Top 3 most mispronounced words

JD, another very annoying word when it's mispronouced.....supposably (instead of supposedly).  Argh!!  

Becky in Indiana

Here is another one JD.  Having lived in Jacksonville, FL for 12 years, many people, including the sports-casters on tv pronounce their football team the "JagWires", jot the Jaguars.

Hi JD,

My children always laugh at me. My New England accent make me say this word wrong (I live in Louisiana now) Idea...I say Idear.

Love you guys at KLOVE

God Bless,

Mary from Bossier City, LA (88.5)

Pacifically for specifically

Hey! LoL!  Warsh and Wrastle are here in Amarillo, Tx too!!!!  I've lived her over 40 years of my life and have heard it alot from my dad and co-workers. (Thought it was a regional thing here also.  Guess not....) We laugh at them and ask them to "spell that please"!  Another word that I hear alot is "brakfast" instead of breakfast, hahaha!  My husband says that alot and I say it back at him!  Shirley

JD- Please educate these people. There are two different words. One is "rassel" and that means the fake stuff with throwing chairs and such. The second word is "wrestle" and it's used to describe the sport with tight suspenders type leotards. These words are not pronounced wrong. They are used in the wrong context. They are not interchangeable!

I grew up in Montana and for years thought you pronounced creek as "crick" ... always seemed odd it was spelled that way!

Wash - a lot of people say warsh or Warshington  lol

Hey JD,
  I have a few that are probably only things my dear grandmom would say but I hope someone will get a kick out of it. My grandmom would say kazuzi in stead of jacuzzi and then she would call a handkerchief an handkerchuf. I miss her so much. It wa just so darling, I would pick on her about it a lot.

I have made it my mission to let the world know that it's toward... not towardS .... with an S.  Look it up.  My pet peeve is when T.V. broadcaster, who should know better, say towardS.  Irritating!

Oh shoot, I meant my grandmother would say hand-cher-kuf. I think its just a little too early in the morning for me.

My mother would always say ranch the dishes.. rinse

My mother would always say ranch the dishes.. (rinse)

Here in South-Central/South-Western PA there are many -- yuz or yunz instead of you or you-all. Crick instead creek. And of course, woosh (wush)for wash.

Idear vs idea.
Most of the population of the New England area mispronounce this word. Even tv news reports.

Good Morning JD!

People who have live in Ohio all their lives will pronounce our state name "O-HI-UH"! Amazing really.

And when I lived in Maine, I was called Liser instead of Lisa. I remember the first time I said, "no, that's Lisa" and she said, "That's what I said, Liser"!!!

Chipotle is usually pronounced chipoltay when it should be chipotlay.

Asked is not Axed!  Ask is a question.  Ax is an instrument for cutting/chopping wood.

I say pinch... but my husband says pEnch!!

In the south they say "owl" instead of "oy-il"

This one bugs me.  I often hear people use the phrase "for all instensive purposes" instead of the proper "for all intents and purposes."

Not sure how this word should be pronounced, except to say that I have a real problem pronouncing it..."rural".  I really despise having to say that word since I live in a "rural" area of Memphis!

Illinois the "S" is silent

I'm from the chicago area and that makes me crazy expecially when people from Illinois say it wrong.

I am from Missouri; some pronounce it Missouri (e sound) or Missourah.  

Nuclear - there's only one "U" but people from  Presidents to the Press say nu - ku - lar instead of nu- kle - ar

In Ohio we have many people say "Crick" instead of "Creek".  Oh and another one for Wash is Woosh!
I've also heard a lot of people pronounce "Pittsburgh" as "Piksburgh"

Have a great day!

Hey Jd, my college roomate is from Rhodeisland, and she pronounces "Drawing" as "Drawering"... haha and the funny is she is an Art Major, so this word is constantly used!

I knew a lady who always said she had been diagnosed with "maniac depression"...you don't know how right she was, too!

My grandma used to say "Wallering around" and that is what my 19 month old,David does when he is really tired..wallers around on the floor..LOL and my girls ( now teenagers ) used to say "busketti" for spaghetti and now we still say it that way..LOL

I have a friend that says (row ad) for road...we laugh every time.

Know of a lady who had several good ones...
She had a hexarexomy (hysterectomy).
She knew someone that moved from a house to a condom (condo-minium).

My wife had a friend growing up who called a toilet a "turlet".

Did you ever do anything onced (more of a "t" sound than a "d" sound, rather than once) a month?

My aunt calls the bedroom a "beth-er-room", maybe it was just adjacent to the bathroom?

My physical science teacher in high school called water wor-ter. It drove me crazy!

Hmmm....Thanks KLOVE for making me Laugh.Going thru divorce with 4 kids. So i sleep with the Radio on. xo xo
Anyway East Coast Girl, Living in Montana.  On the East, You ask waitress for a Soda or Tonic. In Montana....theres no such thing. Its POP.  

East is Route. (root).  West is Route. (ROUT)...

I'm not sure if this is just confined to the Maryland peninsula but there are some who pronounce the word WATER as WOODER. That may be because there are a lot of WOODERMEN (Watermen) here on the DEL-MAR-VA peninsula.   

Hi JD I have to say u are hilarious,

But one of the words my husband drives me crazy with is "brang" instead of brought. He also cracks me up with is the word "sangwich" instead of sandwich.

God Bless Nirma Trevizo from Albuquerque New Mexico

two more words that I notice are mispronounced all over the country!!!!
"Jewlery"  should be "Jewelry"
"Choirpractor" should be "Chiropractor"

Drives me nuts!

