Word pronunciations that irk or perturb you?

[rsvman]

I know this should probably have waited until the off-season, but I decided to give it a whirl now.

Are there any words you hear people pronounce in a way that just annoys you? Maybe it’s just flat-out wrong. Or maybe the word can be appropriately pronounced in two ways, but you greatly prefer one over the other? I’ll just give you a few that bug me.

1) Species. Properly pronounced spee-SHees, not spee-sees. I’m not going to look it up right now, but I suspect both are on the “ok” list. But people who know what they are talking about pronounce it with the SH sound.

2) Negotiation. Again, this word is properly pronounced neh-go-SHE-a-shun, not ne-go-see-a-shun. When did we develop this aversion to the SH sound?

3) Often. The t is silent, people. The word is pronounced OFF-un, not OFF-Tun. Think about it. You don’t say listen liss-tun, you don’t say soften soff-tun. Again, I am aware that dictionaries are now offering both as “ok.” We all know that just means the dictionaries have given up, because too many people have been saying it wrong. On the plus side, I suppose if somebody says OFF-tun it at least suggest that the person knows how to read, at least.

4) Beijing. When did everybody decide that Chinese people speak French? The proper pronunciation of the city name is bay-JING, not bay-ZHING (trying hard to spell that God-awful pseudo-French sound that everybody seems to make when the word clearly calls for a freakin’ J). Ever listen (pronounced liss-sun, by the way) to Chinese people talk? Heard a lot of stuff that sounded like French? Yeah, neither did I.


There are a lot more, but I will stop here for now, because I want to know what pronunciations make you see red, if any.

[freshmanjs]

I know this should probably have waited until the off-season, but I decided to give it a whirl now.

Are there any words you hear people pronounce in a way that just annoys you? Maybe it’s just flat-out wrong. Or maybe the word can be appropriately pronounced in two ways, but you greatly prefer one over the other? I’ll just give you a few that bug me.

1) Species. Properly pronounced spee-SHees, not spee-sees. I’m not going to look it up right now, but I suspect both are on the “ok” list. But people who know what they are talking about pronounce it with the SH sound.

2) Negotiation. Again, this word is properly pronounced neh-go-SHE-a-shun, not ne-go-see-a-shun. When did we develop this aversion to the SH sound?

3) Often. The t is silent, people. The word is pronounced OFF-un, not OFF-Tun. Think about it. You don’t say listen liss-tun, you don’t say soften soff-tun. Again, I am aware that dictionaries are now offering both as “ok.” We all know that just means the dictionaries have given up, because too many people have been saying it wrong. On the plus side, I suppose if somebody says OFF-tun it at least suggest that the person knows how to read, at least.

4) Beijing. When did everybody decide that Chinese people speak French? The proper pronunciation of the city name is bay-JING, not bay-ZHING (trying hard to spell that God-awful pseudo-French sound that everybody seems to make when the word clearly calls for a freakin’ J). Ever listen (pronounced liss-sun, by the way) to Chinese people talk? Heard a lot of stuff that sounded like French? Yeah, neither did I.


There are a lot more, but I will stop here for now, because I want to know what pronunciations make you see red, if any.

Expecially

[91devil]

Eggs-zavier (the University)

Probly

Per-scription

[Bluedog]

"Expresso" instead of espresso. There's no "x"!

Also, saying "jai-ro" for gryo.

[mph]

Mis-chee-vee-us
Nuke-u-lar

[Tooold]

These all made me laugh. Especially ecpeshally.

How about “set” vs sit.

But what really makes my skin crawl is bad grammar..And what I find the most grating is the use of “I” as an object. As in “that was a lot of fun for Frank and I.” My most irritating memory was a thank you note I received from a Princeton grad... “thank you for attending Sam and I’s wedding”

[duke74]

These all made me laugh. Especially ecpeshally.

How about “set” vs sit.

But what really makes my skin crawl is bad grammar..And what I find the most grating is the use of “I” as an object. As in “that was a lot of fun for Frank and I.” My most irritating memory was a thank you note I received from a Princeton grad... “thank you for attending Sam and I’s wedding”

“On behalf of my wife and myself...”. Yikes.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

“On behalf of my wife and myself...”. Yikes.

Allow myself to introduce myself.

[DukieInKansas]

Allow myself to introduce myself.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

Allow myself to introduce myself.

[duke74]

“On behalf of my wife and myself...”. Yikes.

From a LinkedIn post for a position...today!

"In addition to the normal roles of this position, you will also work on valuable special projects directly with the controller and myself." (emphasis added)

[ClemmonsDevil]

From a LinkedIn post for a position...today!

"In addition to the normal roles of this position, you will also work on valuable special projects directly with the controller and myself." (emphasis added)

Link please! Somebody will be able to take this person's job! But not I...er me.

[gumbomoop]

Link please! Somebody will be able to take this person's job! But not I...er me.

Might need the grammar refs to decide this one. I think it should be “But not I.” As in, “But I will not be able to take this person’s job.”

Someone help, please.

[Tooold]

Might need the grammar refs to decide this one. I think it should be “But not I.” As in, “But I will not be able to take this person’s job.”

Someone help, please.

This is harder, and because of that it doesn’t bother me if people make a mistake. I believe it should be “but not me”, because I think the subject and verb are implied (“it is”)...as in but it is not me. But I could be mistaken.

[gumbomoop]

This is harder, and because of that it doesn’t bother me if people make a mistake. I believe it should be “but not me”, because I think the subject and verb are implied (“it is”)...as in but it is not me. But I could be mistaken.

Hmm, yes, still a tough one. Try this maybe.

(1) “It is not I who will criticize that fellow.” = “I will not criticize that fellow.”

(2) “It is not me who will criticize him.” = “Me will not criticize him.”

[Tooold]

Hmm, yes, still a tough one. Try this maybe.

(1) “It is not I who will criticize that fellow.” = “I will not criticize that fellow.”

(2) “It is not me who will criticize him.” = “Me will not criticize him.”

I think you have it. “I” is the subject. But I was correct when I said I could be mistaken....

[tommy]

These all made me laugh. Especially ecpeshally.

How about “set” vs sit.

But what really makes my skin crawl is bad grammar..And what I find the most grating is the use of “I” as an object. As in “that was a lot of fun for Frank and I.” My most irritating memory was a thank you note I received from a Princeton grad... “thank you for attending Sam and I’s wedding”

Using "I" as an object is really the worst because people who do that are conscious of the issue, they're trying to be grammatically correct and almost show off that they're going to say something that sounds a bit weird to others but are doing so to show how smart they are. And then they outsmart themselves by using I as an object. Dum.

[-jk]

If we're getting in usage, utilize when use works just fine.

But for pronunciation: "mis-chee-vee-ous".

-jk

[budwom]

ectcetera, ectcetera...

[ClemmonsDevil]

ectcetera, ectcetera...

Great work Yul Brynner.