JOIN BOSSY'S OLD SCHOOL BLOG ROLL!

i am bossy

Ten-Word Tuesday: The Mispronounced Words Edition

lyme-tick

You are looking at a deer tick. Don’t run out of the room — Bossy’s sister in law we’re looking at you — this post is not about bugs. Not to worry. No, this post is about deer ticks.

Kidding! Actually Bossy wants to talk about this:

lyme-connecticut

It’s Lyme, Connecticut — the namesake of the disease which was originally discovered in and around this region in the mid 1970s.

The first thing you should know is: Bossy is a little bit obsessed with this disease, which is often impossible to diagnosis and has devastating long term ramifications.

Just ask Bossy’s friend Jeff about Bossy’s little obsession, where little equals all kinds of big.

jeff-ticks

The second thing you should know is: Bossy, who has been obsessed with this disease for two decades, has been pronouncing it wrong this whole time.

lymes-disease

Somewhere along the way Bossy thought there was an apostrophe S attached to her obsession, sort of like the deer tick attaches to the underside of one’s ear lobe!

But Bossy can’t for the life of her imagine where she picked this up! Kind of like the deer tick you pick up on your pant leg when walking on that path!

bossys-mom-bossy

Bossy mispronounces lots of other things too, but none come to mind. Mostly because one must have a mind in order for things to come to it.

big-forehead

So Bossy looked online to find a list of common mispronunciations. Shall we?

  1. Across, not acrossed
  2. Ask, not aks
  3. Nuclear, not nucular
  4. Barbed wire, not bob wire
  5. Cardsharp, not card shark
  6. Are you kidding with the cardsharp?
  7. Bossy has been saying that wrong her whole life
  8. Champ at the bit. Not chomp at the bit
  9. Uh-oh with the whole champ at the bit thing. Just saying
  10. Escape. Not excape
  11. For all intents and purposes, not for all intensive purposes
  12. Bossy was guilty of writing that once. For all intensive purposes. That’s okay, it was only a letter to Bossy’s son’s teacher
  13. Oh Bossy, who taught you English?
  14. Height. Not heighth
  15. Long-lived. Not long-lived.
  16. Seriously, that’s what the website says, long-lived not long-lived
  17. Bossy read and reread that one until her eyes bled and still she can’t find the difference
  18. Spit and image. Not spitting image
  19. Are you kidding Bossy with the spit and image? Bossy is putting herself back to bed for a week

When it comes to saying things incorrectly, Bossy can sum up her experience in this way: Bossy’s dad doesn’t call her Miss Malaprop for no reason.

Which is what today’s Ten-Word Challenge is all about. In exactly ten words, can you tell Bossy about a word or phrase you or your loved one gets wrong?

And be sure to check back later today for the wrongest words on the web!

Here’s the list of 100 Most Often Mispronounced Words

Reader Interactions

Comments

  6. Forte (when meaning strength) is pronounced fort (silent e). It’s derived from French. Forte (meaning loud) comes from the Italian and is pronounced FORT-ay.

    Also scan, which until 15 years ago only meant A THOROUGH STUDY not to be confused with skim (after all who wants a CAT-SKIM????) But it’s been misused so much that now the definition in Websters is either “a thorough study” OR “a quick glance.” Who’s confused, now, Bossy?

    Reply

  8. My grandma says Neosperm instead Neosporin. If I had known better, I would have been afraid of getting knocked up every time I scraped my knee.

    Reply

  13. My FIL is always providing these for us. Our favorite is “dildo,” which he pronounces as “DIL-doo.” I don’t even want to attempt to remember why we would have ever had to hear him utter that word.

    Reply

  17. My husband says “Gah forgive” instead of “Gah forbid”. And the other day he said hostile when he meant hostel. He doesn’t read books, poor dear.

    Reply

  21. Best friend: PhildelTHia. She has 3 higher degrees. Love her.

    (One of those long-lived has a long I as in Life, instead of the short one in Live.

    Actually, there’s a case to be made for both card sharp and card shark. I wrote a play where it figures very prominently and the explanation is oddly sexy when delivered by the right actor.)

    Reply

  23. Too many people say “with regards” there’s no “s” unless you mean “regards”, which too many people don’t. “I was confused with regard to her obsession with lyme disease” and “Give my regards to your mother” See?

    Reply

  27. Gyro. I don’t know if there is a proper way to pronounce it, but there are THOUSANDS of ways to mispronounce it. I say “YEAR-o” because it hurts my ears the least.

    Reply

  33. Oh Bossy, until today, I’ve always pronounced it “long-lived.”

    (Impressed with my 10 word ability on this one, but still so shamed by my obvious ignorance of the above. Or would that be ashamed?)

