BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 29 Jun 03 - 10:59 PM

Well, I'm not going to get into regional pronunciations--I think they add color to conversation. As in Brooklyn, where departing travelers (travellers to the UK educated) are wished "Bon Verge!", or folks in Kentucky that comb their har and put on their paints.

What I hate is "Normalcy"--a gaffe from a previous illiterate President that has come to be cast in stone (whatever that means.)

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 29 Jun 03 - 02:44 PM

Of course, there is always Polari which could be described as "the queens' English"

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 29 Jun 03 - 02:14 AM

My two cents' worth: the one I cannot abide, and unfortunately it is becoming ubiquitous is "There is, or there's" for "There are." It's in newspapers, magazines, on news broadcasts -- all the places one would expect or hope to find correct language.

"There's lots more where this came from, hon!"
"There is no excuses for this kind of behaviour."

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 10:20 PM

Warsh is widespread in the western US. I have heard it in the UK- perhaps it came from there originally. Anyone in the UK know if it comes from one region or another? I have been told it is Irish.

Asphalt- What is the source of ash-felt? I think this was asked before, but I can't remember if an answer was found. In Canada, very few people correctly pronounce it as-falt.
Just remember the ie rule- i before e except after c and in certain weird words.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Webster
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 09:23 PM

A "catalytic converter" is not a "cadillac Converter"

In the Southern USA, people "warsh" their clothes, "rinch" and "bresh" their hair. They drink "alkyhol",which they buy when they have some "extree" money.

"Weird" is my failing...mostly, I spell it "wierd", if I do not pay attention.

Webster

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 08:47 PM

Oh and I forgot the Scottish ones, e.g. definaytely (long A!) and sangwich, badmington (never had a g in them when I went to school!)
And in some areas they say "went" where the usual would be "gone", e.g. "he's went to Aberdeen"

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 08:42 PM

Complimentary/complementary seem to be just about mutually interchangeable now, and nearly always wrong! As is seperate, acomodate, comunicate, etc.

As for pronunciation, nearly everyone who is not French says Deja vous (pron.voo) meaning already you, instead of Deja vu (pron. more like view)meaning already seen, which is what it really means.

I like the medical ones, e.g. prostrate intead of prostate, or the lady who told us she had "ballistic kidneys" when she had the polycystic variety! But nearly every newscaster talks about cervical with emphasis on the first syllable, whereas most medics say cerveyecal, with emphasis on the second.

As for the apostrophe's everywhere these day's!

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 03:17 AM

as a linguist and someone who cant speeell this thred haz faseneated mee. Just showz u how langwidge continyooz ta chaynj it iz ownli bekoz we rite thet we av theez problems - are mispronunciations not just colloquial (or is it coloquial or kollokwial?) dialect?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: catspaw49
Date: 28 Jun 03 - 12:05 AM

I think that spelling fart with a ph (phart) makes it less offensive.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 11:44 PM

I goofed on omelet- Skipped over the entry; it was in earlier editions of the OED. 1611- defined as a pancake of eggs. Spelling varied, everything from amulet to omlet.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 11:32 PM

Jimmyt: The Institute for Preventative Sports Medicine thinks preventative is a good word, and so does the Center for Preventative Health.
The Guardian used preventative in a headline, and BBC News says, "Paddy Ashdown called for strong preventative action." If you want to argue with those guys, go ahead.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 11:20 PM

The OED considers preventive preferable, but preventative has been around since the 17th century. The syllable is available if you prefer to stretch the word out. Merriam Webster's lists it without comment.

Since both are 17th century in print, neither is prevenient.

