Pronunciation clinic

[Briarmom]

I don't usually have an opinion on how people pronounce their own name, but one in particular bugs me- the weather guy on CNN Sean McLaughlin. I would pronounce that with the Irish influence: shawn mick locklin. But he says seen mick lafflin.

Is that a more common pronunciation other places, or is it just him?

I don't know why he pronounces his name Seen. He used to be the local weatherman here and I always wondered.
As for the McLaughlin part I think 'mick locklin' would be spelled McLachlan.

Suite=sweet.
Oh, and the realtor one really bothers me. Real-tor. How hard is it?
Nuclear is another one. Nu-cle-ar.

 

[disneymom3]

LOL- I'm beginning to think CA is one of the fewer places that says soda. Even up here in Oregon, just a hop-skip, people say "pop" and it bugs me for some reason, even after 11 years of living here.

And I don't, like, have a dialect, you know? We Californians speak perfectly, fer sure.

See that is the weird thing--I don't remember ever calling it soda growing up there! My high school friend says we just called it Coke, Sprite etc like that other poster mentioned. But how are you supposed to ask what kind they have at a restaurant then????

 

[BethanyF]

I guess I have an accent, LOL

ree-luh-ter (realtor)
dawg (dog)
root (long o if I am rooting for a team, rhymes with toot)
ruht (if I am talking about a plant root)
ruhf (roof and plant root have the same sound)
Rowt (route 83)
mear-er (mirror)

although I do say soda more often than pop, unusual for a Chicagoan. I just dont like the word pop. Even my dh has picked up on soda.

 

[#1MMFan]

I don't know why he pronounces his name Seen. He used to be the local weatherman here and I always wondered.
As for the McLaughlin part I think 'mick locklin' would be spelled McLachlan.

Suite=sweet.
Oh, and the realtor one really bothers me. Real-tor. How hard is it?
Nuclear is another one. Nu-cle-ar.

In scotland, McLaughlin is mick-loch-lin.... McLachlan would be be mick-lach-lan.
Note that Loch is not pronounced "lock" ... never ever ever.... you have to produce a soft sound at the back of your throat to get the "ch" sound.. not unlike breathing against a partially closed glottis.

Also, pull, and pool ... they are pronounced the same... I don't get it??? hahah

Oh, english accents... i'm being controversial but the english accents sound either poncey or stupid... i think very few folk come across well with an english accent. Incidentally I have a subtle scottish accent... and americans often can't place where I'm from..they think canada, sometimes ireland, sometimes the States... so it's not strong.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I've lived in Richmond, VA all my life - I say in-sure-ance. DH is from the western part of the state and he says in-sure-ance. Drives me nuts! He also says the-ate-er

I've always said bedroom suit for a collection of bedroom furniture. A bedroom suite is the room you put the bedroom furniture in - like a hotel suite!

lol I do the same.

I say pop for carbonated drinks.
I apparently pronounce "on" as "awn"
I had a friend from upstate NY who couldn't get over the fact that we used the word "hateful". I thought that was a pretty common word.

 

[AnaheimGirl]

My high school friend says we just called it Coke, Sprite etc like that other poster mentioned. But how are you supposed to ask what kind they have at a restaurant then????

I think we said "soft drinks", but it's been so long since I've heard that term now, I'm not so sure anymore Does anyone still say "soft drink"?

 

[#1MMFan]

I still say "soft drinks"... that is soooo commonplace over here... we don't say soda, pop or whatever else.

 

[msdznyduck]

I had cousins from MA that said tonic instead of soda. Sack instead of bag, as in "Sack your groceries for ya ma'am?"
DH and his sister who lived in Ohio, WV, upstate NY, say "sweather" instead of sweater, and "woof" instead of wolf, "code" instead of cold
DD15 says, and has always said "thum" instead of them.

 

[MinnieM3]

I realize it is a regional thing, but it's driving me crazy! I grew up on Long Island...lived there for 26 years, and then moved to NC 3 years ago. THAT'S when the trouble began.

We went furniture shopping (DH and I) and the salesmen invited us to go and look at some of their bedroom suites (but he pronounced the word as "suit" like the clothing a business man wears). Having never heard the word used that way, we were so overcome with the giggles we almost couldn't continue on. (As far as was aware, the word is pronounced "sweet").

Let's move on. After we moved down here, we had to get our cars insured. MY father is an insurance salesman and always has been. In the north it is called in-SURE-ance. Down here, it is called IN-surance .

Has anyone else moved to another part of the country and encountered the pronunciation monster?

I don't think all of the South is the same. I would say "suit" for a bedroom set, but I also say in-SURE-ance and most people I know do, too/!

 

[MinnieM3]

Actually, that's being used as a noun, too.

