Most annoying mispronunciation

Rob   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 15:27 GMT
I cast my vote for the mispronunciation ''ak-tore'' for ''actor'' instead of ''ak-ter''.
Joanne   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 15:52 GMT
I respectfully disagree, although "ak-tore" is damn annoying in its own right :)

My vote: "nu-kyou-ler" for "nuclear"... do I really need to say who mispronounces this word on an hourly basis? :-P

A distant second place: "in-DUS-try" (Donald Trump)
Jim Brown   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 16:23 GMT
''prolly'' for ''probably''.
Damian   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 16:39 GMT
"Ak'chur-ly" for actually
"Har'ASS" for 'harass (Scots never pronounc it that way)

There is a real corker of a mispro which is so common but right now I can't remember what it is. Post later if it comes to me. Probably the second after I click on "send".
Ed   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 17:58 GMT
Damian, that's funny because it annoys me when harass is pronounced as 'harass.
ak-tore sounds cool to me, nu-kyou-ler, on the other hand is dorky lol
Steve   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 20:20 GMT
Ev-er-ee for ''every'' is my vote. Why is there the need for some to lengthen ''every'' into a three-syllable word?
lims   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 20:36 GMT
The way people talk with a question tone at the end of a sentence that's clearly a statement is so annoying, for example: "We went to the theatre? where we ran into our neighbours? who have that 7 metre high fence separating our backyards?"

I feel like asking "Are you you sure?" at the end of each question-like statement. That way of talking is catchy, so I try to make sure that I don't speak like that.
Sanja   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 20:43 GMT
>>Ev-er-ee for ''every'' <<

LOL, I can't believe some native speakers do it too, my mother always pronounces it that way, but she can't even speak English :))
Christie   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 20:48 GMT
For me, it's TOR-ward for "toward." Do you see an r between o and w? I don't!
Brennus   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 22:14 GMT

Libary and Febuary for library and february. Ironically, I said them this way until about third grade along with many of my classmates. Our teachers drilled it out of us though and now these pronunciations sound uncomfortable to me.
Steve   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 22:35 GMT
I don't like the mispronunciation ''libary'' but ''Febuary'' sounds fine to me and that's how I pronounce it. The first ''r'' in ''February'' is pronounced mainly by pedants.
Brennus   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 22:45 GMT

Hmm, Steve, an interesting take but shouldn't we be consistant?
Steve K   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 23:23 GMT
I like your first name but to me people who say Febuary are in the same boat as people who say meer for mirror, pitcher for picture, libery for library etc. .They sound uneducated. But I admit they may not be. To call people pedants for the way they pronounce is small minded.
Reggie   Saturday, December 04, 2004, 23:55 GMT
Stever wrote:

<<Ev-er-ee for ''every'' is my vote. Why is there the need for some to lengthen ''every'' into a three-syllable word?>>

Stever I thought it was a "three-syllable word". :-) I have wrongly presumed that words are pronounced the way they're written.

I pronounced it E-VE-REE.
Tiffany   Sunday, December 05, 2004, 01:13 GMT
"i-deer" for idea. Do you see an 'r' anywhere in that room.

As for the February argument - if I pronounced it "fe-bru-ar-ee" anywhere I have lived, I'd probably get weird stares.

About "every"... how do you pronounce "very"? Two syllables! Add an "e" at the beginning. You get THREE syllables. I maintain that if you want to be militant about people pronouncing it "ev-ree" (which is the only way I can fathom it with two syllables) you should pronounce "very" as "vree". As for my pronunciation: I say it with both two and three syllables depending on how fast I am speaking.