Words that you can't pronounce.

[Tone2TheBone]

Mine is Auxilliary.

[peachhead]

I dunno- I find out often that I've been mispronouncing something for years. Can't think of one off the top of my head though.

[duhvoodooman]

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz always gives me trouble. Or do we have to stick to English?


(This freakin' German word is so long that the forum software breaks it into two words after the first 50 characters!)

[peachhead]

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz always gives me trouble. Or do we have to stick to English?

:eek:

:rotflmao: :rotflmao:

[Tibernius]

Anything in Japanese with the R/L sound in it. It's a strange sort of combination of an R, an L and a D sound all at once. I still can't pronounce it, even after having lessons.

I do have a problem with the word "also". Apparently I pronounce it as "oh so". :confused: I pronounced it that way when I was a kid and now I'm having to train myself not to.

[Robert]

"here's a thesaurus"

[Katastrophe]

When I say, "I beg to differ," it comes out, "I beg to defer," which is completely silly.

My stepdad can't say "aluminum." It comes out as "allooon, allooon, aw you know, get the damned tin foil."

[R_of_G]

Mine is Auxilliary.

Apparently you can't spell it either. There's only one "L". :rotflmao:

Please note, I don't normally point out spelling errors or typos, nor do I even care about them, but I also can't pass up a joke and this one was too easy. I mean no personal disrespect to you T2TB.

[Robert]

We all know it's spelled aluminium. ;)

[Ch0jin]

We all know it's spelled aluminium. ;)

It sure is, it sure is. :AOK:

But lets not get into a petrol V gas, FlipFlop V Thong, Boot V trunk, lift V elevator, Pitcher V Jug debate :)

[peachhead]

We all know it's spelled aluminium. ;)

That's what my wife says, but I tell her she's just weird. :D

[Blaze]

French speakin guy like i am , english words are all difficult just like ''Unfortunatly"..

A friend of mine is so mix up ,one time he says in a french sentence '' tu es un jack lemon '' instead of (traduction) ''your a gentleman''.



Blazes:D

[just strum]

There is a word I cannot pronounce and it's been so long that I used it I can't remember what it is. It will probably come back to me on my first day at my new job.

[Spudman]

Sometimes if I've been hanging out with guys that have heavy dialect traits I'll try to say something that I normally would have no problem with but it comes out completely wrong. At that moment I see this little guy in my head standing in a very empty space lit with a single bright bare light bulb and he has a terrible look of woe on his face. Then the voice booms "why did you say that word that way?" I feel like such an idiot when that happens.:o

[sumitomo]

Anonymity always gives me trouble.Sumi:D

[t_ross33]

For the longest time, ambulance gave me trouble, but now - unless I've been in the sauce - I don't have too much difficulty :beer: My good wife, however has a couple that I like to point out now and again (never said I was smart :thwap: )

Aspara-gruss (asparagus)

and

Ex-pecially (especially)

There's probably a couple more, she's from Ter-ahna (Toronto) and they all talk funny down there (you Yanks can keep yer "oot" and "aboot" jokes to yourselves - I've heard them all :rotflmao: ).

My Granny used to say "ruff" vs "roof" and "crick" vs "creek". I also have some family members that "warsh" up before dinner.

[oldguy]

axe.......ask...........

[Ch0jin]

The guys in our Malaysian office all insist on using "revert" instead of "reply".

I've explained the difference, but they insist on using it regardless....

like "We are doing blah blah blah, need your feedback, please revert ASAP"

Never phear. No cheap shots at accents from me.
It's never a good idea to have that conversation as an Australian because -everyone- seems to think we talk funny. Especially on xboxlive. I always seem to be racing against Americans and Canadians who can't understand a word I say :)

[Tone2TheBone]

.....

There's probably a couple more, she's from Ter-ahna (Toronto) and they all talk funny down there (you Yanks can keep yer "oot" and "aboot" jokes to yourselves - I've heard them all :rotflmao: ).



Ya know...I've never bean to Ter-anha. *ducks and grins* :AOK:

[LagrangeCalvert]

My Granny used to say "ruff" vs "roof" and "crick" vs "creek". I also have some family members that "warsh" up before dinner.

Well we have something in common.....My grandmother as well said those exact same things.....actually the community I live in here in Cincinnati says those things to this day.....and I'm a yank....in fact there isn't a canadian soul that lived or lives here either.....

