyn < Wrong
klan-DES-teen < Wrong
KLAN-di-styn < Wrong
KLAN-di-steen < Wrong
KLAN-di-stin < Wrong
Is it your destiny to live a clandestine life?
klee-SHAY < Correct
kli-SHAY < Wrong
The first syllable of cliche rhymes with words such as bee and glee.
KLEEK < Correct
KLIK < Wrong
Clique rhymes with words such as creek and speak.
KOO-pahn < Correct
KYOO-pahn < Wrong
There is no Q in coupon.
DES-i-bel < Correct
DES-i-buul < Wrong
The last syllable sounds like bell because it comes from Alexander Graham Bell.
DEE-i-tee < Correct
DAY-i-tee < Wrong
The first syllable of deity rhymes with words such as bee and see. It's the same for the word deify.
di-ZAS-trus < Correct
di-ZAS-tur-us < Wrong
Disastrous only has three syllables.
DAHM-uh-syl < Correct
DOH-muh-syl < Wrong
There is no doe in domicile.
EE-thur < Correct
EYE-thur < Wrong
There is no eye in either for people raised in the United States. Americans who desperately want others to think they're classy or British will usually pronounce the word as if it starts with eye. If you don't want people to think you're a pretentious wannabe/never-will-be, avoid the eye.
EE-vuul < Correct
EE-vil < Wrong
The last syllable of the word evil rhymes with wool. It does not rhyme with shill.
FEB-roo-ER-ee < Correct
FEB-yoo-ER-ee < Wrong
It might help to think of the word kangaroo before you say Febrooary.
FEE-kul < Correct
FEE-sul < Wrong
The word fecal has a hard c.
FEE-seez < Correct
FEE-keez < Wrong
“High seas? More like high fee seas!” said the cruise ship passenger.
The word feces has a soft c.
FLAK-sid < Correct
FLAS-id < Wrong
Don't give me flack, Sid!
Would you say assident for accident, susseed for succeed, or essentric for eccentric? In these and similar words—where cc precedes an i or e—the double c should be pronounced like x or k, as in accept, vaccinate, accentuate, accede, occidental, and occipital.
FLOO-tist < Correct
FLOW-tist < Wrong
FLAW-tist < Wrong
Will the flootist toot on a floot?
The first syllable of flutist rhymes with words such as too and who.
FOH-lee-ij < Correct
FOH-lij < Wrong
FOY-lij < Wrong
The word foliage has three syllables. Also see verbiage.
FOY-ur < Correct
FOY-ay < Wrong
FWAH-yay < Wrong
FRAY-kis < Correct
FRAK-is < Wrong
FUN-jy < Correct
FUN-jee < Wrong
FUN-gee < Wrong
FUN-guy < Wrong
What a fun jive!
There is no guy in fungi. The last syllable of the word fungi rhymes with jive.
GAY-shuh < Correct
GEE-shuh < Wrong
GUY-shuh < Wrong
GESH-uh < Wrong
The first syllable of the word geisha rhymes with gay.
CHING-gis HAHN < Correct
GENG-gis KAHN < Wrong
Check out the Modern Mongolian Pronunciation for Chinggis Khaan at YouTube.
GEN-yoo-in < Correct
GEN-yoo-wyn < Wrong
Jen, you win!
There is no wine in genuine.
HAY-nis < Correct
HY-nis < Wrong
HEE-nis < Wrong
HEE-nee-is < Wrong
HAY-nee-is < Wrong
Hey! That's heinous!
The word heinous has two syllables, not three. The first syllable sounds like the word hay.
URB < Correct
HURB < Wrong
Do not pronounce the H unless it's a man's name or you are British.
hy-PUR-buh-lee < Correct
HY-pur-bohl < Wrong
Any sports fan will tell you that there is a Super Bowl, a Sugar Bowl, a Cotton Bowl, and a Rose Bowl, but there is no Hyper Bowl.
eye-DEE-uh < Correct
eye-DEER < Wrong
There is no dear in idea.
i-MA-jik < Correct
eye-MA-jik < Wrong
ee-MA-jik < Wrong
Imagic cartridges bring imagination and a touch of magic to your Atari.
Imagic (video game company from the 1980s) comes from the words imagination and magic [example 1, example 2]. For those who need further confirmation, Imagic is also pronounced with a soft i sound in every Imagic employee interview and game commercial that can be found on YouTube.
EYE-ruh-nee < Correct
EYE-ur-nee < Wrong
Dude, why is your eye runny?
The word irony does not sound like iron knee.
JAG-wahr < Correct
JAG-wyr < Wrong
JAG-yoo-ah < Wrong
There is no you or wire in jaguar. The last syllable of jaguar rhymes with words such as bar, car, and jar.
JOO-wuul(z) < Correct
JOOL(Z) < Wrong
Jewel is a two-syllable word. Also see jewelry.
KAR-ee-OH-kee < Correct
KAIR-ee-OH-kee < Correct
The word karaoke sounds like carry oaky (a reasonable anglicization). Other strained and clumsy pronunciations are best avoided.
