Why is colonel pronounced nothing like its spelled?
What are some other words you can think of like this?
Leopard a little bit, but not as much
Printable View
Why is colonel pronounced nothing like its spelled?
What are some other words you can think of like this?
Leopard a little bit, but not as much
Rendezvous.
Also I am super upset this isn't a KFC thread, same principle.
Because English is a weird crazy language!
Knight.
hiccough
Jan being pronounced as Yawn. WTF?
Annoying foreigners and their destruction of the English language! :argh:
queue
wednesday
tuscon
ouija board
bologna
february
receipt
asthma
What's up with the u in colour. It literally adds nothing except one more letter to write out.
'Murica.
Fatigue
In UK English (UK, Australasia, etc) these are both pronounced as they're spelled.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart
February = feb-roo-airy
Asthma = ass-thma
It feels really odd to hear Americans talking about their "azzzma", though I'd imagine it's much the same for them when we pronounce words like lieutenant and aluminium differently.
Now you're just being silly. In UK English again, the 'o' in colour is pronounced differently to the 'ou'. They're different sounds to they've got different spellings. Nothing was "added" to the word, quite the opposite in fact - American English underwent some spelling reforms a couple of centuries ago, simplifying and streamlining the language to make it easier for the average Joe to cope with. This added a whole lot of Zs, but replaced a lot of OUs with Os.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart
With a lot of really old words like "knight", the odd spelling reflects a way it was actually pronounced back in the depths of time. Sometimes, English kept the spelling from one region and the pronunciation from another - hence why the number 1 is spelled "one", but pronounced like "won" rather than "own".
Seattle
Would, could, should.
Sacagawea.
I think I've heard some people pronounce Wednesday as Wehnessday which does sound better to me that Wendsday.
I don't know if this is a common mispronunciation or if my grandmother is simply dyslexic, but she pronounces rotisserie like "rowshaterry" no matter how often you correct her.
I've never understood why lieutenant is pronounced "leftenant".
wiiji board. Of course, I would technically refer to that as a cultural idiosyncrasy as opposed to a counterintuitive pronunciation. Perhaps for many cultures the same could be said of any word derived thereof and pronounced differently in another.
Any word spelt with Kn for that matter. Also Gn, gh, ph, th, sh, wh. Of course, I consider the h ones to be misspelled. Wh is pronounced "hw(a)", so "hwy" is it spelt wh? If you hold an h sound and then incorporate an s sound, then you inevitably get "sh" but it's spelt backwards. The same is true for gh which is afaik meant to be pronounced glottally similarly to "h(u)g". You can get a similar reaction with ph/th if you don't make the whole t or p sound. None of this, however, explains how one pronounces knight. I can imagine gnat was originally pronounced ngat, but knight implies consecutive glottal noises which seem just uncomfortable to say. Then there's ch. Shouldn't be a sound at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Adquate
kewl... before they started spelling it that way.
I think the only way February should be properly MIS-pronounced is Febrewery.
Draught!
Uhh, I definitely do not pronounce "wh" like it starts with an "h". You obviously just talk weird. x}Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
The 'our' spelling is caused by the French derivations of words. It wasn't added - it was removed. Webster removed the Us to simplify the language for the Americans. He also changed words like theatre/theater, defence/defense (there are a few like this), travelled/traveled (also a bunch of other double Ls that he adjusted) and added a lot of Zs to words that he felt had more of a 'z' sound. It was to make the language less about its derivations about more about its pronunciation.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart
Aluminium turning into alu-minum is the single worst thing in the entire world.
What's next, uranum, plutonum? Changing xenon to xon? Helum? Idiots!
We Australians are supposed to be really lazy with our punctuation, but even we can manage the extra 'i' in aluminium.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirage
I am fine with just about all the differences in pronunciation as language is a complicated thing at the best of times. The American pronunciation of aluminium is the only one that I can't abide. For some reason it really grates on me.
By the same token, the English pronunciation of lieutenant is smurfing stupid... perhaps more so.
Thankfully this is one that the Australians chose not to continue with.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bubba
If you're not pronouncing those two the way they're spelled then you're doing it wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart
And Aluminum and Aluminium aren't a case of the word being pronounced completely different from the way it's spelled. It's a case of there being two slightly different words for the same damn element. Aluminium does sound cooler though.
Sometimes American pronunciations are just cooler. Case in point: Bucking-HAM and Birming-HAM. Calling Swansea 'swan-sea' rather than 'swanzee' irritates me no end though.
Ah right, I thought they were spelled exactly the same on both sides of the pond. I guess this is OK then!Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivi22
Is it really okay to just delete letters whenever we feel like it, Bubb?Quote:
Originally Posted by BubbaAh right, I thought they were spelled exactly the same on both sides of the pond. I guess this is OK then!Quote:
Originally Posted by Vivi22
Words with "ph" pronouncing the letter 'F'! I mean, who does that?
Phteven.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sephex
Fugue.
It clearly says fuh-goo.