NOTE: Cincinnati is a VERY - and I mean VERY - German town...... so I don't know what thats about.

[Tone2TheBone]

Apparently you can't spell it either. There's only one "L". :rotflmao:

Please note, I don't normally point out spelling errors or typos, nor do I even care about them, but I also can't pass up a joke and this one was too easy. I mean no personal disrespect to you T2TB.

That's what happens when people go around putting L's between "I's"....:thwap:

[marnold]

One that is technically correct but still annoys me is when people pronounce the "t" in "often." Although if they start pronouncing "listen" and "soften" with a hard "t," while they will be technically consistent, I will still be obliged to beat them to death with a cheap Jazz bass copy.

The thing that is funny about Canadians is that most of the time (except in Quebec) they could pass for U.S. Midwesterners until they say "about" or "against." Hearing the sudden change in pronunciation where everything else sounds normal is jarring.

Of course, all this reminds me of a story when my uncle was a missionary in Taiwan. They ran into a German businessman who told him that he was in Taipei to build an erection. They wished him well with that.

In my neck of the woods, people tend to make "o" sounds long. For example, they say "go" as if it were spelled "goh" and it takes about 5 seconds to say the word. It can take 10 minutes for a person from northern Wisconsin to say "I'm going to Shopko to buy a coat."

Back home in Michigan, we used to elide letters for no purpose. For example "hunter" would be said without the "t." Here the "t" is pronounced as if there were a competition to see who could pronounce it the most. My favorite Bay City-ism was to make stores possessive even if they weren't. Thus "K-Mart" became "K-Mart's." My favorite of that was a store chain called "Meijer." It was said plural AND possessive so people would say "I'm gonna go to Meijers's (MY uhr zizz) and get some beer so I can stand to watch the Lions."

[marnold]

We all know it's spelled aluminium. ;)
Apparently you say cinnaminimon too.

[Ch0jin]

Funny how we export it to the USA as Aluminium and somehow it becomes Aluminum when it gets there. I suspect some letters got rubbed off the box during shipping :poke:

@Marnold. Oh man, don't get me started! I work with a bunch of Japanese guys (amongst others) who spend most of their time in Tokyo, but all of which have had some degree of work in the USA. When they first spend some time with us I have to do a lot of US English to Aussie English translations. "Ask the cab driver to drop you at the servo, not the gas station". "Your bags go in the boot, Elephants have trunks". "When I say I'm wearing thongs, I'm talking about footwear", and so on.

But they are very accepting of my accent. It's the non Australia native English speakers who complain that I say "Dance" like "Dants" not "Darnce", and "Garn" instead of "going" "I'm garn down the pub" and "Sarvo" instead of "This afternoon".

Oh and one other that applies to the UK as well, but very much so here is the correct use of the word "Mate" (pronounced Mayte or Maaaaaaate, depending on context). There is in fact no incorrect way to use it.

We use it with friends "How ya goin mate?"
We use it with enemies "Are you havin a go at me mate?"
We use it with people we have never met "Mate sorry to bother ya, but do you know where the local pub is?"

In the Australian usage it can get even more confusing as some of us like to add the word "Old" in there too, regardless of age or how long we have known someone.

"Old mate over there said he'd give us the table after he's finished"
"Old mate's a local, he's been drinking here for ever"

Oh and keeping with the obvious pub theme of my post (or if you prefer, Bar)

One thing I've always wondered.

In the movies, no American ever names their brand of beer when ordering, and you all drink spirits straight up. I obviously realise I shouldn't take what I see in movies as reality (like that all US phone numbers start with 555) but in every movie I can recall, people walk up the bar and say "gimme a beer".

That certainly wouldn't work here, or in any of the dozen or so other countries I've visited, so I wonder, does that actually work in the USA?

[Tone2TheBone]

Funny how we export it to the USA as Aluminium and somehow it becomes Aluminum when it gets there. I suspect some letters got rubbed off the box during shipping :poke:

@Marnold. Oh man, don't get me started! I work with a bunch of Japanese guys (amongst others) who spend most of their time in Tokyo, but all of which have had some degree of work in the USA. When they first spend some time with us I have to do a lot of US English to Aussie English translations. "Ask the cab driver to drop you at the servo, not the gas station". "Your bags go in the boot, Elephants have trunks". "When I say I'm wearing thongs, I'm talking about footwear", and so on.

