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#126 2014-01-17 07:11:52

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Just remembered another one of these from years ago, a sort of counterpart of the teatable paradise of post #95 of this topic. I pondered what particular scandalous behavior a malefactor was guilty of. It was a bit of a disappointment to realize that it was just generalized evil, and that there were no femalefactors.
.
(A quick google reveals that there are many references, especially in writing about infertility, to both male factors and the female factors, but they swamp examples of the sort I tried to look for.)

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2014-01-17 07:23:36)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#127 2014-05-27 14:42:30

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

DT, that reminds me of those who think there might be a femalestrom.

I was pleased to find that another word I mispronounced in my mind, back when I loved reading pirate stories: ague. I thought it rhymed with vague. Like a vague ache. Come to think of it, even earlier, I didn’t have a solid lock on the pronunciation of vague, thinking it rhymed with bag. And so now I stumble whenever I have to pronounce it in French, where it does, vaguely. I think.

I only learned that ague doesn’t rhyme with vague in rereading that poem, that’s be circulating for years, about the quirks of English pronunciation.

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#128 2014-05-27 18:19:35

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

That has an orthographical metathesis going on too. (All the hits on femaelstrom that I managed to look at were pretty clearly advertent.)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#129 2014-12-16 06:46:45

AdamVero
Eggcornista
From: Leeds, UK
Registered: 2007-09-04
Posts: 69
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I heard recently that the metathesis of ask /æksis considerably older than many of us assume – it is not a malady of recent youthful undifference, but many generations old and probably should be accepted more as a patois than a (newly made) mistake or laziness. This is no different from “awry”, genuinely pronounced AW-ree in the jive sense of “He gonna be awry [alright]”

The metathesis of spaghetti, pasketti, basketti I think is very interesting. I do like the theory that this example comes through shortening to “sketty” first, then trying to add back in the missing syllable.
Note the very similar switch of sounds in words such as spectacles and spectrum vs telescope and episcopal where the SP and C sounds are reversed, despite all these words having a common original root word. At some point the sounds simply switched (long before all those derivations came about in modern usage of course, they had not at that point invented spectrometers and microscopes).

I have heard dour as both dower and door, usually split between English / Scottish speakers, although I notice many English speakers choosing the “correct” door pronunciation, usually with regard to an adjective applied to a Scot (notably Gordon Brown seems forever tarred with this epithet). I also note that in Scotland there is far more distinction in speech between endings ”-ore” and ”-oor” generally.
“There are far more [MOR] grouse on the moor [MOO-er] this year than last…”
I think dour tends towards the latter of these, so this two-syllable sound is quite close to “dower” really.


Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will buy a ridiculous hat – Scott Adams (author of Dilbert)
Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day; set a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life – Terry Pratchett
http://blog.meteorit.co.uk

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#130 2014-12-17 00:41:07

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

AdamVero wrote:

The metathesis of spaghetti, pasketti, basketti I think is very interesting. I do like the theory that this example comes through shortening to “sketty” first, then trying to add back in the missing syllable.

I have observed these pronunciations mostly in very young children, except insofar as families have adopted them as a nod to the developmental history of their cute little tykes. Therefore I’ve always assumed that they came about simply through the inarticulateness of youngsters, much as my sister came to be known as “Mimi” because that’s the closest she could come to pronouncing Mary when she was little.

Having said that, I do acknowledge that there are examples of full-grown adults moving consonant sounds around within words. You don’t have to watch too many Food Network shows before you’ll hear chefs and other food experts—who should know better— pronounce chipotle “chipolte” and mascarpone “marscapone”. (And I admit that I cringe a bit every time I hear these.)

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#131 2015-02-11 13:59:21

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Came across this confession on Facebook:

Started reading John Grisham books as 11 (only 3 were out at that point) . I think the subject matter was a little above my head when I had to ask my parents why “man’s laughter” (manslaughter) was so bad.


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#132 2015-02-12 08:18:46

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

In my youth, I used to see a very common brand of golf ball emblazoned with the name of its manufacturer, a company called Titleist (i.e., a winner of a sports title). Not being familiar with the word, I assumed the company’s name was a family’s surname, and was pronounced “tit-leist” (with the second syllable rhyming with Christ). It made me chuckle. It was years before I suddenly realized what the word was and what it meant, and therefore the correct pronunciation.

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#133 2016-03-27 22:21:35

wkdewey
Member
Registered: 2009-09-28
Posts: 4

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I read “belied” as “bellied.” As if one fact could push up against another fact with its belly and thus contradict it.

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#134 2016-03-28 11:41:12

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I like the image of candidates for facthood bellying up to each other and vying for the position.


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#135 2016-03-29 16:49:12

momtar
Member
Registered: 2016-03-29
Posts: 2

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

For years, I pronounced awry as awe-ree. I was in my 30’s or 40’s before I learned it was pronounced uh-rye.

Duh.

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#136 2016-03-29 17:02:09

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Welcome to the club, momtar! (See posts #68, 70, 71, 103 above.)


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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#137 2016-04-24 06:33:48

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Dixon Wragg wrote:

Years ago when I saw Ray Davies of the Kinks doing his excellent storytelling/music show, he repeatedly pronounced his last name “Davis”. I’m not arguing with him

********************

Is Ray Davies Welsh? Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies pronounces his name “Davis”, too.