The OED did not admit omelet (omelette) to their Dictionary until 1987. The word first appeared in English in 1846 in the "Jewish Manual, or Practical Information on Jewish and Modern Cooking." Acton, in 1846, in his "Modern Cookery," introduced the "omlette(sic) aux fines herbes" to English cooks.
All examples from the OED.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: jimmyt
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 10:29 PM

I have a hard time with people using the word preventive pronouncing it as preventative. The extra syllable is not there.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 07:51 PM

Non Sequitur (and many others) available Daily from the Washington Post. Also a selection of the political cartoons from several papers.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Bill D
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 06:56 PM

well, it is work to find exactly the ones you want, but Non Sequitur is on the web, and a treasure it is!

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 06:28 PM

Restaurant menus are a common source of misspellings. I have seen omlet and omlette countless times. My local college grille serves Monte Crisco sandwiches. They also have a weird way of spelling focaccia but I can't remember it.

Advertising copywriters feel free to abuse the language. Usually, they know exactly what they're doing, but they will gladly break any grammar or spelling rule if they think the resulting text will appeal to their target audience.

Case in point: the lowly word 'n'. I mean the contracted form of and as in rock 'n' roll. Copywriters love this word because it has a nice slangy informal feel to it. It conveys that their product is effortless to use, just like grammar and orthography. They have invented brand names like Clairol Nice 'n Easy® haircolor (spelling haircolor as one word) or SPRAY 'n WASH® laundry stain remover. Once you start noticing 'n', you see it everywhere.

The consensus among advertisers is that one apostrophe is sufficient; two is too much effort. Trouble is, they can't agree on whether the apostrophe should go before or after the n.

I wish I could think of more examples. I know they're out there, but Google ignores punctuation, apparently.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 06:15 PM

WYS reminds of the people who say "excuse me for ..." when they're about to do something for which there is no excuse (and none offered). "Forgive me" would be much more appropriate - and might be possible when we're in a good mood.

A "cartoon" carried locally, Non-Sequitor, runs frequent "What he/she said"//"What she/he heard" and "What they mean"/"when they say" bits that tweak on numerous foibles. Unfortuately, most of my "collected favorites" are mainly "sight gags" that don't translate well without the pictures.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 04:07 PM

Merriam Webster-
"learnt Chiefly Brit past and past part of learn."
OED-
Learn v pa t and pple learned, learnt.
In other words both are acceptable to the OED if not to Nigel and his teachers (I think I was taught the same as you, Nigel, but we end up absorbing the teacher's preferences).

Learnéd in the sense of erudite.
Some Americans speak of a knowledgeable man as learnéd, using the two-syllable pronunciation used in the OED, but Webster's accepts both, reflecting the American tendency to abandon the accented -ed ending.

Yep, still biting. John H, I know that in talk I probably mess up light-lit- lighted. Webster's accepts lit or lighted as past for the verb. Lighted is often seen in 19th C. writing. In the US Navy they have the phrase "the smoking lamp is lit."
Lit often used with up- her face lit up. Lit (up) = drunk. Lit as short for literature.
Webster's also accepts both "the bird lit on the branch or lighted on the branch. I know some birders who prefer lighted but I think most of us say lit.
The OED also accepts both. In the US I think most of us turn on or turn off a light bulb or lamp and avoid the l-word. Or we could outen the light as our Pennsy. Dutch friends are supposed to say.
Hmmm, bite, bit, bitten (and bit)- why not light, lit, litten?

Lighten up?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 04:00 PM

In our language it's difficult to describe differences in pronunciation because we don't have a symbol for schwa even though it's the commonest of English vowels.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:31 PM

I'm with Dave on this one. It's one thing to make a mistake, but to have your mistake on a public sign, have it pointed out to you, and then to do nothing about it!

We have a Miniture Soldier Museum in town. Also a business sign which says Wensday.

Of course all MY mistakes are just typos. I really do know better.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: beadie
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:29 PM

The adjective "learned" seems restricted to the lofty discourse of lawyers and politicians, although I have heard it used as a descriptive for "learned" professions (theology, medicine and law).

. . . and the learned gentleman can stick THAT in his Funk and Wagnalls !

