‘Never make fun of people who mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading.’
My mother is “getting up there”, as they say, but she remembers like it was just yesterday being traumatized by an incident of mispronunciation that occurred when she was a mere slip of a schoolgirl.
Mom was maybe six or so, and it was her turn to stand up by her desk and read aloud from a story. She got to a line that said “the train pulled into the depot”, and pronounced it “dee-pot” (which I’m thinking any reasonable first-grader would do), and everyone started laughing at her. Bless her heart, she lived on a farm in Northern Illinois and had probably not encountered a train, much less a dee-poh.
Mom as a schoolgirl. The “incident” I describe happened when she was much younger, but this is the earliest school photo I could find. It’s also seriously cute, so I’m using it
She never forgot that incident. (She didn’t forget how to pronounce “depot” either.) Which brings me to my topic of the day, that quote (by Anonymous, who else) about not making fun of people who mispronounce words. Why, just the other day a good (and well-read) friend of mine referred to “Prowst”, and honest-to-Marcel I did not giggle — or even smirk.
I must admit to having had a hard time keeping a straight face, though, one time when The Dude’s Mom was telling me about an astronomer friend of hers. (Yes, The Dude’s Mom was into astronomy; she even built her own telescope. It’s up in the attic somewhere.) The astronomer buddy happened to be Jewish and “wore a ‘yar-mul-kee'”, reported Dude’s Mom.
The Dude’s family. It’s no wonder his Mom had trouble with “yarmulke”
As for me, I love opera, but have a heck of a time with opera names. I have no idea how to pronounce some of these. Like “Orfeo ed Euridice” (which spell-check just changed to Eurydice, but it’s on my ticket as Euridice, so there) or a real tongue-twister from last season, “Mefistofele”. It was insanely good, but I just called it “the one with the devil dancing on the table and the people in the fake-nude costumes writhing in hell”. My friends knew what I meant. And they didn’t laugh. Well, not too loud. It’s opera, after all.
Anna Netrebko (whom I usually refer to as just plain “Anna”) in “Tosca.” Which is my favorite opera, and not only because I can pronounce it
Sometimes you can get in conversational trouble not by mispronouncing, but by mishearing a word. The title of this piece comes from a story that went around years ago. Someone apparently asked what on earth Jackie Kennedy was getting herself into by marrying “that really rich Irish guy, ‘Arry O’Nassis.”
And you readers can probably think of a few among your own acquaintance who refer to one of those long low couches as a “chaise lounge”, when in fact it is a “chaise longues”, which literally means “long chair.” Which isn’t nearly as funny as hearing a certain traditional Spanish activity referred to as a “Flamingo Dance” by more than one person I know. (And no, I didn’t laugh, though I wanted to.)
Dad deck-testing a “chaise longue”. And no, that’s not a Flamingo (or a Flamenco) on his lap
But, speaking of laughing, even I had to laugh (at myself this time) when this next example of reading-a-word-but-not-knowing-how-to-pronounce-it happened. The Dude and I were at some sort of lecture not long after the awful events of September 11, 2001. The speaker was talking about the global impact of 9/11; how the whole world would be changing because of threats to our security.
Well, I was feeling properly warned and thoroughly frightened when I turned to The Dude and whispered, “Who the heck is this Al Kydah he keeps talking about?”
The Child reading. And quite possibly smirking ’cause she knows who the heck Al-Qaeda is — and how to pronounce it
Amagansett, New York. June 2019
Absolutely! It is so easy to do. I did this with the word schooner in first year college. I had never said it out loud before and was mortified as I bungled it up.
“Schooner” would be a tough one to know without hearing someone say it first. Amazing how mortifying it can be to bungle!
I think we have to be aware that it might not be someone’s first language (English) in a world becoming more diverse.
Most excellent point!
Oh my gosh … I sent the message twice! This has been an exhausting week!
Hey Ruth, so sorry you had an exhausting week (!) But don’t worry about sending a message twice. That’s much better than not sending one at all! xoxoxo
My word was fatty-goo (fatigue) also read aloud in class. Somehow it’s hard to forget a mistake like that. My favorite on the radio … Lost – one chi-hoo-a-hoo-a (chihuahua). XO
Its true pronunciation differ with every individual. Its learning phase for everyone. Nice take:)
Thank you! So true about pronunciation! (Or is that pro-nouce-i-ation?)
Its true, pronunciation always differ with individuals, moreover its a learning phase for everyone. Nice take on this topic:)
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it (!)
My dad still insists on calling espresso “expresso” no matter how many times we joke that he wants strong coffee really fast. My little guys are very verbal and read above their years and I try my best not to correct them all the time but English borrows so much from French, for instance. Still, I say “chaise lounge,” and I won’t stop.
I kind of like it when people say “expresso”; it suits the whole idea of being “caffeinated”! I agree with you about correcting kids’ pronunciation; and I failed to mention that, when I looked up “chaise longue”, my reference said it was perfectly acceptable to call it a “chaise lounge” — not that you need anyone to tell you it’s okay! xoxo
Mine was fatty-goo (fatigue), also reading aloud in class. The best on the radio was Lost, one chihooahooa – little dog?
Omigosh! I had forgotten about the chihooahooa!!! How could that be?!? Thank you for reminding me, Ruth. And thanks for sharing your memory. Here’s to never feeling overly fatty-goo’d!