There are a few words in the English language I don't actually know how to pronounce, as well as quite a few English and Welsh place-names.
One of these is chipotle. I see it and read it in my mind, but would be embarrassed to say it aloud lest anyone in the know actually hear me. So what is it? 1. chip-oat-al 2. chip-pot-lee 3. chip-oat-lee 4. chip-pot-al (I'm assuming the stress is on the middle syllable in all four examples.)
I am sure I will remember all sorts of others throughout the day, but what are some of the words you don't actually know how to pronounce?
Admit to it here, and we, the people of STW will set you straight without even thinking about judging you for your linguistic ineptitude.
EDIT: One I remember from my youth was 'hyperbole'. I knew the word in context, but didn't make the connection between what I was seeing on the page and the word as I might have actually used it when speaking. Even today I will deliberately say 'hyper-bowl' with my kids just to be silly. (They know what it really is...)
My guess is chip-oat-lay
The problem with chipotle is that it’s not an English word.
indictment
hegemony
Oh, and brands:
Deuter
Topeak
I have never ordered this at Subway for the sdame reason 🙂 My guess is chip-pot-al
I remember Fatigue causing me confusion as a kid. I knew what Fat-eeg felt like but no idea about this mysterious fat-ee-gooey
None of the above my good man ,(copied off Wikipedia) : chipotle (/tʃɪˈpoʊtleɪ/, chi-POHT-lay; Spanish
I believe it was introduced in Subway as 'south west sauce' cos noone had the faintest how to pronounce
I've winged it as chi poht lay but turns out I was right like a broken clock is right twice a day etc
All I can think of for now is 'cirencester'. No idea how to say that but managed to get thru life so far without that gaping whole in my vocabulary
Ghoti.
Burglary
I would have said burg-la-reh but after watching one of those stupid police shows on TV last night it appears to be burg-ul-reh
All I can think of for now is ‘cirencester’.
Try this village near me on the outskirts of Northampton - Cogenhoe
Cotic is a good one
I want to say coh-tic but have to correct myself everytime if it's based on cy-cotic /psychotic. I e co-tic
I appreciate those phonetics don't work at all but they do when I say it out loud
There are a bunch of place names near me that are seemingly designed to confuse non-locals
Kilncadzow
Ravenstruther
Strathaven
Dalziel
Ghoti
Pronounced "fish."
Cotic is a good one
I want to say coh-tic but have to correct myself everytime if it's based on cy-cotic /psychotic. I e co-tic
I appreciate those phonetics don't work at all but they do when I say it out loud
'are Nice biscuits pronounced Nice or Nice? I've always thought it was 'Nice' but my wife insists that it's 'Nice')
(Copied off Viz letters)
Bianchi
What about words that you don't know how to say, that no one ever says, but journalists and writers use anyway
Chagrin
Luxury yacht
At risk of seeming patronising, I can't quite tell if some of you have resolved your pronunciation questions, so I will set out some of my own answers here. If you want suggestions, please indicate!
In the meantime...
1. indictment: in-dite-ment (emphasis on second syllable
2. hegemony: hedge-em-muh-nee (emphasis on 'em')
Deuter I have always said as 'Doy-ter' and Topeak as 'Top Peak', but I have noticed on GCN that they pronounce the latter as 'Taw-Peak' with emphasis on second syllable.
Orthopaedic espadrille
Always used to say 'hyperbole' as hyperbowl
And 'chutzpah' as chutzpah
In case anyone is struggling it's perk-hey pant-her
Interestingly (at least for me), when I moved to the UK in 2003, I encountered the appliances namebrand 'Miele', which, as a German name, is pronounced 'Mee-le'. But I didn't know this because, in the first instance, we didn't have that brand in Canada, and in the second, we had a bicycle brand 'Miele', but it was Italian (-Canadian), and pronounced 'Mee-el-ee'.
My first visit to Curry's in search of a new dishwasher was embarrassing.
When I had my school Saturday job in a supermarket, some Yanks had me stumped when they asked for Lie-sesster cheese.
Bicester & Towcester are good place names, but a recent thread here gave us Penicuik FTW.
asclepius...Bloody Greeks
I've always pronounced them Toe-Peak, and Dew-Ter. (not the Bloody Greeks, That's Ah-sklee-pee-us)
All I can think of for now is ‘cirencester’. No idea how to say that but managed to get thru life so far without that gaping whole in my vocabulary
Happy to plug your (w)hole:
sigh-ren-sest-er ['sigh' to rhyme with 'eye', 'ren' as in 'children', 'sest' as in 'incest' (probably appropriately), 'er' as in 'sister' (who is also probably wife, see earlier)]
Or, as we locals say
sigh-ren
Orthopaedic espadrille
Didn't they support Pink Floyd in the early 1970s?
If truth be told, I struggle to correctly pronounce most English words as my extremely thick Lanarkshire accent consists almost entirely of glottal stops and profanity
Another location based one is Happisburgh. Which is pronounced Gubernatorial
this is how I've always pronounced it, as that's how Cartman says it (Chipotle Away 😂) in South Park - which is where I first heard it!!(copied off Wikipedia) : chipotle (/tʃɪˈpoʊtleɪ/, chi-POHT-lay; Spanish
Bontrager
SRAM
Chromoly
sigh-ren-sest-er
Old blokes I know from the Cotswolds called it ‘Sih-sussterr’ (hard ‘ih!’) or ‘Sissiteh’
Awroight shag?’
Didn’t they support Pink Floyd in the early 1970s?
Probably.
They're designed for maximum support for posh, out of date high flyers.
There are a bunch of place names near me that are seemingly designed to confuse non-locals
Standard up here in Aberdeenshire:
Finzean - fing-ghen
Strachan - strawn
Bennachie - ben-a-hee
Peterculter - peter-coo-ter
Footdee - fit-ee
Scone
An in mown
As in gone
As in loon
Milngavie
as my extremely thick Lanarkshire accent consists almost entirely of glottal stops and profanity
Are you also proficient in the ancient Scots martial art of Fucyu, which consists mostly of headbutting the opponent and kicking them when they're on the ground?
Nigel Farage. Pronounced ****.
Hmmm. Actually using pronounced as an adjective there.
Scone
An in mown
As in gone
As in loon
If you're after something to have with a cup of tea
If you're mental
If you're an important Scottish chair
If you’re mental
Fucyu! 😉
cyclical
I watched that a few days back...
Milngavie
EYE-RON-BROO
I was on this forum for 18 months before I realised it wasn't about furniture to store your vests in.
Schedule
Is it "sked Yule" or "shed Yule"?
Furlough.....till about 3 weeks ago
Monopoly - I always called it Moneyplop as a child.
Crisps - I don't know when to stop saying the 'sps' bit and it comes out as crispspsps