It would be a verb if you said you were going to barbecue some meat--which I have been known to say!

I don't like barbeque being used as a verb, either! Barbeque is a noun here, a type of meat cooked a certain way.

When we're going to cook something on the grill we say, "Let's cook out" or "Let's grill out." We do not say, "Let's barbeque."

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Instead of ru-in my DH calls it roon (one syllable). We do make fun of him about that one.

My parents called it "pop", but most people I knew in Oregon called it "soda", which is what us kids called it.

 

[MinnieM3]

Trying to *teach* syllables down here can be challenging!

boil --- officially 1 syllable. down here, boy-ell , 2 syllables!
same thing with any rhyming word....soil, coil, etc.

squirrel ---- officially 2 syllables..down here.... squirl (like curl) 1 syllable

jewelry --- officially 3 syllables...down here... jewl-ree 2 syllables...

I just make sure those words aren't on the tests!

I also notice that I often ask my students to "look here" and I want them to come up to my desk. They actually just turn around an look at me..... which *is* what I said, but not really what I meant! LOL

 

[Briarmom]

In scotland, McLaughlin is mick-loch-lin.... McLachlan would be be mick-lach-lan.
Note that Loch is not pronounced "lock" ... never ever ever.... you have to produce a soft sound at the back of your throat to get the "ch" sound.. not unlike breathing against a partially closed glottis.

OK, I get that. In Scotland, would McLachlan have a harder 'lock' sound?

 

[#1MMFan]

nope it'd be more like "lach" instead of "loch"... i.e. the vowel sound would be "ah"

 

[Briarmom]

nope it'd be more like "lach" instead of "loch"... i.e. the vowel sound would be "ah"

Good. I was worried I was mispronouncing the name Lachlan all these years!

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I'm starting to feel self conscious now! I say Mear for Mirror, we barbecue our meat, we don't grill or cook out, it's Real-a-tor for me, not realtor, and I say Jewlry for jewelry!

My mom says Law-yer for lawyer. Like he's a law man. I say it like "loyer." My dad says Hawaii real funny-it's like "Ha woy ya." I always want to say, "I'm fine, ha woy you?"

My relatives from IA talk a little different too. They say "rash" with a long A sound like, "I have a bad raysh." And all other words like that with a long a sound too. "cash" is "Caysh."

"Dishes" are "deeshes." And school is "Skewl." (I used to say it like "Skoo-ul" how bad is that!) And I'm a teacher. I quit saying it like that when it was a spelling test word and all my students spelled it, "Schoo ul."

And now I'm going to go fire up my barbecue and barbecue me some hamburgers!

 

[Talking Hands]

This is so funny. I had no idea there were so many variations... even tho' I have many american relatives (cousins, their spouses and families etc). But, I was particularly relieved with the route being pronounced "root" as that's how it is pronounced over here. I actually admit I presumed everyone in the States pronounced it "rowt". Also the mirror thing.. we always laugh at "mear-ror" as it just sounds soooo american. We of course say "mih-ror". Ah we have such boring accents here, but at least they are not english!

Actually we say(root) Route 66 but what is your route(rowt). Or you have a paper route (rowt)

 

[Costumesaremylife]

I've got that most ridiculed, frequently done wrong accent. Im from Boston.
We have tonic, sometimes soda, but mostly tonic.
Our vocabulary includes the word 'Wicked," it can be a noun, verb, adjective or anything you need to use it for.

Good boston accents--Good Will Hunting-- Not including Robin Williams. Early interviews with Mark Walberg.
Bad boston accents. Anyone on Crossing Jordan.

 

[#1MMFan]

okay, this thread is cracking me up. Oh another thing.... can you all stop saying Glenfiddich with a "ch" as in "church"... IT ISN'T pronounced that way... it's pronounced with a soft "ch" as in "loch"... get practising.. I'm gonna go spare if i hear it again!!!

 

[Kahana-ri]

I moved from CA to RI for a complete East Coast verbal shock. The fact that no one pronounces their 'R's', people here have 'poties', not parties, 'caas' instead of cars, and we now go to the 'pak' instead of the 'park'. I notice that locally, shopping carts are called 'carriages'. Its regional though becuase Target, being nation wide still calls them 'shopping carts' - as they should be. Some people I know roll out an 'erz' sounds to words ending in 's'. Kills me. 'Was' is not 'werz'. My husband is from the East Coast and although he is pretty good about talking 'normal', every now and then his little Rhody accent will slip out. I torture him and yell...say it again, say it again. Especially the word 'orange'. It cracks me up every time I hear him say it. Oddly enough, when I first moved here someone said to me..'Your not from here are you?..You pronounce everything..?'