But they are very accepting of my accent. It's the non Australia native English speakers who complain that I say "Dance" like "Dants" not "Darnce", and "Garn" instead of "going" "I'm garn down the pub" and "Sarvo" instead of "This afternoon".

Oh and one other that applies to the UK as well, but very much so here is the correct use of the word "Mate" (pronounced Mayte or Maaaaaaate, depending on context). There is in fact no incorrect way to use it.

We use it with friends "How ya goin mate?"
We use it with enemies "Are you havin a go at me mate?"
We use it with people we have never met "Mate sorry to bother ya, but do you know where the local pub is?"

In the Australian usage it can get even more confusing as some of us like to add the word "Old" in there too, regardless of age or how long we have known someone.

"Old mate over there said he'd give us the table after he's finished"
"Old mate's a local, he's been drinking here for ever"

Oh and keeping with the obvious pub theme of my post (or if you prefer, Bar)

One thing I've always wondered.

In the movies, no American ever names their brand of beer when ordering, and you all drink spirits straight up. I obviously realise I shouldn't take what I see in movies as reality (like that all US phone numbers start with 555) but in every movie I can recall, people walk up the bar and say "gimme a beer".

That certainly wouldn't work here, or in any of the dozen or so other countries I've visited, so I wonder, does that actually work in the USA?

Interesting interpretation. To address your last comments...I think every American phone number begins with a "klondike 5-55" etc. (does anyone know the intel on that one?). This is an inside "joke" so to speak among Americans of a "certain age group" so please forgive me ChO. I also think that there are certain copyright laws or something that prevent paid actors to ask for a specific commercial brand of beer or drink and that is the reason for some bloke asking for "a beer".

[SuperSwede]

"Unfortunately" doesnt seem to work well with my swedish tongue.

Luckily I can pronounce "Beer" "Barbeque" & "Marshall".

[R_of_G]

The thing that is funny about Canadians is that most of the time (except in Quebec) they could pass for U.S. Midwesterners until they say "about" or "against." Hearing the sudden change in pronunciation where everything else sounds normal is jarring.


I know you're a hockey fan Marnold, so I'm sure another one that stands out is the word "organization." It's a common word in hockey parlance and almost every Canadian I've ever heard pronounces it organIzation.

[Lev]

I always have trouble pronouncing this sentence....

"I'm sorry darling, you were totally right and I was wrong"

[R_of_G]

I always have trouble pronouncing this sentence....

"I'm sorry darling, you were totally right and I was wrong"

So you're like The Fonz who couldn't get out the words "I was wrong"?

[marnold]

In the movies, no American ever names their brand of beer when ordering, and you all drink spirits straight up. I obviously realise I shouldn't take what I see in movies as reality (like that all US phone numbers start with 555) but in every movie I can recall, people walk up the bar and say "gimme a beer".
I would think that most people would specify. If you went up to the average bartender around here and said, "Gimme a beer" they'd shoot you a look like "and . . . ?" Even people who only drink megabrewed swill have an undeserved loyalty to their particular brand so they will order a "Bud" with the type of pride normally reserved for someone who cured cancer or something.

My favorite is when I ask a waitress what they have on tap and she replies, "Oh, we have everything!" I usually then ask for a Delerium Tremens or Boon Marriage Parfait Kriek. "We have everything" in Northern Wisconsin usually means "We have both Miller Lite and Bud Light."

I also thought that "boot" and "bonnet" were hysterical when I first heard them used in reference to cars, but upon further reflection they are probably no sillier than "trunk" and "hood".

R_of_G, yes organIsation (note: metric spelling) is another splendid Canadian word. Some also pronounce CALgary as calGARy. That's a little more rare. I was talking to a Canadian friend of mine and he thought that was a province-specific thing.

As far as accents go, the only place I've ever been picked on about my accent was in southern Ohio of all places. I remember staying in Memphis when I was on a choir tour at the Sem. There wasn't enough room for all of us with host families so some of us ended up in a hotel. Since we had some time to kill we found a bar that was frequented by Memphis State students. There's something about that southern belle accent combined with a mind-bogglingly gorgeous body that could pretty much talk me into anything. The bartender also acted like we were from outer space when we asked for a pitcher of beer.