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:15 PM

American dictionaries ARE different (but I don't have one to examine right now). Americans would say "He learned his two-times table." As a verb, "learned" would be pronounced as one syllable, to rhyme with "turned." We also have "learned" pronounced as two syllables when it's an adjective, as in "the learned gentleman." But that's not a usage we hear often.

American English has had its own standard since Noah Webster published his first dictionary. Nowadays "Webster's" is almost a synonym for dictionary. The term "Webster's" is no longer a protected trademark, so anyone can publish a dictionary and call it "Webster's." Many cheap and poor dictionaries are called that. "Merriam-Webster," however is a trademarked name, and the name of our best publisher of dictionaries, in my opinion.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: wysiwyg
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 03:13 PM

I believe PLEASE and THANK YOU are commonly confused with GIMMEE and IT'S ABOUT TIME.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 02:51 PM

Guest Q; Jim Dixon:
Unless US dictionaries are different, learned & learnt are not synoymous.
Learnt: (lurnt) is usually reserved for the past participle of the verb 'to learn', i.e. "he learnt his two times table"
Learned: (lurn'id) is the adjective to describe someone who has learning. "The learned gentleman taught his pupils English until they had learnt enough"

Nigel

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: John Hardly
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 01:48 PM

I screw up "Cincinnati" and "necessary" regularly. The "I" before "E" except after "C" or when sounding like "A" as in neighbor and weigh, and its exceptions cause many mis-spelled words.

As long as the pedants are out and biting like bass on a spring pond -- whatever happened to "lit"? Was it ever NOT the past of "light"? Is "lit" not a word? or is it one of those "Lay/lain" thingys where lit is the past of the activity of, of rinstance, sanding on a tree branch as a bird might, while "lighted" is what I might have done to a light bulb?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 01:43 PM

Dreamed-dreamt etc. Been reading a number of current UK novels recently, and the -t ending seems to be alive and well in the UK although it has mostly been lost in American usage.

Amusing how many people ignore dictionaries and English language teaching in schools and follow their own bent- see a number of the postings above. This contributes to the changes with time in the language, but adds to debate and to the proliferation of threads like this one.

This is repetitious, but I still would like to hear an explanation of the reasons behind the -ize, -ise schism in the UK. The better (or should I be politically correct and say more expensive) private (English public) schools in England and the Oxford-Cambridge publications all demand -ize, while most people use -ise.
Along with that, why did the Americans keep the older, established -ize while most Britons shifted to -ise?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 12:53 PM

If your feet small, and your nose runs, you're probably upside down!!
Giok

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Gareth
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 11:13 AM

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch"

Gareth

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Bagpuss
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 09:51 AM

Apparently the irregular versions of the word are earlier and tend to be replaced by the regular version as time goes on. The more common or frequently used a word is, the more likely it is to retain the irregular form for longer. Rarely used words succumb to the regular form earlier in our language history. Words in which both forms are used are in the middle of this transition process.

That's as far as i remember from my English Language course at university, anyway.

Bagpuss

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 09:39 AM

McGrath:
Dreamed/dreamt
Dwelled/dwelt
Kneeled/knelt
Leaned/leant
Leaped/leapt
Learned/learnt
Smelled/smelt
Spelled/spelt
Spilled/spilt
Spoiled/spoilt

(I found them on this list of irregular verbs.)

In all the above cases, modern American usage favors the -ed versions. The -t versions would seem archaic.

Yet we hang onto built, dealt, felt, lent, meant, spent. I don't think I've ever heard builded, dealed, etc., in ordinary speech, but isn't builded in the King James Bible?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: DMcG
Date: 27 Jun 03 - 09:30 AM

One of the banners over the aisles in my local supermarket says there are 'Air freshners' nearby. It has been there for years now and irritates me every time I see it. The managers claim no-one else has noticed it. Then they refurbished the next nearest supermarket and made spelling mistakes in its labels as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: DonMeixner
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 11:35 PM

I have spelled and seen jewelry spelled many ways and I thing all are acceptable as long as archaic usage is acceptable. Here are some thoughts.

Jewelry- The bracelets I make are Jewelry
Jeweller - A person who makes Jewelry
Jewellery - The place where a Jeweller make Jewelry.

Don

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Gray D
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 08:09 PM

Phew/few, no/know, its/it's okay/ok I/eye have/halve reset/rested my/m'eye cookie/biscuit

Gray D

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:47 PM

learned, learnt

Jewellery-jewelry is an odd one, inspiring the OED editors to a mini-essay. "In commercial use commonly spelt jewellery; the form jewelry is more rhetorical and poetic and unassociated with the jeweller. But the pronunciation with three sylables is usual even with the former spelling." I would agree that "jewelry" has pretty well taken over in North America.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:44 PM

Wait a minute . . .how come I'm a bl**dy GUEST all of a sudden, I've been here for ages?

Help!!!

Joe Offer, what have I done wrong?

Was it something I typed?

Gray D

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:40 PM

George Dubyah is really worried about the "nucelar" capabilities of rogue states, isn't he?

He must be a little treasure trove of pismronunciations (something that the great U.K. comedian, Ronnie Barker, once built a skit around). . . (Has anyone noticed that "that" seems to be falling out of use, by the way?)

How Dubyahisms many can you add, 'catters?

Gray D

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: kendall
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:37 PM

So, why do we care?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:37 PM

I bother to complain about mispronunciations only when they are made by people who are paid to speak, for example TV announcers, political pundits, talk-show hosts, and the like.

For example: pundit. I've been hearing it a lot lately as if it had another 'n': pundint.

Where did people get the idea that the plural of 'process' is pronounced 'process-ease'? You hear about legal process-ease, diplomatic process-ease, and so on.

And I've been hearing 'antibiotic' pronounced 'antibeeotic'. Nonsense. It should be pronounced with a long i as in biology, biography, etc.

Since the medical professions switched to the metric system, doctors and nurses have been pronouncing 'centimeter' in the French way, 'sawntimeter'. That's silly. Maybe the French invented it, but it's an English word now, so pronounce it consistently with cent, century, centennial, percentage, etc.

These are Americans I'm talking about, of course.

Regarding the 'smell/stink' controversy: Try saying, "A rose by any other name would stink as sweet."

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Snuffy
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:30 PM

burned/burnt

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 07:16 PM

Dreamed and dreamt.

Spelled and spelt.

Can anyone think of any other pairs like that, where there are two words meaning the same and with the same origin, but spelled/spelt differently and pronounced differently - and both in current use.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 06:44 PM

Orientate and orientation have been with us since the 1830's at least.
Orientate seems to have first appeared in ecclestical writings- orientate the church, etc. Both orient and orientation are accepted by the OED.

Importatable goes back to the 14th century and Chaucer. Accepted in all its senses by the OED.

There are both grammatical reasons for preferences on aluminium and aluminum, as well as a decision by the American Chemical Standards Soc. to use aluminum. This has been discussed before, but I have forgotten the details.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Bill D (in a different browser with no cooki
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 06:23 PM

re: 'aluminium' and 'jewellery' etc...it seems as if when UK-US spellings are compared, it is 'almost' always the case that the UK uses longer versions... I suppose there is something in US culture that eschews what it considers unnecessary extra letters...not a conscious thing, but just a need to be 'compact'

as to 's' vs. 'z', that is largely a matter of pronunciation...I (we) say the hard "Z" mostly, and it sort of makes sense to spell it that way.

Now...a couple that REALLY bother me... "orientate" and "importate". Used mostly in the past tense.."orientating" and "importating" ...do people listen to themselves? And what do they think when someone simply says 'orienting' and 'importing'?

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Mr Red
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 06:14 PM

Some folks make a feast a-mispronouncing coteneaster
But when spoke any faster it comes out cotoneaster.

©Mr Red 1982

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 06:06 PM

John, I agree. One hundred and ten percent.
This one has always bugged me.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 05:25 PM

Noreen, the Oxford English Dictionary spellings are mostly -ize. This has been standard since the start of their program in 1857.
My question stands.

Quoting from the OED:
1. Words that have come down from Greek, or adopted from Greek, or formed on Greek elements. Examples- canonize, christianize, crystallize, etc. etc.
2. Words formed on Latin adjectives and substantives- civilize, colonize, brutalize, nationalize, etc. etc.
3. Words from later sources- jeopardize, womanize, cricketize, etc. etc.
4. Words formed from ethnic adjectives- Anglicize, Americanize, Latinize, etc.
5. Words formed on names of persons- Calvinize, Bowdlerize, macadamize, Merry-Andrewise, ec. etc.
6. Words from the names of substances and processes- oxidize, carbonize, hydrogenize, etc, etc.
Colonization, civilization and other nouns that fit the above categories.

So- changing a line from the comedy of Eliza Doolittle and her mentor, Why can't the English- learn to spell?

The suffix -ise.
"A frequent spelling of -IZE, suffix forming vbs, which see."
Used with abstract substantives of quality, state, function.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Alba
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 04:54 PM

Ooops I got the meaning of this thread all wrong with my previous post:>o Sorry Folks!
A

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 04:49 PM

I note one above that doesn't seem to bug many people, but the "as" in "as per" is redundant. "Per The American Heritage Dictionary" would have been sufficient.

Probably the most ubiquitous nonsense usage is the "times more" and "times less" construction. If you do something once more, you've done it twice. If you do it "two times more" you've done it "thrice," or three times. Two times two is four, but two times more than two is six.

Even worse is the "hundred times less" - which of course, in most cases should be "hundred times fewer" for any but total illiterates, but once less means it's all gone, so anything more than "one times" less (or "one times" smaller) apparently means the person is operating in some plane of reality where "multiply absent" means something to them. To me, it means the user is illiterate, or is in advertising, where lying is acceptable and expected.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: Noreen
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 04:43 PM

GUEST,Q: the accepted spelling in UK English is recognise, while in the US it is recognize (and similarly with other words with the same suffix).

Spelling with a z is becoming more common in the UK as US influences increse, but I much prefer the ise spelling.


Another one where the US spelling is taking over here is jewelry rather than jewellery- I saw the US spelling on a notice in my local college recently :0( no doubt thanks to Microsoft spellcheckers...

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: kendall
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 04:05 PM

I heard a reporter say that he was with the CALVARY. Journalism is in sad shape when the reporters cant spell.

Subject: RE: BS: Commonly misspelled/mispronounced words
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 26 Jun 03 - 03:43 PM

Often found cavalry spelled and mispronounced calvary in the south.

Echoing M Ted on irregardless- It entered the American Dialectical Dictionary in 1912. Both Merriam Webster's and the OED list it with notes. The OED says it probably is a blend of irrespective and regardless. Webster's says "Use regardless instead," but the OED says it is "in humorous usage."

Yep, bob wahr seems to be the standard western and southern pronunciation of barbed wire. I have a catalogue in which it is listed as bob wire and it appears as bob-wire in the Oxford Dictionary (1929, J. Frank Dobie).

Geoff the Duck, the OED has listed burglarize for many years. (in print 1871, American origin). Burgle is a fairly recent English word, first in print in 1872 in a novel by Collins. Hence I would say that burglarize has priority, wouldn't you?.

How come so many English use the incorrect suffix -ise (recognise, etc.) instead of the correct -ize (Oxford English Dictionary usage). Is it just rebellion against the upper classes and Oxbridge?? (Withdrawing to an impregnable- I hope- redoubt).
Is there a re-doubt? Haven't looked that one up yet but I hope not.