KECH-up < Correct
KACH-up < Correct
KAT-sup < Wrong
There is no cat in ketchup.
KIN-dur-GHART’n < Correct
KIN-dur-GARD’n < Correct
KINNER-GARD’n < Wrong
If you've ever seen the Humpty Dumpty Kinder Surprise Commercial, you know how to pronounce the first two syllables of the word kindergarten.
LY-brer-ee < Correct
LY-ber-ee < Wrong
There is no berry in library.
MAK-i-NAY-shin < Correct
MASH-i-NAY-shin < Wrong
There is no mash in machination.
MEZH-ur < Correct
MAY-zhur < Wrong
There is no may in measure.
NICH < Correct
NEESH < Wrong
NISH < Wrong
By digging that ditch, you have found your niche.
The word in niche rhymes with ditch.
N(Y)OO-klee-ur < Correct
NOO-kyuh-lur < Wrong
NOO-kyur-lur < Wrong
NOO-klur < Wrong
The second syllable of the word nuclear rhymes with words such as flee and glee.
AHF-thuul-MAHL-uh-jist < Correct
AHP-thuh-MAHL-uh-jist < Wrong
There is no op in ophthalmologist.
uh-RANG-uh-TAN < Correct
uh-RANG-uh-TANG < Wrong
There is no tang in orangutan.
poyn-SET-ee-uh < Correct
poyn-SET-uh < Wrong
poynt-SET-ee-uh < Wrong
poynt-SET-uh < Wrong
There is no point in the four-syllable word poinsettia.
puh-ZES < Correct
poh-ZES < Wrong
There is no Poe in possess.
POH-puu-REE < Correct
POT-pour-ee < Wrong
There is no pot in potpourri.
SAHM < Correct
SAHLM < Wrong
The L is silent. Also see calm, palm and qualm.
PUHMP-kin < Correct
PUHNG-kin < Wrong
PUHM-kin < Wrong
Pump up the pumpkin balloons! The children will be here any minute!
KWAHM < Correct
KWAHLM < Wrong
The L is silent. Also see calm, palm and psalm.
kwik-SAHT-ik < Correct
kee-HOH-tik < Wrong
It's so quick and exotic!
ROOZ < Correct
ROOS < Wrong
ROOZH < Wrong
Ruse rhymes with words such as shoes and views. Ruse does not rhyme with words such as juice, moose, and spruce. Some people mistakenly think that ruse sounds like rouge. Although applying reddish powder to your cheeks is a deception, it's not a ruse.
SHUR-bit < Correct
SHUR-burt < Wrong
SHUR-bay < Wrong
There is no Bert (or Ernie) in sherbet.
swah-RAY < Correct
sor-AY < Wrong
sor-EE < Wrong
There is no sore in soiree.
SUM-thing < Correct
SUN-thing < Wrong
There is no sun in something.
STACH-ur < Correct
STA-chur < Correct
STACH-oo < Wrong
STA-choo < Wrong
There is no statue in stature. If you are short, you are not small in statue. You are small in stature.
suk-SEED < Correct
suh-SEED < Wrong
sus-SEED < Wrong
Succeed rhymes with suck seed.
suhk-SINGKT < Correct
suh-SINGKT < Wrong
Succinct basically rhymes with suck sink.
SORD < Correct
SWORD < Wrong
Sword rhymes with words such as cord, ford, and lord.
TOR-us < Correct
TOW-rus < Wrong
TAR-rus < Wrong
Taurus rhymes with tore us.
VAL-un-tyns DAY < Correct
VAL-un-tyms DAY < Wrong
There is no time in Valentine’s Day. The third syllable of Valentine rhymes with words such as pine and wine. The third syllable of Valentine does not rhyme with words such as crime, lime, and mime.
VEJ-tuh-buul < Correct
VEJ-i-tuh-buul < Wrong
Vegetable has three syllables.
VEN-dur < Correct
VEN-dor < Wrong
ven-DOR < Wrong
There is no door in vendor.
VUR-bee-ij < Correct
VUR-bij < Wrong
The word verbiage has three syllables. Also see foliage.
VUR-suh-til < Correct
VUR-suh-tyl < Wrong
vur-suh-TYL < Wrong
There is no tile in versatile.
VUR-tuh-BREE < Correct
VUR-tuh-BRAY < Wrong
The third syllable of vertebrae rhymes with words such as bee and see. The third syllable of vertebrae does not rhyme with words such as clay, say, and way.
VEE-zuh < Correct
VEE-suh < Wrong
The word visa has a Z sound.
WAHSH < Correct
WAHRSH < Wrong
WAWRSH < Wrong
Wash rhymes with words such as gosh and posh. Wash does not rhyme with words such as harsh and marsh.
zoh-AHL-uh-jee < Correct
zoo-AHL-uh-jee < Wrong
The first syllable of zoology rhymes with words such as go and snow. The first syllable of zoology does not rhyme with words such as poo and shrew. There Is No Zoo in Zoology (#ad).
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