[R_of_G]

Ok here's one for you folks... why do some people put an "R" in words with "wash" in them?

You know what I mean. Most of us have heard someone pronounce Washington as "wershington" or washing machine as "wershing machine". My mother-in-law does it (she's from Kentucky). Interestingly, my father-in-law, also from Kentucky, did not do this.

I can understand how regional dialect differences explains the "eh" sound instead of the "ah" sound, but where the heck does that "R" come from?

[marnold]

I can understand how regional dialect differences explains the "eh" sound instead of the "ah" sound, but where the heck does that "R" come from?
Probably the same way that it appears on the end of words that end in "a" like "Ottawa." I didn't know there was an "Ottawar" in Canada.

[Robert]

Canadadickiens can sound funny. Listen to one say "far away" - it's like "fuhhr away". Let's go to the "buuhrrr" for a beer. "For" becomes "fuhrrr".

Not sure about "against", Marnold - how does that sound up here then? I must have missed that one.

[marnold]

Not sure about "against", Marnold - how does that sound up here then? I must have missed that one.
U.S.: uhGENst
Canadia: uhGAINst

[Bloozcat]

None that I can think of. But my wife, who otherwise speaks very well, has a few...

Exacerbate
Worcestershire
Czechoslovakia

Fortunately for her, Czechoslovakia is now just The Czech Republic, so she's relieved...;)

I've always enjoyed the regional colloquialisms (another difficult word for my wife) in the English speaking world.

When I moved to Ohio as a kid, I used to ask that if a creek is a crick, then why aren't your cheeks chicks? Or, if a roof is a ruff, why aren't your boots buts? Of course having moved to Ohio from New York, I was myself accent challenged in a number of areas...:D (I quickly lost the New Yawk accent, and I'm glad I did).

Whenever I see my niece from Chicago, I love to mess with her with things like; "Oooh my Gaad" or, "We're goin' up to da' lake in Wiscansin, ya' wanna goh?"

The south has plenty of it's own too, like Eye-talian and IN-surance, and "heuh" for here, to name just a few. In Georgia, Albany is "Albinney", and Cairo is "Cayro". They get Athens right, though. They also like to make one syllable words into two, like "Te-um" for Tim, or "he-um" for him. That last one reminds me of a comedian I once saw on TV who said: "Ever notice how some phrases just sound better with a southern accent, like, haaang he-um?". He is right on that one...:D

[Robert]

How DO you actually pronounce "Worcestershire"? That one I never figured out... I use that for cooking but I can't name it verbally.

[Bloozcat]

How DO you actually pronounce "Worcestershire"? That one I never figured out... I use that for cooking but I can't name it verbally.

Wooster-shear, or Worse-ter-shire...I've heard both.

Unless you're from Massachusetts, then it woul be, "Woosta-sheah" :D

[duhvoodooman]

....so people would say "I'm gonna go to Meijers's (MY uhr zizz) and get some beer so I can stand to watch the Lions."
Geez, I'm still laughing at that one.... :rotflmao: :AOK: :rotflmao:

[Glacies]

particularly

[marnold]

Unless you're from Massachusetts, then it woul be, "Woosta-sheah" :D
That'd be some wicked powerful Woosta-sheah.

[Spudman]

None that I can think of. But my wife, who otherwise speaks very well, has a few...


I can relate. Mine is of Asian decent and just about every English word is challenging.

Forget about ever getting Worcestershire correct from her. I just say "do you mean the dark tasty sauce?" Vietnamese always comes out VietMANese.

[just strum]

=

When I moved to Ohio as a kid, I used to ask that if a creek is a crick, then why aren't your cheeks chicks? Or, if a roof is a ruff, why aren't your boots buts? Of course having moved to Ohio from New York, I was myself accent challenged in a number of areas...:D (I quickly lost the New Yawk accent, and I'm glad I did).


Again, I must remind people that people of Ohio have no accent and are known for the language of perfuction.

Ok, carry on.

[Iago]

Wooster-shear, or Worse-ter-shire...I've heard both.

Unless you're from Massachusetts, then it woul be, "Woosta-sheah" :D

As weird as the way they pronounce "Leicester" = Lester!

