Jul 15, 2010

Things people say ... vol. 3

Sometimes the time-worn phrase "You say 'po-tay-to,' I say 'po-tah-to' " makes sense. I mean, I can't THINK of a time when it's actually okay to pronounce something the way the dictionary defines as the "second-best" way to pronounce something, but you just go on with your bad self.

But there are MOST DEFINITELY times when we should all be able to agree that there is one way, my way the right way, to pronounce words. And we should go with it.

We have covered some of these here from time to time, and ohhh, have we laughed. Yes, we have laughed. We have had Internet Belly Chuckles over the posts and the Comments. (Pronouncing "Tuesday" as "Chuesday"? I DIED.)

So a few more have been rambling around in my head, and I thought I'd go ahead and share them with the masses.

- "Real-a-tor" instead of "real-tor" especially bothers my sister. It bothers me, too, almost as much as "ath-uh-lete." God created it with two syllables, and I'd love to keep it that way. And while I'm at it, "athletes" compete in "triathlons," not "triath-a-lons." God's honest truth.

- "Barbed wire" is the jagged material that keeps the horses in the fence. "Bob wire" is ... well, I'm not sure WHAT bob wire is. But it's not THAT.

- Lawyers practice law, which is the way I pronounce it. Apparently some people think lawyers practice "loy." To those people I say, call them "attorneys."

- Related: Poor Diane Sawyer has always mispronounced her last name. "Soy-yer"? I think not.

- I love me some design shows. I do not love me any designers who pronounce "accessory," "assessory." Anyone who says "assessory" should be banned from entering any Pier 1, Home Goods or Pottery Barn store on principle. I do see the irony of my grammar in the first two sentences.

- And lastly, I cannot RESIST giving you this one. The other night on The Bachelorette -- a show that I steadfastly refuse to admit I watch -- Vienna said, "Do you have a poly-a-graph test he can take?" It's not often that you even get to throw the word "polygraph" around, so when you do, baby, you'd better get it right.

Ooh! Ooh! I just thought of an exception to my hard-and-fast rule: I believe that Meredith Vieira and Donald Trump are the only two people on the planet who pronounce the "t" in the word "interview." I am more of an "innerview" gal myself. EVEN THOUGH THE DICTIONARY SAYS OTHERWISE.

Please, PLEASE don't let me down, Internet. I need to laugh! COMMENT AWAY. (And if you're new around here, go read the Comments on the other two related posts ... I guarantee you a good laugh.)

16 comments:

Sarah T. said...

"Flar-ida" and "flar-ist" bothers me too, but I think that's just a southern accent thing.

I also laugh when people say "foil-age" instead of "fol-iage."

trishandwade said...

Oh my goodness!! Those same words drive me C-R-A-Z-Y when people same them wrong!! I got so frustrated with Vienna on The Bachelorette (which I , too, do NOT admit to watching religiously)...and they KEPT replaying it, just to make me mad!! Speaking of frustrated...why is that some people completely ignore the first "R"? It's NOT "fus-trated", so say it just like it's spelled!! Thanks for the laughs this morning! Have a great day!

Rachel said...

Wow! I'm cracking up here. I agree those do bug me...I have to admit I think I have said tri a th a lon before. Sorry, guess I never really paid that much attention to the word before. :)

Lacy said...

I so caught that on the Bachelorette too!!! I died! My grandma says "idear" (idea) all the time... drives me nuts! And "warsh"- there is certainly not an R in the word wash. LOL!

Patrice said...

"Mirrow" for mirror and "twicet" for "twice". I actually don't even know how to spell "twicet" to make it seem right or wrong or well, you know. Twyest? Tweist? I think those are both Southern things too. My Maw-Maw (definitely Southern) says "fave-o-rite". Bless her heart.

Patrice said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RLR said...

If you say, "in-ner-view" - isn't the t implied? Because, in my head, I hear the T, but I know that out loud, it probably sounds more like in-NER-view, and I think the accented syllable, in Southernese, probably implies the elided sound. (I think I just verbed 'elision' - and my grammar is probably horrible.... Bygones...)

Thanks for another great post, and plenty of laughs!!!

RLR said...

I thought of a few more.

Sword - When people pronounce the W, rather than saying "sord." It's rather like pronouncing the L in salmon - and it makes me cringe.

Saying "draw" instead of what you really mean, which is drawer.

I makes me want to scream, "You DRAW a S(w)ORD - but you keep your knives in a DRAWER."

And finally, not a mispronunciation, but still amusing. The word is... Unthaw. Apparently, this is what you do when you take something out of the freezer. As in, "I'm going to unthaw some chicken for dinner tonight." So tell me, then - what's the purpose of the freezer?

Lacy said...

ooh ooh ooh! Thought of another one!!! "Irregardless". Hun?

Sewconsult said...

"Axs" instead of ask.
"Drawring" while meaning drawing.
"She don't" instead of the correct...she doesn't.
Using "good" when "well" is the proper usage.

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

Love, love, LOVE the comments. Keep 'em coming!

Erin said...

Yay! I love it when you do this.

My favorite lately is the nurse who called me "Urine" when I was in the hospital delivering the twins. Urine, really? I've gotten Erwin for years, but Urine?

Amy said...

How about "liberry" for "library"? "Febuary" for "Fe-BRU-ary"? I guess sometimes those "r"'s can be tricky.

Carry Grace said...

How about chester drawers instead of chest of drawers.

I get so tickled when I see people post their "chester drawers" on craigslist.

Katherine @ Grass Stains said...

Erin, I remember growing up my dad always referred to you as "Eerin." That always drove me nuts, and it wasn't even MY name.

"Chester drawers"?? HAH!

Dad said...

And Erin wasn't the least bit eerie!

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