River J. Hopkins
A thing I heard once when I was a kid really stuck with me. It was something like, "Don't ever judge someone for pronouncing a word wrong. They probably learned it by reading a book."
Jan 17, 2023 at 11:42pmWeb
Show threadDr. RebeccaJan 18, 2023

@cyborg_writer

Reminds me of the time an obnoxious student called my professor “a suade-o intellectual” in class.

(Pseudo intellectual - in case suade-o is hard to interpret here). Anyway…

It was mildly amusing. I don’t think anyone cared except the student was trying to put on airs so it kind of back fired.

Show threadSliotarJan 18, 2023

@cyborg_writer

I remember as a kid being surprised when I heard the name Penelope spoken. Reading it, I assumed it rhymed with antelope.

Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@Sliotar I could totally see that!!
Show threadKaraOhkiJan 21, 2023
@Sliotar @cyborg_writer and I thought calliope should sound like antelope! English is weird, but it’s what I have.
Show threadJohnnieMacJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer Been there, did that - one word was “segue”. Maybe if I was born after they invented those stand up motorized sideways scooters…
Show threadRayJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer This is something you see quite often on Jeopardy.
Show threadEric LawtonJan 18, 2023

@cyborg_writer My grandma left full-time school at 9 yo, for part time factory work.

Left altogether at 13.

She was a keen library user and read voraciously.

Her pronunciation was … different.

But we all understood her and once she got a TV, she slowly shifted to a more standard pronunciation.

An amazing lady, I was always proud of her.

She taught me lots of fibre arts, like knitting, darning and embroidery.

Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@EricLawton Hell yeah!! Sounds like she was awesome.
Show thread2thfunJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer Love this!
Show threadMikael HanssonJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer As a non-native English speaker I wish I had heard this years ago. I learned most of my vocabulary from books and pre-talkie adventure games. 😆
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@mikael That's awesome, though!! Being self-taught is definitely something to be proud of!
Show threadPatrick McLaughlinJan 18, 2023

@mikael @cyborg_writer

That’s something to be proud of — you managed to get through the minefield of English without a native guide. Native speakers get guides, and still screw it up.

Show threadMikael HanssonJan 18, 2023
@McPatrick @cyborg_writer I can’t take full credit of course: Even a backwards country like little Sweden does have a school system and does get American movies. But books and other nerdy read media provide a depth to the language you don’t usually encounter until much higher levels of education.
Show threadMark RigbyJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer I'd heard the word "segue", I'd seen the word written down in books but, in my head, I'd read it as rhyming with "league". I was literally in my 20's before I connected the word to the sound.
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@Wufflekins Lol I hear ya! I thought "segue" was pronounced "seg-you" until I heard it read aloud by someone else. 💀
Show threadWoodchazJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer @Wufflekins
I thought misled was pronounced mizzled. I also thought several words were synonyms for themselves. :)
Show threadAnam Sona Seaview B&BJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer @Wufflekins
You all made me curious. All the wrong pronunciations 😁 I'm a German and didn't even know the word but I have a wonderfull dictionary (dict.cc) which has the translations and different slangs how to speak it. Never would have spoken segue this way 😱🤣
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@anamsona @Wufflekins Right?! Definitely a weird word. 🤣
Show threadAnam Sona Seaview B&BJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer
Definitely! 😁
@Wufflekins
Show threadMark RigbyJan 18, 2023

@anamsona @cyborg_writer being British, you get used to the idiosyncrasies in pronunciation but it's so easy to forget how much reliance is on actially hearing the word spoken before it lodges in your brain as "oh, yeah - of course it's pronounced like that".

Still, easier than German grammar ;o)

Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@Wufflekins @anamsona I hear ya. I'm from the US, and there are 20 different English dialects here! Lol.
Show threadMark RigbyJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer @anamsona You should hear how many there are in England! Every 20 miles is a completely different accent!
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@Wufflekins @anamsona I've heard!! Haha. 37 of them, I believe? It's impressive!
Show threadAnam Sona Seaview B&BJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer
Have you ever been in Ireland? I really love it to be here but sometimes I think that can't be English anymore (and no, it wasn't Irish 😉)
I only learned English in school, you are lucky to be born in an English-speaking country.
But yes Mark, German grammar is a nightmare 😁
@Wufflekins
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@anamsona @Wufflekins No, but I do plan on visiting one day! One entire half of my family tree comes from Ireland.
Show threadAnam Sona Seaview B&BJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer @Wufflekins
Then you shouldn't wait too long for a visit. Find your roots. I should have gone earlier, that's the only thing I'm sad about. I found my true home very late in my life.
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@anamsona @Wufflekins Easier said than done! I am poor folk. Lol.
Show threadGeoff WinklessJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer I remember reading aloud at primary school once and the whole class falling about because of how I pronounced the word "colonel". Not a mistake I made twice.
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 18, 2023
@Geoff Ugh. Children can be so mean! I'm sorry that happened to you. I thought it was pronounced differently, too, for a while!
Show threadGeoff WinklessJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer I think the problem was that "the colonel" in the story was out of context - I might have connected the word if he was in a war story with other ranks, but (like the Major in Fawlty Towers) there was just this "the colonel" character with no surrounding hints.
Show threadJanealogy Scottish Fam HistJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer Eggypit - on discovering the word Egypt aged about 6 or 7.
Show thread(Leif Lindholm) has movedJan 18, 2023
@cyborg_writer A former colleague once told me how disappointed they were upon learning the proper pronounciation of 'ubiquitous'.
Show threadShriram KrishnamurthiJan 18, 2023

@cyborg_writer On the one hand, us immigrants can totally relate.

On the other hand, this is mainly am English problem!

(Of course, every language has dialects and accents. But we're talking base pronunciation and ambiguity here.)

Show threadMat BradshawJan 18, 2023

@cyborg_writer

I've been quoting similar for years. So very true

Personally, the word hyperbole was one that I read but, in my mind, mispronounced until I realised. See also ennui

Slight diversion, I met a couple from Arkansas who were shocked that anyone could read it as R Kansas rather than R Can Saw. Seemed obvious to me but seemingly not so for them. Familiarity is a bitch sometimes

Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 19, 2023
@Twoclownseating I thought it was pronounced that way, too, when I was a kid! I started reading younger than most people, and by the time I was in school, I found out a LOT of the words I already knew were pronounced differently. Oops. 🤣
Show threadElysia MachtJan 19, 2023
@cyborg_writer I don't know if it's true or not, but I've at least seen that attributed to Mark Twain as I recall.
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 19, 2023
@ElysiaMacht That would make a lot of sense!!
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 19, 2023

@ElysiaMacht I didn't find it, but I did find this gem. Totally LOL'd:

“If you don't know how to pronounce a word, say it loudly. Do not compound mispronunciation with inaudibility.”

Show threadKaraOhkiJan 20, 2023
@cyborg_writer that exact thing happened to me. My poor Mom nearly died laughing when she heard my very poor try. But I was reading aloud to her and wanted to know what the phrase meant (it was French).
Show threadRiver J. HopkinsJan 21, 2023
@juneg 🤣 Oh geez. That reminds me of a time my mum brought me to church and pointed to the title of a book and asked me what it said. I said, "...Holly Bibble?" I thought it was someone's name, but no, it was just the bible. LOL.
Show threadKaraOhkiJan 21, 2023
@cyborg_writer it was a good try!