Have some trouble with polish words and russian. They have some weird consonant clusters, not that the pronounciation is so different from my language...

Regarding english, I had a problem with saying "Cash Checking" quickly.. that sh and ch right after :thwap:

[Guitar-Chris]

Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz always gives me trouble. Or do we have to stick to English?



Hey Duhvoodoman,you now this really important german law? :bravo:

As I deal with this kinda things by my profession, words like that seem nearly normal to me. The crazy thing is: This law really exists, but in reality it is called:

Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz

And, by the way here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/De-Rinderkennzeichnungs-_und_Rindfleischetikettierungs%C3%BCberwachungsauf gaben%C3%BCbertragungsgesetz.ogg)you can listen to the correct pronounciation.

[peachhead]

Whoa :eek:

sounds like she's clearing her throat- but almost in a hot way :D

[Ch0jin]

Hey Duhvoodoman,you now this really important german law? :bravo:

As I deal with this kinda things by my profession, words like that seem nearly normal to me. The crazy thing is: This law really exists, but in reality it is called:

Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz

And, by the way here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/De-Rinderkennzeichnungs-_und_Rindfleischetikettierungs%C3%BCberwachungsauf gaben%C3%BCbertragungsgesetz.ogg)you can listen to the correct pronounciation.



OK I'll have a go.

That means something along the lines of a law pertaining to the labeling of cattle and meat and something to do with transferring either the labels or the beef, not sure.

Guitar-Chris,
My German is very poor so I asked one of my colleagues to help, and even though he's from Berlin, he still had difficulty explaining the meaning.

Are you able to translate for us?

[Guitar-Chris]

Are you able to translate for us?

I'm glad to understand this in german :D


Let's give it a try:

It's the regulation to confer the power (the rights) to control (to monitor) the labeling of cattle and cattle-meat.

By the way: it is the longest real existing german word. And german adminstration is world champion in finding these word-monsters :thwap:

[Ch0jin]

Thanks Chris :AOK:

I'm now working with my German colleague on the pronunciation:)

This will be a fun word to use around people who don't understand it's meaning :) (evil laugh)

[KrisH]

According to my friend who knows everything (including, apparently, the rules of English pronunciation) I pronounce words like "heritage" wrong when I end them sounding like "tej" -- the A should be long. She even argued once with someone whose last name was Heritage that he was mispronouncing his own name! Of course, "radiator" with a short A is all wrong. I told her to quit being so radical (with a long A).

I definitely mispronounced Gloucester, until I moved here.

My daughter says "salmon," with an audible L.

Caribbean, anyone?

[sunvalleylaw]

I found one: "Good King Wenceslas"

[Tone2TheBone]

According to my friend who knows everything (including, apparently, the rules of English pronunciation) I pronounce words like "heritage" wrong when I end them sounding like "tej" -- the A should be long. She even argued once with someone whose last name was Heritage that he was mispronouncing his own name! Of course, "radiator" with a short A is all wrong. I told her to quit being so radical (with a long A).

I definitely mispronounced Gloucester, until I moved here.

My daughter says "salmon," with an audible L.

Caribbean, anyone?

Salmons mon.

I used to work with this dude that used the "sal-mon" pronunciation and ever since then I've always called them salmons adding the "s" at the end for flavor and to be extra goofy.

[just strum]

I knew there was at least one, but since I avoid them, I couldn't remember them.

Well, I remember one now.

"inauguration"

So between now and Tuesday I will be saying: "You know, that swearing in thing"

[tot_Ou_tard]

A subtle difference in grammer be the US & UK/Canada (the Kiwis & Aussies probably have the same usage as the Brits & Canucks, but I dunno) is the way we treat a conglomeration of individuals.

US) Fender has just released some new amps.

UK/Canada) VOX have just released some new amps.

In the US a group becomes a singular noun when discussing it as a whole.

[R_of_G]

In the US a group becomes a singular noun when discussing it as a whole.

I prefer the British way. It seems to make more sense to me. Of course being an American I use the American grammar in speaking/writing.

[tot_Ou_tard]

My wife bothers me for saying Law-yers rather than Loi-yers.

Is it pop or soda or a fizzy drink?

Some mispronunciation comes from only having seen a word in print while never having heard anyone speak it.

Many, many years ago my best friend was talking to me about how ethereal something was.