Bruce

Last edited by yanogator (2016-04-24 06:34:20)


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#138 2016-04-24 07:35:50

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

yanogator wrote:

Is Ray Davies Welsh? Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies pronounces his name “Davis”, too.

Ray was born and raised in Muswell Hill, North London. I don’t know where his parents were from.

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#139 2016-05-04 16:03:25

bluecrab
Member
Registered: 2010-09-24
Posts: 19

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I recall my saying MUNTZ-uh-ple for “municipal.” This was immediately corrected by my dad thus: “It’s myoo-NISS-ih-ple, you idiot!”
Then there was HY-po-tennis for “hypotenuse.” Fortunately, I learned how to say that before uttering anything.
I still experience this regularly—words that I read one way but are pronounced another way. Dictionaries and the Internet have been my salvation.

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#140 2016-06-05 09:40:11

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

The well-spoken radio host on the premier program of the CBC mother ship, this morning, was introducing an interview entitled, Born strange- Brian Brett on gender, his parrot Tuco, and life as an Other. I couldn’t quite believe what I heard him say, or rather how he pronounced what he said, and had to verify it on the web: outsiders and outliers.

He has august company. See #73 in this thread.

Last edited by David Bird (2016-06-05 09:44:34)

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#141 2016-10-17 12:37:30

Peter Forster
Eggcornista
From: UK
Registered: 2006-09-06
Posts: 1222

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

David B’s recent post on ‘sheer muslims’ reminded me of a relatively recent misinterpretation. From childhood I’ve been familiar with the word denier relating to the relative transparency of ladies’ stockings and tights. A stocking pulled over the head was an essential prop for bank robbers and the like, providing they had the wit to choose sheer rather than a more opaque variety, which they sometimes didn’t. An intermittently enthusiastic gardener, I’ve long utilised my wife’s old tights for tying back fruit bushes, supporting ageing boughs etc. So when I came across an article which mentioned ‘Holocaust deniers’ I was only momentarily stumped, immediately positing a set of unusual distinctions, with various deniers perhaps hiding detail in order to reveal, for example, some architectural feature otherwise imperceptible. Several paragraphs later the prosaic reality became depressingly clear, but ever since I remain unable, when faced with the word denier, to shake off this glimpse of a series of subtle gradations of perception which could be deliberately triggered in order to see more by sometimes seeing less.

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#142 2016-10-23 19:10:48

Wordsmyth
Member
Registered: 2016-10-23
Posts: 27

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I was an adult when I first used the word “epitome” by pronouncing it “epp’-i-tome.”

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#143 2016-10-24 11:24:15

dantemortem
Member
Registered: 2016-10-24
Posts: 3

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I remember my parents laughed a lot when I pronounced Egypt as Eggy-pit though I was still pre-school at the time. And pharaoh tripped me up for a long time, always wanted to pronounce it in 3 syllables, though not, oddly enough fer-a-oh, but fer-oh-a.

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#144 2017-09-13 14:23:47

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

A report on the discovery of colonial bryozoans in a pond in Vancouver, B.C., included the pronunciation of don to rhyme with lone (here, at 6 seconds). Does she make a connection to donate, maybe?

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#145 2017-09-13 16:13:34

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

David Bird wrote:

A report on the discovery of colonial bryozoans in a pond in Vancouver, B.C., included the pronunciation of don to rhyme with lone (here, at 6 seconds). Does she make a connection to donate, maybe?

According to Dictionary.com, it can be pronounced that way when it is a shortened form of “donec”, which it says means “until”. There doesn’t seem to be any connection between the two dons, though, since the verb is just a contraction of “do on”. Maybe she uses it to mean donec regularly, so just naturally pronounces it that way.


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#146 2017-09-13 17:13:24

David Bird
Eggcornista
From: The Hammer, Ontario
Registered: 2009-07-28
Posts: 1690

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Good one, Bruce. I thought you were serious for a moment there. Got me.

Last edited by David Bird (2017-09-13 17:38:26)

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#147 2017-09-13 17:15:05

Dixon Wragg
Eggcornista
From: Cotati, California
Registered: 2008-07-04
Posts: 1375

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

David Bird wrote:

A report on the discovery of colonial bryozoans in a pond in Vancouver, B.C., included the pronunciation of don to rhyme with lone (here, at 6 seconds).

She also pronounces bryozoan as “byrozoan” (at about 13 seconds in). Maybe she thinks the organism was named after Lord Byron?

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#148 2017-09-13 18:00:29

yanogator
Eggcornista
From: Ohio
Registered: 2007-06-07
Posts: 237

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

David Bird wrote:

Good one, Bruce. I thought you were serious for a moment there. Got me.

I was serious about dictionary.com, but the speculation about her pronunciation was tongue-in-cheek.

Bruce


“I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific.” – Lily Tomlin

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#149 2017-09-18 16:25:39

kem
Eggcornista
From: Victoria, BC
Registered: 2007-08-28
Posts: 2851

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

I suspect we are just hearing an idiomatic rendering of how someone thinks “don” is pronounced.

How have I gotten this far in life without realizing that the verb “don” is a contraction of “do on?”


Hatching new language, one eggcorn at a time.

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#150 2017-09-19 00:52:17

DavidTuggy
Eggcornista
From: Mexico
Registered: 2007-10-11
Posts: 2714
Website

Re: Things you read and understood but mispronounced in your mind

Doff your hat to the Bruce, Kem!


*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

(Possible Corollary: it is, and we are .)

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