I know there are more such words out there. And, no, I'm not referring to the differences in spelling and pronunciation between British and American English. So, any you'd like to nominate, folks?
2 hours ago
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Huh?
Ever encounter one of those words that everybody pretty well knows what it means, but is pronounced incorrectly much of the time? Obfuscate/obscufate happens to be the word in question at present. I hear it pronounced as "obfuscate" more often than not (and have done it myself), yet it's properly spelled as "obscufate". One person I've known for many years has always had a problem with "cinnamon". They could spell it correctly, but if asked to pronounce it, it'd come out "cimmanon". (A personal quirk, not widespread enough to really count, but still!)
4 comments:
Well, there is the southern tendency to make "wash" into "warsh". And I myself always thought "glower" was pronounced "glow-er", not realizing the correct pronounciation was "glouer" as would rhyme with flour.
LOL Regional dialects do give us some odd variants, don't they? The flowering bushes that my grandmother used to grow are called "lie-lacks" down south, but are called "lie-locks" in this region. Messed me up until I got used to it. And a "casserole" is called a "hot dish" this side of the Mason-Dixon. Why, I dunno.
For the longest time I thought the Wise Men in the song were actually Fire Men--'cause they came from "a far" which in Southern Speak is how "fire" is pronounced. Huh. Usually we add syllables or draw them out. I always try to get my mom to say "powder" whenever I can just so I can laugh at her "pader"! :D
ROTFL You've hit "Southern Speak" right on the head, Dori! Your mom must've grown up down there. I did, too, but it wasn't the Deep South - just barely below the Mason-Dixon Line.
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