I had no clue was he was talking about as he was pronouncing it like this

E thee real

The thee was unvoiced not like the thee of "tis of thee".

[just strum]

It's pop in the Cleveland area.

[R_of_G]

Is it pop or soda or a fizzy drink?

That one's regional for sure. When I moved to Florida I had to get used to that. In NJ, everybody just called it coke.



Some mispronunciation comes from only having seen a word in print while never having heard anyone speak it.

I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I am sure there are many words I know in print that if I ever tried to say them I might be way off.[/QUOTE]

[marnold]

I can't say, "I'm out of gin" without bursting into tears 1/2 way through.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Hey Duhvoodoman,you now this really important german law? :bravo:

As I deal with this kinda things by my profession, words like that seem nearly normal to me. The crazy thing is: This law really exists, but in reality it is called:

Rinderkennzeichnungs- und Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübe rtragungsgesetz

And, by the way here (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/De-Rinderkennzeichnungs-_und_Rindfleischetikettierungs%C3%BCberwachungsauf gaben%C3%BCbertragungsgesetz.ogg)you can listen to the correct pronounciation.

I thought it was the name of the Pittsburgh Steeler's quarterback.

[Robert]

"time to clean the house" are words I can't pronounce when they are put together in that order... :)

[pes_laul]

Well as of yesterday I learned I can't say "Pretzel" it comes out "Prentzel":thwap:

[thearabianmage]

Words like Gloucester and Worcestershire confused me for years. Now, I know how they are pronounced - 'Gloss-ter' and 'Worse-t-shure' (the funny spelling is due to the word's etymological past)

As with most Americans, the pronunciation of a few words bothered me:
Buckingham - Bucking-m
Glastonbury - Glass-ton-bree
Tottenham - Tot-n-im
Suffolk - Suffick
Lancastershire - Lank-ash-er
Leicester - Lester

Apart from them, I can't think of many words that give me problems. My classmates would say that I can't pronounce 'aluminium' correctly, but I say that I can pronounce it just fine, I just don't want to.

'Tao' would be a hard one, as well. Because in Chinese, it's not a straightforward 'T' sound and it's not a straightforward 'D' sound - is's a mixture of the two. . . Eh?? 'Tdao'. . .'Dtao'. . .

[Tynee]

Words like Gloucester and Worcestershire confused me for years. Now, I know how they are pronounced - 'Gloss-ter' and 'Worse-t-shure' (the funny spelling is due to the word's etymological past)

As with most Americans, the pronunciation of a few words bothered me:
Buckingham - Bucking-m
Glastonbury - Glass-ton-bree
Tottenham - Tot-n-im
Suffolk - Suffick
Lancastershire - Lank-ash-er
Leicester - Lester

Apart from them, I can't think of many words that give me problems. My classmates would say that I can't pronounce 'aluminium' correctly, but I say that I can pronounce it just fine, I just don't want to.

'Tao' would be a hard one, as well. Because in Chinese, it's not a straightforward 'T' sound and it's not a straightforward 'D' sound - is's a mixture of the two. . . Eh?? 'Tdao'. . .'Dtao'. . .

I LOVE's me some General Tsao's Chicken. I believe there is an element of a "D" in the pronunciation there, as well.

My wife tried three times last night to get Especially out correctly, before giving up and saying expecially.

I intentionally mispronounce words, I prefer a sammich to a sandwich, pasghetti to spaghetti, and mazagines to magazines. It drives my wife insane.

I had a girlfriend who you could ask to say, "Sin" "a" "mon", a million times, but when she put it together it came out cimannon.

I shared an office with a guy when I was co-oping whopronounced all words with tt in them with a very hard "T" sounds. In wasn't a button it was a Butt-ton. Sheep meet was mutt-ton. Drove me up the nearest wall.

Going through engineering school, it was never important to the students that I studied with to make sure there vocabulary of the subject was up to snuff, nor that they could pronounce all of the verbiage. That bothered me as well, we could have gotten so much more done, so much more quickly, if we were all speaking the same language...

I also had an Asian professor for Fluid Mechanics who ALWAYS pronounced a certain theory, Gay Bar Teory. He never figured out why everybody snickered when he used that theory, until he stopped the lecture and asked one day. I was the only one in class who had the balls to explain why it was funny.