Sorry, but I don't know what " x} " means. Are you being serious right now? People with British accents in television shows who like to act like they know better than everyone else, pronounce words with wh as "hw" as in "hwat", "hwere", "hwen", "hwy", and "cool hwip" and denounce others who don't as "uneducated simpletons". So now, where did these words originate?Quote:
Originally Posted by ShaunaUhh, I definitely do not pronounce "wh" like it starts with an "h". You obviously just talk weird. x}Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
x} is a smiley.
Exaggerating the pronunciation is often used in a sarcastic way. I cannot even think of an example where anyone pronounces the H first except for Stewie in Family Guy that one time, and that's American. I'm not convinced you aren't imagining or inventing this concept, to be honest. It sounds simply absurd to pronounce any of those words the way they're represented. Perhaps you should provide a voice clip to make sure we're not missing something here.
Oh, re-heally?
"No. O'Reilly!"
While "whip" is not of English origin and was never supposed to be pronounced as "hwip" as there never was an h in the word, all of the others originated as having the h at the beginning as in "hwaet" (what).
Fun fact: "who" was originally pronounced similarly to "kwo".
Etymology.com
We aren't discussing how words were historically pronounced - that is a whole different kettle of fish. :p Today, I have never encountered anyone, not once in my 23 years of living in the UK, who exaggerates the "wh" sound in that way. My personal anecdote is enough proof!
Nguyen
Hmm... maybe it is just how Americans rip on Brits. I've never met anyone with an English accent and I don't listen to how celebrities speak outside a show. I gotta start paying attention.
Pistachio (of course this may just be another American idiosyncrasy)
The suffix -tion.
Also pretty much any name/word in Chinese. Of course this could merely be a case of not knowing how to properly represent their name in English.
lol sterotypes with no basis.
I'm not sure where you get that Brits have put empahsis on the "wh" sounds. Seems more Texan to me
lol
I guess it's just Stewie then.
lasagna
Actually, that's pronounced exactly as it's spelled. the "gn" combo in Italian is pronounced just as ñ is en español.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lone Wolf Leonhart
For that matter, "rendezvous" is also pronounced exactly as it's spelled, since it's French. English is weird because a large number of its words are loanwords from other languages. Knowing the pronunciations of those languages makes a lot of English's idiosyncratic pronunciations more intuitive.
It's pinyin. Chinese sounds using the English alphabet to make it easier to communicate. They may be the same letters, but they aren't the same sounds. C, for example, is pronounced "ts", and Zh is pronounced like a soft "g". It's a completely different language, not just "improper English".Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lockharted
I called a guy at work "Ngyou-yen" for like 4 months because I didn't know any better. Then I saw it pronounced on TV or somewhere, and felt like a moron. :cry:
I don't know who was the bigger jackass, me for not knowing or him for being too polite to say anything.
Ah, I see. Cool, so then it does qualify.Quote:
Originally Posted by QuinIt's pinyin. Chinese sounds using the English alphabet to make it easier to communicate. They may be the same letters, but they aren't the same sounds. C, for example, is pronounced "ts", and Zh is pronounced like a soft "g". It's a completely different language, not just "improper English".Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Then why isn't it romanized in a way that makes it sound right?Quote:
Originally Posted by QuinIt's pinyin. Chinese sounds using the English alphabet to make it easier to communicate. They may be the same letters, but they aren't the same sounds. C, for example, is pronounced "ts", and Zh is pronounced like a soft "g". It's a completely different language, not just "improper English".Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Whangarei
Theory
Pizza
Pizza is pronounced how it's spelled if you pronounce it properly
Oh man, Maori pronunciation is the best. I went to Lake Taupo and it looks like it sounds like "tow-po" but it's like "toe-paw". Whangarei is even better. Whakatane is just :hahaha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
So then "Pete saw" is not proper...Quote:
Originally Posted by shion
BTW: Longevity. It's typically pronounced like there's a second g. "Long-jevity". The name Longinus is pronounced "Lon-ginus". Range is not pronounced "rang-j"... so yeah.
Rapport, Corps, and any other word where consonants are silent... why the hell have the letter in the word if you're not going to pronounce? Aesthetics?
Theory is spelled exactly how it's pronounced.
Also, there are hard gs and soft gs, so longevity is also pronounced exactly how it's spelled.
The actual pronunciation of my username, 'Alive-Man' is actually gid-dee-drat-son-drat-son. Hardly anyone knows this.
Really? I never realized it was pronounced "the ory". I've been pronouncing it wrong all of this time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Quin
Examples, please.Quote:
Also, there are hard gs and soft gs, so longevity is also pronounced exactly how it's spelled.
Gel. Soft G.
Gym. Soft G.
Tucson.
I had never seen Tucson spelled and said at the same time (& was most likely passed out in Geography) ... I thought there was "Tuck-sun" & "Two-son". I have no idea how or why I came to this conclusion, but then I was watching "Cops" & caught it.
My dad nearly throttled me. lmao. He was like "You. Are clearly not my child." & then he was calling it "Tuck-sun" for months. mwahaha
I actually meant for more examples like Longevity wherein the ng and the "j" sounds occur simultaneously.
