{"id":486,"date":"2008-08-07T10:12:33","date_gmt":"2008-08-07T17:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bspcn.com\/?p=486"},"modified":"2008-08-07T10:12:33","modified_gmt":"2008-08-07T17:12:33","slug":"10-mispronunciations-that-make-you-sound-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2008\/08\/07\/10-mispronunciations-that-make-you-sound-stupid\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Mispronunciations That Make You Sound Stupid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Toni Bowers<\/a><\/p>\n

Right or wrong, people often judge you by the way you pronounce things. Say a word incorrectly and POW \u2014 they\u2019ve pegged you as a provincial, poorly educated moron. Toni Bowers offers a list of commonly mangled words so you can double-check your own pronunciation.<\/EM><\/p>\n


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\n<\/H3><\/p>\n

Previously, TechRepublic ran an article about 10 grammar mistakes that make you look stupid<\/A>. The examples cited involved the misuse of words in written and verbal communications. I\u2019d like to go a step farther here and talk about words that may be used correctly but are pronounced wrong. They also may be much more flagrant examples of stupidity.<\/p>\n

A caveat: My ear may be abnormally sensitive to mispronunciations since in college I developed an unnatural affinity for linguistics (can you say \u201cGet a life?\u201d). However, people often make snap decisions about character and intelligence based on their language biases, so it\u2019s something you should be aware of. Here are some of my pet peeves, which you may or may not ever use in your life.<\/p>\n

Note: This article originally appeared in our Career Management blog<\/A>.<\/EM><\/p>\n

#1: Realtor<\/h3>\n

Many people \u2014 I\u2019ve even heard it from people on national TV \u2014 pronounce this word REAL-uh-ter<\/EM>. Is this a case of wide-spread dyslexia, transposing the a<\/EM> and the l<\/EM>? It\u2019s REAL<\/EM>–tor<\/EM>. That\u2019s it. You\u2019d think only two syllables would be easier to pronounce, but apparently not.<\/p>\n

#2: Nuclear<\/h3>\n

Do you know how tough it is to be an advocate for the correct pronunciation of this word (NU-clee-er<\/EM>) when the president of the United States pronounces it NU-cu-lar<\/EM>? I don\u2019t buy that it\u2019s a regional thing. Ya\u2019ll is a regional thing; nu-cu-lar is not.<\/p>\n

#3: Jewelry<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s not JOO-la-ree<\/EM>, it\u2019s JOOL-ree. <\/EM>Again with the making things harder by turning a word into three syllables. What\u2019s with that?<\/p>\n

#4: Supposedly\/supposably<\/h3>\n

The latter is a nonexistent word.<\/p>\n

#5: Supposed to\/suppose to<\/h3>\n

I think this one is more a matter of a lazy tongue than of ignorance. It takes an extra beat in there to emphasize the d<\/EM> at the end, but it\u2019s worth it. And never omit the d<\/EM> if you\u2019re using the term in a written communication or people will think you were raised in a hollowed-out tree trunk somewhere.<\/p>\n

#6: Used to\/use to<\/h3>\n

Same as above.<\/p>\n

#7: Anyway\/anyways<\/h3>\n

There\u2019s no s<\/EM> at the end. I swear. Look it up.<\/p>\n

#8: February\/Febuary<\/h3>\n

As much as it galls me, there is an r<\/EM> between the b<\/EM> and the u<\/EM>. When you pronounce the word correctly it should sound like you\u2019re trying to talk with a mouthful of marbles \u2014 FEB broo ary<\/EM>.<\/p>\n

#9: Recur\/reoccur<\/h3>\n

Though the latter is tempting, it\u2019s not a word. And again, why add another syllable if you don\u2019t need it?<\/p>\n

#10: Mischievous\/mischievious<\/h3>\n

I know, I know, it sounds so Basil Rathbone to say MIS cha vous<\/EM>, but that\u2019s the right way. Mis CHEE vee us<\/EM> is more commonly used, but it\u2019s wrong.<\/p>\n

And last but not least, my personal all-time pet peeve \u2014 the word often<\/EM>. It should be pronounced OFF un<\/EM>, not OFF tun<\/EM>. The t<\/EM> is silent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Toni Bowers Right or wrong, people often judge you by the way you pronounce things. Say a word incorrectly and POW \u2014 they\u2019ve pegged you as a provincial, poorly educated moron. Toni Bowers offers a list of commonly mangled words so you can double-check your own pronunciation. Previously, TechRepublic ran an article about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}