Things people say wrong...a lot.

[OK!]

DH is a Southerner and he says "toelet" for "toilet" and "ole" for "oil" among other things. Oh yeah, and "Loosiana" for "Louisiana."

That reminded me of another one...I have heard people pronounce toilet as both "TOR-lit" and "TUR-lit." Where does the R come from? My former roommate always said TOR-lit, but she was an idiot. (Not at all implying that everyone who pronounces it that way is an idiot; she just genuinely was one.) She also--for whatever reason-- found it impossible to pronounce the word "cardboard." She always said "cordboard." If you tried to get her to say the A instead of the O, she turned it into "cardbard." Ugh.

 

[HardShell]

...

My all time favorite is when ds-2 refers to watermelon as "watermuffin" or "waterpunkin".

IMHO the cute outweighs the wrong in those situations.

 

[Mom of three]

IMHO the cute outweighs the wrong in those situations.

Oh without a doubt!! I should have clarified that, but yes I think its adorable too and it doesnt bug me one bit.

 

[Disney Ella]

When I was pregnant with DD, we lived in Louisiana. At one appointment the nurse drew some blood and said, "We're going to test your arn." I had to ask her to repeat herself THREE TIMES before I figured out she was saying "iron."

People say "arn" where I grew up too. It took me months of practicing saying the word the correct way when I was in college to be able to say it. You wouldn't think it would be that hard, but it was. The difference between "Towel" and "Tile" was another one I really hard to work on. I still have to really concentrate to be able to pronounce "tile" correctly and it sounds to me like I'm saying it with a Southern accent. It probably sounds weird to other people too.

 

[joyjoy]

Love this!
We torment my best friend a bit because she says oinge for orange and romaine for ramen, but those expressions are just funny to me, not annoying.

I'm going to start saying "oinge".


I thought of another one. My co-worker, born and raised in Houston, pronounces the city name "Youston". It drives me nuts. She also says "Yuge" instead of "Huge". Who does that?

 

[NotUrsula]

I thought of another one. My co-worker, born and raised in Houston, pronounces the city name "Youston". It drives me nuts.

Every native Houstonian I've ever met pronounces the name of the city that way; they tend to be very picky about it and correct you if you say it "incorrectly". Apparently, Sam Houston pronounced his name that way, and they feel strongly that the city named after him should have the same pronunciation.

Houston is one of those places where a lot of the population originally came from somewhere else; IME, the locals tend to use that hard H to easily determine who they are.

 

[Elvistelth]

Why do some call a pen an "ink pen" saying ink is totally unnecessary...duh, what else would be in a pen?

Also the house in "house party" is unneeded specification. 99% of the parties I've ever been to were in houses. I assume that would true for most people.

Finally, my daughter's name is Carolyn. I have introduced her many times and about half the time people respond "Oh, Hi Caroline!" Are they tin-eared morons? Why is that so hard for some people?

 

[Diznotyzed]

When people say "Melk" for the word Milk. Seems to be common here in Wisconsin.

Maybe my 22 yr old daughter lived in Wisconsin in a previous life. She says "melk" although nobody else in her life ever has. She also says "pallow" for pillow, and she and a lot of her friends say "thinks" for thanks.

 

[Deb in IA]

Acme = ak-a-me


And, the ever popular you-bet-cha (is that even a word?)

If you are from Minnesota (as in "mini-SEW-tah"), it sure is!! You betcha!

I grew up in Southern Indiana, where the words "fire" and "tower" were pronounced as if they rhymed - as in "faar tahaar".

And why do native Missourians call their state "Miss-our-ah"?

 

[MM27]

Finally, my daughter's name is Carolyn. I have introduced her many times and about half the time people respond "Oh, Hi Caroline!" Are they tin-eared morons? Why is that so hard for some people?

I had two students (different years) named Carolina. Easy enough right? One of them pronounced their name Carol-eye-na and the other Carol-ee-na. It was easy with the first girl because I only had the one pronunciation in my mind, but with the second girl, my mind always went back and questioned the pronunciation. So some days she was Carol-eye-na and others she was Carol-ee-na. I felt bad, but she was good about it though.

 

[Feralpeg]

And why do native Missourians call their state "Miss-our-ah"?

Most of us don't!

 

[NotUrsula]

Why do some call a pen an "ink pen" saying ink is totally unnecessary...duh, what else would be in a pen?

Depending on where you are from, there may be no discernible difference in the way that you pronounce "pin" and "pen". Thus, an "ink pen" is the sort you write with, not the sort that you use to temporarily fasten two pieces of cloth. (Also, that sort comes in two varieties, the straight pin and the safety pin.)

Also the house in "house party" is unneeded specification. 99% of the parties I've ever been to were in houses. I assume that would true for most people.

Originally, a "house party" meant one where one invited "houseguests", that is, guests who stayed overnight, usually for at least a weekend, and often for longer than that.