    Am now spending the rest of the day in silence.

    Reply

  40. guilty: Lymes. I’ve been doing intense research for 7 mos. and didn’t catch it!!! (Maybe that’s cause I have it)

    Reply

  58. I’m in Wyoming. Clearly there is a guy named Bob that used to live here that invented the wire with barbs on it. He also drinks EXpresso instead of Espresso and gets here by riding on the Ray-road.

    Reply

  59. Bossy’s Husband used to (not use to) catch most of them for her. (word in parentheses don’t count against the 10)

    Reply

  61. No one ever had an issue with “segue”, pronouncing it “segoo”? I did. I knew what it was but had only read it in books until I eventually heard it on TV one day as a teenager and it clicked. Oooohhhh, segway!.

    Reply

  68. Would someone settle something for me: Is it Buck naked or Butt naked? I’ve seen and heard both ways and have no idea which is correct.

    Reply

  72. Dear mom combines frustrated and flustered into: “flustrated”. Also called them “holler monkeys”.

    Reply

  73. I have a loved one who likes sherBERT for dessert. Ah, it’s SHERBET. Not bert in there. Oh heck, let’s just call it sorbet, shall we?

    Reply

  81. My mother just found out a few years ago that it’s WheelBARROW, not WheelBARREL! The look on her face was priceless.

    Reply

  82. Mauve: It’s pronounced the way the “au” in “taupe” is pronounced. It’s not mawhhhve. It’s a long “o” sound.

    (Sorry, more than 10 words!)

    Reply

  84. Just thought of another!

    MISCHIEVOUS…. pronounced mis-che-vous. Not mis-cheev-ious. There is no “i” before the “ous.”

    Reply

  88. My boss says “in lieu of” when he means “in light of.”
    My mom goes to the “liberry.” She used to be a “seckatary.” (She can spell well even though she can’t pronounce all the words correctly.)
    My dad loved SALmon.
    It bugs me when people SAY, “I could care less” when they MEAN “I couldn’t care less.”
    Also, “supposably.” UGH. If I could strike that from speech, I totally would.
    My verbal pickiness has been passed on to my children–my 12 yr old daughter still talks about my dear SIL, who is as country as the day is long, who made her “PEE-CAN pies with SPLENDAR” last Christmas.

    Reply

  92. My mom says mammeogram. (a combo of mimeograph and mammogram).

    (When she says it, I picture the image of a breast printed in purple ink!)

    Reply

  93. Most people say “gaz” for gas.
    In Philly, it’s common for people to mix up their “d”s and “t”s; for example, excidet or delighdet,etc.
    my Jewish accented grandfather called Perry Como,”Harry Cohen” !

    Reply

  94. I once had a boss the pronounced Sophmore…Southmore
    his son was in the air ‘calvary’ helicopter corps,,, [sic] cavalry

    I would cross myself every time he said ‘air calvary’ 🙂

    Reply

  99. Stepping aside from the fabulously enlightening (“card sharp”? What, really??) and entertaining game here:

    Bossy’s Mom, you have Lyme disease? Oh no! Keep doing your research, woman, and persevere until you get good treatment. Our son had Lyme when he was in jr. high, and I well-know the need for aggressive medical care on that one, and the pitfalls of trying to get it. Encouraging hugs to you!!

    And BSTBEH..Gosh darn, I liked “the Silver Fox” so much better 🙁

    What the heck, encouraging hugs to the whole darn Bossy family!

    Reply

  109. I have a friend who says Altimer’s instead of Alzheimer’s. She also works in a Tax Collector’s office and when speaking about a “parcel of land” she says “partial of land”. I myself am guilty of being lazy when I say probably, I pronounce it the lazy way & say prolly !

    Reply

  112. Had an orthodontist who pronounced the th in Theresa. I had to stare at that man’s abundant nostril hair every three weeks for three years and never once did my mom or I ever correct his pronunciation of my name. Catholic much?

    Reply

  123. My Grandpa taught me Baseball games are 9 “Injuns” long.

    (In grade school, my mom got into fight with a boy that they were called Injuns….NOT Innings)

    Reply

  128. My Mother would say she was going to the CHOIR-practor, and that my Dad had and enlarged prosTRATE.

    My husband, not a native English speaker, says busybuddy instead of busybody.

    The boy child calls those marketing segments between TV shows commercinals.

    Reply

  134. My daughter loved Cinnabrella when she was in her princess phase.

    My aunt went to the hosplit when she was sick and took assburn for a headache.

    Reply

  136. A “couple” is two people. Everything else is “a couple of…”

    (Oh wait — this peeve is not about pronunciation.
    Sorry, Bossy!)

