Pismronunciation

[DJ360 6,730]

Just for illustration purposes....

 

 

 

...Because all day two words have been buzzing round my head..two words which it seems those who use them most are least able to pronounce.

 

1. Anemone. It's not difficult.. it is An Em On Ee. Monty Don fronts probably the most popular gardening programme on the planet and he can't pronounce it. Last Friday on GW, at least two others, like Monty, insisted on pronouncing it An En Om Ee.

 

2. Nuclear. As in weapons.  It derives from the physics of atomic nuclei..  It is pronounced 'Nu Clear', so why oh why do so many insist on pronouncing it 'New Killer'? Last Saturday, an otherwise interesting programme 'Fortress Britain- with Prof. Alice Roberts' featured several people who were incapable of saying Nu-clear, making it a trial to listen to..

 

I would wonder why no one at the BBC picks them up on it.. but then the number of basic spelling and grammatical errors which appear on BBC screen captions, or emerge from the mouths of presenters, is increasing exponentially. Daytime TV is possibly the worst, with progs like 'Escape to the Country'..

 

"Spread over several acres, Jocasta and Peregrine seem quite taken with this property and its extensive grounds.."  Well, I mean, if Jocasta and Peregrine are spread over several acres, they're going to need all the space they can get.. obviously...

 

Please add your favourite Pismronunciations etc.

[Cliff Ton 10,467]

One I've always been aware of is Anglia, usually in East or Ford.

 

When I was young I remember other kids saying Angular, Angler, or other variations.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

My mother could never pronounce the name Penelope without a struggle. Slightly awkward as she had a cousin with that name.

[Cliff Ton 10,467]

Another.... the old car manufacturer Wolseley.

 

Many people ignore the second L and say Wolsey - who was a side-kick of Henry VIII.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

20 minutes ago, Cliff Ton said:

Wolsey

Also a manufacturer of socks!  Years ago, before I was born, my father found a large box in the middle of Gregory Boulevard. On further inspection, it was full of Wolsey socks and had fallen, literally, off the back of a lorry!  He took it to the old Gregory Boulevard police station and handed it in to lost property. They must have notified the manufacturer because dad received a thank you letter from them some time later, together with two pairs of socks!!

[Beekay 5,149]

My dad always used to reckon I drove a 'Ford Poplar' and not Popular.

[MargieH 7,600]

Deteriorate is often pronounced as deteriate.

[philmayfield 6,138]

It always intrigued me that the surname Featherstonehaugh is pronounced Fanshaw and that Cholmondley is Chumley and Beauchamp is Beecham.

[benjamin1945 16,160]

 Bucket..........Pronounced...Bouquet

[philmayfield 6,138]

…….and have you been to Happisburgh in Norfolk, pronounced Hays-bruh?

 

Near to me is Averham, pronounced Airum and my daughter lives in Norwell pronounced Norrell and as for Southwell the locals call it Southwell and outsiders say Suthull.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Slaithwaite in Yorkshire. Slowit!

[Beekay 5,149]

On University challenge, they always pronounce Magdalane (sp) as Maudlin college.

[philmayfield 6,138]

I’ve been to Slaithwaite and had my pronunciation corrected!

[Beekay 5,149]

Not for forgetting Colwick pronounced Colic.

[katyjay 5,091]

My mother in law, god bless her, used to strangle the English language. Mushrooms were musherooms, Debenhams store was Debermums, and Rhododendron  was Rosydendroms.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Was her name Mrs Malaprop?

[katyjay 5,091]

39 minutes ago, Jill Sparrow said:

Was her name Mrs Malaprop?

It should have been! 

Having said that, as a kid I never knew of a Penelope so the first time I saw it written, I pronounced it Penny-lope.

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

Mum, likewise. I think they settled for Penny, in the end. I seem to remember some confusion between antidotes and anecdotes, too!

[DJ360 6,730]

Yebbut, Interesting and amusing as they are, Featherstonehaugh etc.,are not quite the same thing. They, along with the Yorks examples etc, are simply examples of local useage and dialect. I do believe that the good denizens of Uttoxeter call it. 'Uxter'.

Thing is, there is no accepted distortion of Anemone or Nuclear. Anenome and new killer are just wrong. The end. 

[Jill Sparrow 10,307]

As some humorous boffin pointed out the other day, there's a great debate over the pronunciation of nuclear weapons . Is it nu-clear or nukiller? He concluded that, if one lands in your backyard, it's irrelevant!

[trogg 2,016]

 

Mispronunciation well try and live with my other half "please"  she was born in uckna. There there is no H in the alphabet and the majority of words have been shortened to make them easier to say, even after 56 years of marriage I often have to say "repeat that in English please. Wherever you live there are different dialects.

[philmayfield 6,138]

We had some lads from Hucknall working at our factory. I had to translate for them so that my co-director, an Oundle public schoolboy, could understand. There were a few Hucknall boys when I was at Mellish so I got to learn the lingo. The most difficult to comprehend were those from Jacksdale and Awsworth.

[loppylugs 8,429]

One quite near to you, Phil.  'Southwell'  Often heard it prounounced  Suthall.  Other  times South_well.  Which is it?  Always used Southwell myself.

[philmayfield 6,138]

The locals call it South Well. In Nottingham dialect it’s Suth Ull. I use both depending on who I’m speaking to. 

[The Pianoman 1,535]

4 hours ago, katyjay said:

It should have been! 

Having said that, as a kid I never knew of a Penelope so the first time I saw it written, I pronounced it Penny-lope.

I do that deliberately nowadays. Same with Percy-phone.