"Mispronunciations" That May Be Fine - Merriam-Webster Ask the Editor

"Mischievous," "nuclear," and other words to pronounce with caution. See more videos at http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/index.htm

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[thescowlingschnauzer]

Many a time I've said "asterisk" and been told "You mean 'asterix'." I get the urge to launch into a discussion of classical Greek diminutives and diminutive, French cartoon characters, but instead I just say "Yes".

[MrPolydueces]

@Lexduden Your entire statement confuses me. Whilst trying to correct Cirogalli, you proceeded to make several mistakes yourself. By the way, a language IS a tool to communicate regardless of it being English, Russian, Japanese etc.

[NumbFlynn]

@Lexduden You omitted "than" after "rather". You used the wrong form of "your/you're". You forgot to use a comma in a conditional. You added commas around "or an other" when the first comma should have gone before "whether". You made "another" two words instead of one. You first claimed that English was a language rather than a tool to communicate and then equated the two. You did all of this while criticizing someone else for criticizing people. Also, you misused patronizing. You, sir, failed.

[theowlsarefun]

My law professor always said "amb-lee-ance" instead of "ambulance," and "ex-cape" instead of "escape." Worst. Class. Ever.

[aaronjacobwillman]

she's so smug. lol i love her.

[vichkovski]

i like utter disregards 

[LittleDebbie11]

@TreyRust Oh God please don't... It's one of the few that really gets on my nerves. (=_=)

[SgtAnWulf]

Actually ... I benote "thru" not "through" and "tho" and not "though".

[TreyRust]

I'm going to pronounce library libary from now on...

[LocumRex]

@jsharp1701 Agreed, I will never say that "nu-kyu-ler" is appropriate. Then I would have to agree that “Lek-triz-i-ty” is studied by “Le-kri-kal” “En-gi-neers.” They may also study “jog-ra-fee” and “fy-kiks” as well.

No, seriously, that nuclear and electricity mispronunciation was actually the subject of dispute among a group of Iowa State engineering students many, years ago. 20 years later, I stand my ground damn it!

[jsharp1701]

I'm sorry. Saying "nuke-ya-ler" is beyond the pale. It's not about spelling. It's about the root word. I do not say "nuke-ya-lus" when describing atomic structures.

As for library, I am from the south and while lie-berry is the more common pronunciation here, I still find it annoying. I don't think it is pedantic to say that the correct pronunciation should reflect the spelling while also acknowledging variant dialectical variants as recognizable but still incorrect.

[tonyle72]

Many people who disparage "nu-kyu-ler" probably say "nup-chu-al" (nuptial) without batting an eye.