    ((And yet, apparently she’s hitting “send”, not “delete”))

    Reply

  138. Sim-U-lar instead of similar. Optober instead of October. Crackle Barrel instead of Cracker Barrel. Southern college degree hubby says trial for trowel, co-in for coin, and the ever famous orl for oil. And its gonna come a rain. (but I love that southern drawl)

    Reply

  140. My husbands family says wrougth iron instead of wrought iron, “i stood there for 2 hours” when they mean stayed there for 2 hours (they are not literaly standing up for 2 hours!), my mother- in -law says skin milk instead of skim milk. I’m sure I’ll think of more. Drives me crazy!

    Reply

  144. I’m with Alison (#68). Buck naked or butt naked?

    Also, I pronounce Foyer “Foy-A” (long A.) I do it because that’s how my mom pronounces it. Every one else I know pronounces it “Foy-er.” Which probably makes more sense. I have no clue which pronunciation is right.

    Reply

  148. Angela — I looked it up, and it appears both are correct. One is an English pronunciation and the other is French. I say “Foy-A,” too.

    Another pet peeve (I am on a roll today!) — it’s not a mas-ECT-omy, it’s a mas-TECT-omy. There’s a dinstict “T” sound before the “ect.”

    I am a little sensitive to it since my mom had to have one.

    Reply

  150. Kentucky peeps say “I have no ideal” (idea) and “I have a high hernia” (hiatal hernia).

    Reply

  151. It means you thought wrong so you need to re-think.
    (It can’t be “thing” cuz that would not make sense)

    This was an awesome idea for ten word Tuesday, Bossy.

    Knew a lass who said “bain hoot” for bathing suit. (I still call them that just cuz I thought she was the most adorable little girl)

    Reply

  157. stupid usband says the Grand Canyons: seriously, what a moron

    on a different note: chronic Lyme disease is a serious problem which many medical doctors ignore. I think so many people are misdiagnosed b/c of the ignorance of the medical community. Anyway… just wanted to say that…

    Reply

  161. You talk the talk and then you’re meant to walk the walk. YOU DON’T WALK THE TALK!

    And begging the question is avoiding it, not answering it.

    These are on the media all the time, while I grind my teeth to stumps.

    Reply

  164. My Mom says mirra instead of mirror. SIL say eye-tai-yun instead of Italian…Instead of scratch the itch please they will also say itch it….or my favorite from my 5 year old, more better, no dear it’s just better 🙂

    Reply

  165. I hear “incidences” instead of “incidents” all the time.
    And hearing “REE-la-tor” (instead of the person who helps you buy a house) can drive me to drink. Of course, that doesn’t take much.

    But, I have a question: is it “coming down the pipe” or “coming down the pike”?

    Reply

  166. My husband hates things done “half-hazard.” But I’ve got a Masters in writing and just learned the difference between jury-rigged and jerry-built, so I try not to say anything.

    Reply

  167. One drives me batty, and we hear it a LOT here in Texas, is vehicle….pronounced like ve-HICK-le. The H is silent people. Look it up. I’ve played the sound clip from Webster’s online a million times to folks that don’t believe me!

    Reply

  168. Also hate it when folks at S’s to names that don’t have them to begin with. Like “I’m going to Krogers”, “I hate WalMarts”, etc. Seriously disturbing unless you’re going to or talking about MORE THAN ONE, lol!

    Reply

  171. Okay, I just clicked on the link to the 100 most mispronounced words, and I’m going nuts (and this is going to take more than 10 words). “artic” is not a mispronunciation but a correct one; “arctic” is derived from Middle English “artic” from medieval Latin “articus.” The spelling “arctic” is an alternative form first attested in 1569, but the c-less spelling persisted well into the seventeenth century, and the c-less pronunciation remains correct. “Aks” is not a 1000-year-old mispronunciation; the original form of the word was “aks” (Old English “acsian,” actually) and by a linguistic process called metathesis (a fancy word for pronouncing stuff wrong) it got changed to “ask.”
    That only gets me through “A.” I’d better not read any more.

    Reply

  175. It’s the-ah-ter (accent on the ” the”) NOT the-ate-tur (accent on the “ate”) and no matter what the Word, Office paperclip says, it is spelled theatre

    Reply

  180. When I was 5 I told everyone my mother had “god bladder” surgery. Couldn’t understand what was so hilarious.

    Reply

  181. Philly pholk say…”Antlantic City’ and mine and yours is pronounced: :Mayan and youren…and why or why is it “Crown” instead of crayon?

    Reply

  186. My grandfather used to say “al-you-MINium” (accent on the MIN) rather than the standard pronounciation of aluminum. Ha!