Recently, the term seems to have taken on the connotation of having a party in one's home, not just because it is fun, but to accrue some benefit to a third party, such as a politician or a charity. It is not necessarily a fund-raiser, but there is usually some kind of implied agenda.

 

[Ephany]

Here is my contribution.

There is no "X" in espresso. Being from the Seattle area I hear this quite often. It is not expresso.

And I do not live in WaRshington, nor do I waRsh my clothing.:

Those both drove me nuts. When people ask where I'm from I always say Washington the state because if I don't they say "Warshington D.C."

My dad says crick instead of creek and woof instead of wolf. My daughter says woof also, and can not say wolf. I'm not sure if it's something she'll outgrow or if she's like my dad and can't say it. He's tried, but it always sounds like woof. Oh, and a roof is a ruff, that one drives me batty.

 

[of the seas]

I thought of another one....

Dh says "leafs" on a tree, instead of leaVes.

Oh yea, and "elemenary" school instead of elementary.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Here is my contribution.

There is no "X" in espresso. Being from the Seattle area I hear this quite often. It is not expresso.

And I do not live in WaRshington, nor do I waRsh my clothing.

My MIL is notorious for using the term lah-TAY (latte) with emphasis on the TAY. Just doesnt sound right.

Breaf-kist (breakfast)
Beb-droom (bedroom)

My all time favorite is when ds-2 refers to watermelon as "watermuffin" or "waterpunkin".

Idano, FIL from Yakima (yak-a-maw) Warshington says it that way.

 

[Elvistelth]

My dad says crick instead of creek and woof instead of wolf.

Once when speaking with a friend, he said "woof" when he meant wolf.
I called him on it and he became defensive, claiming woof is an acceptable pronunciation.
I responded by asking "Then do you also call a train a choo-choo?"

Ever since then, he refers to large non-domesticated canines as wolves.

Who says sarcasm has no good purpose?

 

[Deb in IA]

Most of us don't!

I though you grew up in Oelwein, Iowa?

 

[momrek06]

Aunt Karen is Aunt Kay-ren.

The ONLY person that ever called me Kay-ren was my Kindergarten teacher. My first exposure to school, age 5yo, and this elderly teacher is calling me Kay-ren ALL YEAR LONG...finally on the last day of school, she called on me to give me my Kindergarten diploma "Kay-ren".... in front of EVERYONE, I finally told her off...."my name is NOT Kay-ren, it is KARE-N"....I then turned around and took my sit. Nothing more was said.
This was 50 years ago. BUT I was so mad all year long. I kept telling my parents. This bothered me sooo much AND as a kid myself, I figured with the number of years this teacher has been teaching school HOW IS IT that she says the name Karen WRONG all the time. Ok, my VENT is ovAH!!!

I am annoyed when people ask if I can "borrow" them something. I'm sorry, you can borrow it FROM me, but I can not borrow it TO you. I only loan or lend things.

I see this on Judge Judy often....the plaintiff will tell the Judge she BORROWED the defendent money....Judy will then attempt to correct the plaintiff, "you mean you LOANED Johnny the money"...."yes, I borrowed Johnny the money"...."No, you loaned Johnny the money"....and this goes back and forth a few times before the plaintiff realizes the Judge is correcting her grammar!!!



Sorry, I have not read the whole thread BUT one word that is often said wrong and I have no clue which is right.....CHIM-NEE (chimney) or CHIM A NEE....... I have heard it said both ways.

 

[Pixie Dust for Me!]

The ONLY person that ever called me Kay-ren was my Kindergarten teacher. My first exposure to school, age 5yo, and this elderly teacher is calling me Kay-ren ALL YEAR LONG...finally on the last day of school, she called on me to give me my Kindergarten diploma "Kay-ren".... in front of EVERYONE, I finally told her off...."my name is NOT Kay-ren, it is KARE-N"....I then turned around and took my sit. Nothing more was said.

Yes, I understand completely. I am also Kare-n! Though I get called just about every other name in the book and my name gets mispelled constantly! Really, Karen is very easy to spell....the most unusual spelling I've ever seen was Karrehn !

(and she said tongue in cheek) I hope you didn't really "took my sit." (Aren't typos lovely!)

K

 

[momrek06]

Yes, I understand completely. I am also Kare-n! Though I get called just about every other name in the book and my name gets mispelled constantly! Really, Karen is very easy to spell....the most unusual spelling I've ever seen was Karrehn !

(and she said tongue in cheek) I hope you didn't really "took my sit." (Aren't typos lovely!)

K

Should be SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Karrehn

Ohhh, I have had let's see spelling-wise: Karin, Karon, Caron, Karyn, Caryn,
name calling-wise, Carol and Kathy, .........

Living my whole life in Boston, MA....well let's just say we definitely have a unique language all our own. AND now that we are in CA....man do we get asked to "repeat" words all the time. My DH has a wicked Northeast accent....he gets asked CONSTANTLY "how do you say this, that etc etc. OR if we are out shopping or dining....instantly "I call tell you are from the East, right".....

This is a GREAT thread!!!