My primary school once held a contest to see if anyone could pronounce Lake Rerewhakaaitu properly. The common informal (and incorrect) pronunciation was something like "rooroo smurf eye two".Quote:
Originally Posted by JiroOh man, Maori pronunciation is the best. I went to Lake Taupo and it looks like it sounds like "tow-po" but it's like "toe-paw". Whangarei is even better. Whakatane is just :hahaha:Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Fringe. Orange. Range. Binge. Singe. Arrange. Derange. Enjoy. And so on. At least in my dialect of English these all have the same sound as longevity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
It's ridiculous to have a letter with two sounds when there is already another letter that makes one of them.
Let's also scrap C then - we have Ks and Ss.Quote:
Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke
ch isn't represented by any other sound, but other than that, yeah, c is pretty close to linguistically useless in English.
We could just make c = ch and no other sound ever.
It would probably make more sense than the current orthography. But then, English orthography has never been particularly straightforward (or sensible) to begin with.
It would probably be almost impossible to get used to reading again, though, so it'll probably never happen for that reason alone :(
Just for this, I'm moogle hugging all of your posts. :moogle:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMae
Excellent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colonel AngusJust for this, I'm moogle hugging all of your posts. :moogle:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMae
That was meant as a threat. :p :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMaeExcellent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colonel AngusJust for this, I'm moogle hugging all of your posts. :moogle:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMae
Threatening Mae can have disastrous consequences. :ffviwag:
I figured. I refused to give you the satisfaction of it working.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colonel AngusThat was meant as a threat. :p :lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMaeExcellent.Quote:
Originally Posted by Colonel AngusJust for this, I'm moogle hugging all of your posts. :moogle:Quote:
Originally Posted by AlaynaMae
You dont even need c if you swap ch with kh and all previous kh to k.
We kan also get rid of x and q as x kan be replased by ks and q kan be replased by kw
And khanje the name of w so it's one syllable like every other letter. Kall it 'way' or something
All of this. Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by blackmage_nuke
K and J could also replace g.
Technically, ch can be replaced with tsh.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
I don't what dialect you're speaking if you're saying "f-ring-j", "o-rang-j", "bing-j", "sing-j", "ar-rang-j", or "de-rang-j"... I've come to think that pronouncing "longevity" as "Long-jevity" is just an American idiosyncrasy.Quote:
Originally Posted by The ManFringe. Orange. Range. Binge. Singe. Arrange. Derange. Enjoy. And so on. At least in my dialect of English these all have the same sound as longevity.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Not unless you're saying "ts" a lot differently than I am. I don't have a microphone to record it, unfortunately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
"Fringe" and "longevity" have the same sound in Florida's dialect of English. I've never heard someone say "long-jevity". It's always been "lon-jevity".Quote:
I don't what dialect you're speaking if you're saying "f-ring-j", "o-rang-j", "bing-j", "sing-j", "ar-rang-j", or "de-rang-j"... I've come to think that pronouncing "longevity" as "Long-jevity" is just an American idiosyncrasy.
Same in Australia, as far as I've ever heard.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man"Fringe" and "longevity" have the same sound in Florida's dialect of English. I've never heard someone say "long-jevity". It's always been "lon-jevity".Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
It's how I hear people pronounce it on television. Of course, these are the same people who say "for better or worst", "a whole 'nother", "irregardless", "and etc.", or even "excetera", and, yeah, well, you get it.
Which pronunciation is correct? Garbij or garbazh (garbage), garaj or gaerazh (garage), vestij or vesteezh (vestige), prestij or presteezh (prestige)?
This is how I pronounce them, and how I hear them pronounced here, but that doesn't mean that's necessarily "correct". The last two I use more of an 'ee' sound.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Q is the worst letter in the English language.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man
From the internet...
Q is the first letter on a computer keyboard (and therefore the first letter of the alphabet), and the most bizarre and ridiculous letter of the English language.It serves as comic relief in the stage performances of duo Q&A. Its shape and sound are embarrassing at best and patently obscene at worst. Q is also an image of when the letter 'I' beats his wife 'O'. This can be shown as I stabbing O.
Fortunately,Q is almost always buffered from contact with other letters by U, a little-used vowel of ill repute. This is a sure sign that the letter Q is a useless, co-dependent letter that is utterly incapable of doing anything on its own.
The extremely rare "naked Q" (that is, without its protective U) is the ultimate lexigraphical abomination, and is for the most part limited to foreign pagan languages, and names of weird unchristian countries, like Qatar which no Godfearing red-blooded patriotic American would be caught dead in.
Q is thought, by some people, to be a deformed relative of O. Others believe, for obvious reasons, that O is female and Q is male. Most people, however, believe that these people are either idiots or Time Lords, and should be burned at the stake while being forced to eat their own guts.
Q
Speaking of which, does "c-u-e" spell "kyu" or "kweh"?
How are you supposed to say asthma without a lisp?
I just say asmuh.
It's "kyu", as in a pool cue.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercen-X
Ass-thma. It's not really lisp-y if it has a "th" in it.
Gloucester near where I used to live was pronounced Gloster, but I dunno if that's common
Sucks to your ass-mar.
Worchestershire
H... is it a consonant or a vowel?
Honest... "I am an honest man... I live in a house..." But then others will say "I live in an house." ???