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Words you read first and now mispronounce

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LadyArkham View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote LadyArkham Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 3:21am
We (faculty) hosted the college’s Quidditch team for Harry Potter trivia night which I put together, and one student got the answer “draught of living death” correct, but then another student piped up, “So, ‘draught’ is pronounced like ‘draft.’”

Cue everyone in the room going, “Ohhhhh!”

We had all been rhyming it with “caught.”
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote thedreaminghare Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 8:57am
@jasondenys Most people I know in Canada pronounce drought as if it rhymes with "caught", so I'm the odd one out.


Edited by thedreaminghare - 21 May 2021 at 8:58am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote FireHorse Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 9:28am
Epitome.

What more can I say?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote manifestlynot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 5:08pm
Originally posted by LadyArkham LadyArkham wrote:

We (faculty) hosted the college’s Quidditch team for Harry Potter trivia night which I put together, and one student got the answer “draught of living death” correct, but then another student piped up, “So, ‘draught’ is pronounced like ‘draft.’”

Cue everyone in the room going, “Ohhhhh!”

We had all been rhyming it with “caught.”

I read the books aloud to my kids and didn’t figure this out until book 5…
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kristina_f Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 5:30pm
In a similar vein to 'draught', the proper pronunciation of 'lieutenant' in Canadian English is 'leftenant', a holdover from our British roots. However, I am curious if this pronunciation will almost entirely die out in Canada in my lifetime. The average person rarely uses the word. The most common context for hearing it is probably American television and movies. Most Canadians would say 'lootenant' even in reference to Canadian officers and officials. It's not proper, but I wouldn't go so far as to say it is wrong. It's accepted.

I would think those in the armed forces would still say 'leftenant'. I'm not sure about police forces, or in politics (e.g. Lieutenant Governor).

In all fairness, it is a counterintuitive pronunciation in a language that is already horribly inconsistent. 


Edited by kristina_f - 21 May 2021 at 5:33pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Draiglas Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 May 2021 at 6:32pm
Worry. I pronounce it to rhyme with sorry. It wasn't till I was 17 and on holiday with friends that I learned it's meant to rhyme with hurry, but I still say it the wrong way. It probably doesn't help that that's also how my mum says it (she's not a native English speaker). 

Not an English one, but I always pronounce "Myfanwy" with more of an "oi" sound at the end rather than a "wi" sound, because for ages, I thought it was meant to rhyme with the Welsh word "pwy". It's not, apparently.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Nimhathuna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2021 at 12:31am
Originally posted by kristina_f kristina_f wrote:

... , the proper pronunciation of 'lieutenant' in Canadian English is 'leftenant', a holdover from our British roots. 

A leftover Wink from British imperialism. What can you do? Thanks to Lieutenant Columbo, I pronounce it the correct way. Considering its etymology, Columbo had it right.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kristina_f Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2021 at 1:41am
If we're going to jump back the the French, then I think the best we could say is he had it less wrong.

That makes me think of cases that are basically the inverse of this thread. For example, I had no idea how to spell 'karaoke' given the way it's pronounced in English. It's weird in these cases where we butcher the pronunciation why we don't just butcher the spelling to match.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Alexis_H Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 Jun 2021 at 11:17am
This one started as my sister, and is now deeply imbedded in my brain.
My sister loved video games, so I would read and she would play. When Sonic the Hedgehog came out, she was thrilled to complete quests to obtain Chorse Crystals. (like horse, but with a chuh).

Around 2 years later we were browsing a bookstore for me and she dragged me to a shelf screaming "you have to get this! They stole the name of Sonic's crystals!"

That dear friends is when I started saying Chorse instead of Chaos. It's been 30 years now, and I can't stop.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Tess2019 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 07 Jun 2021 at 10:35am
LOL, too many to list...and it only got worse when I got dentures. Now, I take long pauses to figure out how to string along syllables and sibilants. Or to just find another word.
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