    Reply

  187. Ill-in-noise instead of the correct Ill-In-Oy.

    The “Irregardless” probably comes from aunties who watched too much Phil Donahue on daytime TV – he was notorious for that.

    I don’t mind regional “accents” – and “Warshington” and such are often regional things. I do love children’s misconceptions – my daughter liked to page through “Mazagineens”, and was scared stupid of the “Lawn Motor”.
    But hearing an adult on the telephone telling me she needs to “Axe” her supervisor if she can help with something grates on me to no end.

    Reply

  189. A coworker says “part and partial” instead of “part and parcel”. She also says “Six in one, half dozen in the other” instead of “six of one…”. Drives me nuts, but so does my husband when he says he’s “fustrated”.

    Reply

  196. Here’s one that hasn’t been mentioned so far… Often, is often improperly pronounced “off-TEN” instead of “Off-en”.

    Reply

  197. Shoot, I am a day late…but this is funny. During my dysfunctional marriage to my son’s ex-step father, my son said “I need a piece of quiet”. Not ten words, but worth sharing.

    Reply

  208. Hmmmmm, re “off-ten” from dictionary.com:

    —Pronunciation note
    Often was pronounced with a t -sound until the 17th century, when a pronunciation without the ?/t/ came to predominate in the speech of the educated, in both North America and Great Britain, and the earlier pronunciation fell into disfavor. Common use of a spelling pronunciation has since restored the ?/t/[t] for many speakers, and today ?/??f?n/[aw-fuhn] and ?/??ft?n/[awf-tuhn] [or ?/??f?n/[of-uhn] and ?/??ft?n/[of-tuhn]] exist side by side. Although it is still sometimes criticized, often with a /t/[t] is now so widely heard from educated speakers that it has become fully standard once again.

    Reply

  211. Oh! And I don’t know how many people in my family get their pet spaded or neutered. Spay, people, spay!!! You get your pet spayed. It’s not Tuesday anymore so to heck with the ten words 🙂

    Reply

  212. #186 – the British still say ‘Al-u-MIN-i-um, and they spell it with the extra ‘i’ before the ‘um’ also.

    #190 – I had only read the word ‘ague’ in older books, and have never heard it spoken, so I looked it up and every dictionary I found said it is pronounced ‘a-gyoo’. Check it out!

    Finally, I really don’t care whether ‘off-ten’ is accepted speech again, it hurts my ears! 🙂

    Reply

  214. Ten words won’t work for this entry: My niece Jessica’s boss says “I can’t even phantom how that would feel!” instead of fathom. A different niece has a friend who saw some Amish people and said “Awwww, look at the Pilgrims!” SIGH

    Reply

  221. Yous guys. Yas. Seems to be a favorite of waitresses around here. “How are yous guys doin’? I’ll give yas a few more minutes”.

    Reply

  222. Here in the South, I hear a lot of people say, “Well, I used-to-could, but I can’t now” DRIVES ME NUTS! Also, there’s a lot of errant R’s thrown into words, such as “warsh cloth”. Finally, I hate, hate, hate to hear people call it “The Wal-Marts” or “The K-Marts” as in, “I went shopping at The Wal-Marts yesterday”. Really? did you go to multiple Wal-Mart stores? And why the “The”?

    Reply

  228. It’s Coupon, not q-pon; cannot instead of can not; and caulk is pronounced like talk. btw, love the “it’s not Tuesday” concept!

    Reply

  229. Gee, it’s a shame you don’t get any comments.

    Moving on: there’s “long-lived” (the “lived” is like “liver”), and there’s “long-lived” (like “life” when you say “lived”). Riddle me that shizz, indeed.

    Okay, so I used to think the girl’s name, Phoebe, was “foe-eeb-eh.”

    Reply

  230. Flummoxed!! And, I usually spell it wrong, too (flummuxed)! Seriously, I cannot get the emphasis right on this word, so I started staying “flammished” instead. My daughter and I decided that this is the Jewish version of flummoxed and it works just fine…!

    Reply

  233. Wow, couldn’t read all the comments. A good friend of mine (who is a teacher) with the “supposably” Drives me CRAZY!!!! and it is said in every conversation we have, no matter how short!!!

    Reply

  235. @77/Karen: it was my completely inability to pronounce Feb-BRU-ary instead of Feb-YOU-ary that landed me in multiple weeks of speech therapy as a kindergarterner. 🙁

    Reply

  238. It’s Realtor, not Realator. One of the HGTV home selling shows has a woman on there (a Realtor in fact) that pronounces it Realator, It makes my brain itch. It’s a good thing, you’re not asking about screwed up song lyrics… I would then have to embarrass myself.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *