Yes, well. I’ve been pronouncing ‘resume’ wrong my whole life and it’s only in the last six months anyone bothered to tell me.
I say reshu-may.
“Yo, you wanna see ma reshu-may? I gots a reshu-may you might be interested in!” That kind of thing.
Apparently at no point in the word ‘resume’ should you make a sound anything like ‘shhhh’. It’s pronounced ‘re-sooo-may’. A bit posh. Like you’re putting on an accent.
This had me wondering how many other words I’ve been mispronouncing that everyone else is simply too polite to pull me up on and oh, goodness.
Here are the six shockingly simple words so many of us are getting wrong:
Research
Oh.
It’s not reeee-search, as in two separate sounds. There is no ‘eee’ sound at all.
Instead, it’s reseeerch, with ‘re’ rhyming with… ‘Myrrh’ and I’m not sure that analogy helps at all.
On an unrelated note, writing down sounds is far harder than I anticipated.
LISTEN: We’ve been pronouncing Barbra Streisand’s name wrong all along… Post continues.
Either
If you thought it was ‘i-thur’ you are definitely wrong and, yes, I am one of those people.
It’s pronounced ee-thur, and I just don’t know how to reprogram my brain to say that word properly now.
Hyperbole
I’ve heard people with my own ears pronounce this word as hyper-bowl and honey, no.
It’s high-purrr-boly, and is most definitely more than two syllables.
Mischievous
This is one of those stupid words that is pronounced far differently to how it is spelt, which is both rude and misleading.
I’ve heard ‘miss-cheeve-ius’ a lot, with an emphasis on the ‘i’. But, in fact, the ‘i’ is virtually silent.
It’s pronounced, ‘mis-chuh-vuhs’ and why does everything have to be so hard?
Often
No. ‘T’.
There. Is. Never. A. ‘T’. Sound.
It’s ‘offen’ like ‘Ofglen’ from The Handmaid’s Tale only less… sad.
Et cetera
Why did no one ever teach me how to speak properly I am calling my mum immediately.
This, conversely, is pronounced exactly how it’s spelt, which begs the question: Why have I been saying ‘exetra’ for… always?
What words do you hear people mispronounce all the time?
Top Comments
A funny anecdote. I've had a history of knowingly and unfortunately mispronoucing banal. As I'm saying it, I hear myself - for some reason - saying Bay-nal (like anal). Instead of Be-narl. Oops!
Yes, it usually leaves an awkward pause in the conversation.
Mischievous. I've never understood its mispronunciation.
You say it is pronounced far differently to how it is spelled. Incorrect.
The common "miss-cheeve-ius" is people not properly reading the word.
The only letters after the 'v' are "ous"... same as with the word nervous.
Easy. Nerv-us. No 'ious'. It's nothing like the word previous.
No, the ‘i’ is *not* virtually silent. Let's look again.
Mischievous. Mis-chiev-ous. "Miss-cheev-us". Freaking easy.
I blame people's short attention spans and lack of attention to detail.
And how words and phrases catch on and spread quickly.
I love language and etymology(word origins).
One of my most frustrating mispronunciations I hear is "anxient" for ancient. As if we're discussing anxiety about something ancient.
Another common one nowadays - I think both are accepted - is harassment. "Har-rasss-ment... or "Harris-ment"?
Here's fantastic article on the effect of mispronunciations within the ever-evolving English language: https://www.theguardian.com....