Mispronunciation of words

originally posted by: SpeakerofTruth
a reply to: fiverx313

"Sarcasm?"

No, the two sentences have completely different connotations.

To say, "I could care less," implies that a person cares to some degree.

To say, "I couldn't care less," implies that one doesn't care in the slightest.

Words matter in regards to meaning.

and yet most people don't have any trouble understanding the implied meaning, no matter which way you phrase it -- because of inflection, context, and sarcasm.

funny, huh? communication is more than a book of rules to agonize over and get all pet peevish about

a reply to: fiverx313

Not really the point. The thread is about mispronounced words and misuse of grammar.

The word "jaguar"--

Is it "jag-wire", "jag-wahr", or "jag-you-are"?

The first one grates on me, the second I typically use, and third is the British English pronunciation, which sounds cool in my opinion.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: KansasGirl
Also I couldn't help noticing, in January, that New York was televising their "ElecTORIAL College".

Damn it.

You want 'bad pronunciation' (which is purely subjective due to dialect -- US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc) to complain about? IMO, it's a dead heat between my sister-in-law's Scottish father (20 years of listening to his stories & I could still barely decipher his thick-ass accent) and heavily-accented Cajuns. I knew a Cajun guy working temporarily in FL that NO ONE could understand. It was worse than Boomhauer on King of the Hill, the friend he made down there with severe Cerebral Palsy was easier to understand.
My husband had to make some calls down to LA at one point not too long ago, and he has the benefit of having lived & worked there for several years, so he's acclimated to the dialects in LA. I have no idea how the hell he understood the Cajun people he was talking to on speakerphone.

But as far as good examples go, my mother's ex-boyfriend was from Virginia. It wasn't oil, it was "All". Such as, "Where's the all quart, I need it for the car." "Say what? Why would you put laundry soap in your engine??" I had fun with that one, he hated me.
Our landlord was a Boston native, R's were foreign to him. "I got a deal on the A/C filtah at Tahget, so I got a yeeah's wahth fah ya!" (man, trying to spell it out does not do the Boston accent justice)

We live in MI, so to my Floridian ears, y'all talk funny up here. Michiganders sound like a cross between a BC & Ontario accent, but not quite. And you just flat out get weird about some things. That Lake Orion, for example? Spelled exactly the same as the damn constellation, but you say "Or-EE-on"/"Or-EE-en" for the lake. Oh come on /facepalm

You will never have a single English accent. Regional differences (stemming from the region's root cultures in particular) simply won't allow for it.

I don't get bugged by mispronounciation at all. I tend to mimick the person I am talking to without even doing it consciously. I start to pick up even accents from people almost immediately.

My sister is mentally and physically handicapped, and she couldn't pronounce anything right as a child. I had to translate for her as no one could understand. For me, it just became her specific way of speaking - like part of her individual characteristics.

From there, I guess I saw everyones little twists and turns in language as part of their individual way of being.
Had a boyfriend in highschool who used to do funny things with words, to make his own sort of language, and I loved that. Even my stepdad still talks affectionately about his way of speaking that he could never forget.

I really don't care about the correctness of the pronounciation, as long as the ideas behind them are able to get across. With body language, tone of voice, context, it's usually not that hard to recieve the intended communication.

originally posted by: Bluesma
I really don't care about the correctness of the pronounciation, as long as the ideas behind them are able to get across. With body language, tone of voice, context, it's usually not that hard to recieve the intended communication.

There's the rub. Sloppiness impedes communication, and thanks to the modern habit of "spell as you pronounce", bad pronunciation has a feedback effect on written communication.
The classic example has to be "can't" being pronounced (presumably) and therefore spelled as "can".
How are people supposed to tell the difference between "You can do that" meaning "Yes" and "You can do that" meaning "No"?

originally posted by: DISRAELI

originally posted by: Bluesma
I really don't care about the correctness of the pronounciation, as long as the ideas behind them are able to get across. With body language, tone of voice, context, it's usually not that hard to recieve the intended communication.

There's the rub. Sloppiness impedes communication, and thanks to the modern habit of "spell as you pronounce", bad pronunciation has a feedback effect on written communication.
The classic example has to be "can't" being pronounced (presumably) and therefore spelled as "can".
How are people supposed to tell the difference between "You can do that" meaning "Yes" and "You can do that" meaning "No"?

Yeah... I see the problem.... but also think it might be a reason people could, maybe, with time, come to prefer actually having person-to-person, "RL" interactions and exchanges instead of continuing this trend of retreat into isolation and screen messages.

Um, so now I am going to go out to the outdoor market and have real physical exchanges, to walk my talk.

originally posted by: SpeakerofTruth
a reply to: fiverx313

Not really the point. The thread is about mispronounced words and misuse of grammar.

to me it's entirely on point. why is this a topic suitable for ranting or that people get pet peevish about? to me it's clearly about gatekeeping and puffing yourself up because YOU know better (not you, personally -- although maybe, you personally also?). i think that's interesting. it's one of the many ways people like to create a division that puts them on the better side.

Or when people are counting or spelling a number out, and they use the letter "O" in stead of the numeric zero . ....for example spelling out address 305 smith st.....you should say : "three, zero, five ..Smith sT." ....not ....." Three , Oh , five ...smith st" .

originally posted by: fiverx313

originally posted by: SpeakerofTruth
a reply to: fiverx313

Not really the point. The thread is about mispronounced words and misuse of grammar.

to me it's entirely on point. why is this a topic suitable for ranting or that people get pet peevish about? to me it's clearly about gatekeeping and puffing yourself up because YOU know better (not you, personally -- although maybe, you personally also?). i think that's interesting. it's one of the many ways people like to create a division that puts them on the better side.

So, the OP is an a-hole because he/she likes it when people follow the rules of pronunciation and grammar?

Everyone has their pet peeves. Can you honestly say you have none? Come on now....

originally posted by: Meldionne1
Or when people are counting or spelling a number out, and they use the letter "O" in stead of the numeric zero . ....for example spelling out address 305 smith st.....you should say : "three, zero, five ..Smith sT." ....not ....." Three , Oh , five ...smith st" .

Does that bother you? I do that...it is (or was ) common and normal where I am from.
Here in France, it really irritates people! They quickly correct me if I say "oh" instead of "zero", as if it really makes a difference to them.

a reply to: KansasGirl

What bothers me is when someone butchers the English language while complaining about people butchering the English language. That's my pet peeve.

The comedian, Norm Crosby, made a decade's-long career out of butchering the English language. These grammatical gaffes are called malapropisms, and Crosby used them like an art form. We all know people that do this unintentionally, and sometimes it's hard to keep from laughing.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
So, the OP is an a-hole because he/she likes it when people follow the rules of pronunciation and grammar?

Everyone has their pet peeves. Can you honestly say you have none? Come on now....

i definitely do not think the OP is an a-hole.

but i do think that this kind of pet peeve is about the peevish person's ego and feeling of being better than someone else. that is a very human foible, and i have a million of them myself. if you spot me in any of 'em feel free to call me on them

"Trump will go on a worldwind tour"
It's whirlwind!

Another one is most people cannot pronounce escape. They says ec-scape

My daughter who is a full grown adult still calls a drawer a " Jor". I've been correcting her since childhood, but it never sinks in. Furthermore she still doesn't know the difference between a drawer and a cupboard. If I say " it's over there in that drawer", she opens up the cupboard below it. She says ecscape too. She can't say jewellery, says "jury"


Her dad says colderado for Colorado and say ecscape as well.