Good morning JD.  I think the most mispronounced word in the United States is the word ASK!  There are people who pronounce it as AX!  I don't understand that either.  It is clear the difference yet they still mispronounce it!  Can you tell it is a pet peeve?  Thanks JD.  

Another mis pronounced word is "soda". I had friends from the south and family from Massachusetes that said "sodr".

My dad and grandma say "Eye-Talian" for things like Italian salad dressing, food, etc.. But when I told them that these things came for "Eye-talee", they corrected *me* and said "No, it's pronounced "Italian".

It really frustrates me when I hear "FRUSTRATED" pronounced "FLUSTRATED". Not sure why people change the R to a L.

SANDWICH:

My husband says sandWENCH and I say SAMwich!
heard you all talking about that on my way to town. I'm from TX and we say lots of things "wrong" (according to some!) sounds right to us here!! like: yall, aint, gonna, so on and son on.... hahaha love you guys!!
Cindy in Kingsbury

sherbit, sherbert which is it?

I constantly hear people say "sam-wich" instead of sandwich.   I don't think it is just here in Kansas either.  i have heard it all across the country.

Have a GREAT day!

My husband, his family & friends all grew up in a "rail-road" town. Whenever they talk about the railroad, they call it the "ray-road". Drives me nuts!
Dianne in Ohio

My dad always says "idear" and i always say "where'd that R come from?" i'm from south Georgia, and I listen to K-Love all the time... I even found a way to snuck it in school (lol). I love K-Love. It's so positive and encouraging, unlike all this negative noise coming from some other stations (no offense if anybody likes them).

A couple that really get me:

-Folks in Texas like to say "ol" instead of "oil.

-People that say "bolth" instead of "both"

My wife, instead of saying "crayons" says "crowns" (she's from southern Virginia)

In my hometown, Pittsburgh, PA, instead of saying "and that" they nay "n-nat" and instead of "you guys" they say "yens guys".

My kids and grandkids get upset with me when i ask them to go get something from another room and i say its in nere or in yonder.

My father-in-law is a true Cajun. There are a plethora of mispronunciations in their culture. A couple have even "fount" there way into my children's vocabulary. Here are few:
Fount for Found (Father-in-Law)
Swaller for swallow - to take a sip (Mother-in-Law)
ValentiMes Day for Valentines Day (Wife)

Around here, people always pronounce crayons as "crins or "crowns". I never noticed it til I married I married a guy raised in NY.  He was determined our daughter not grow up pronouncing it that way.  When the waitress at Applebees asked our 2 year old if we wanted "crowns" for her to use, we said yes and then my husband wanted to prove to my SIL that our daughter could say it correctly.  He held up a crayon and asked her what it was.  She paused carefully because she wanted to say it right for Daddy and then pronounced, "it is a Korean!" ;)

Smiles in Indiana!

It is not really a mispronunciation, but "irregardless" is not standard English - just like "ain't".  I'd rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard than hear these "words."

Sorbet is correct with a silent T.  I have always pronounced it "sorbey" also so when I heard that was not correct I took action. Per Dictionary.com- sawr-bit, sawr-bey; Either would be correct. I'm redeemed. LOL

JD, we have a department store called "Belk" however everyone around here pronounces it "Belks".  There is no "S".  

Here is a saying that drives me crazy! People say I could care less when they really mean I COULDN'T care less.

My mother calls the city in New Mexico AlbeTURKEY.  HAHA

When I moved to the great NW I had never heard Hawaii mispronounced, but a family friend says "hah-woy-yah". Being that my family is from there it just sends a chill down my spine each time   Another regional mispronunciation "crick", as in we are going  fishing in the creek "crick"!   Wow.

My grandpa used to say these---
Fire--Far
Climbed--Clum
Italian-- I Towel Yun.


What about the great debate in Arkansas and Kansas. Is it the AR Kansas river, or the Ark an saw.?

Here's one from a southern gal... Chester drawers ( chest of drawers)!

We were once stationed on a military base just north of Chicago. It amazed me how many native Chicgoans pronounced it Chuhkargo.

My parents always called the sink the zinc. They would tell us to put the dirty dishes in the zinc. I am from MI.

Mispronounced states:
It is Missouree - not MissourUH
It is Illinoy - not Illinois (as in plural).

Books of the Bible:
It is Revelation. Not RevelationS! Major pet peeve.

You should quote a verse as Psalm 119, not Psalms.

My dad also says my name "Patrit" sometimes and he always says "ast" instead of "Patrick" and "ask"

he says it's the "southern accent" that does that.

I am from Missouri and moved to Mississippi seven years ago. People say, "fixin to" here in replacement of I am going to.  Example I'm fixin to go to the store or are ya'll fixin to close. It was very hard to get used to and I still do not allow my children to say it.  We may fix cars or dinner but we DO NOT fix to do anything.

A more recent mispronunciation - Instead of Alzheimer's, I often hear "Ole-timer's" or "All-timers."

Flusterated and expensier are NOT words.  

These are hysterical. Thanks to all for sharing!

For years we have laughed at my darling mom for saying Amereeca instead of America. When she says "oh my gosh," the o in gosh is a long i.  How does one spell that... GUYsh?? Whatever, my little ones have caught on and giggle about it, too and often quote her. Too cute.

My mother has always said garantee instead of gairantee for guarantee. She also says housepital instead of hospital. lolol

Sherbert and sherbet are interchangeable. Both spellings and pronunciations are correct according to Webster's dictionary.

If there was a prize for the best mispronunciation i bet this would take it...My mother-in-law doesn't have an afghan on the back of her couch...she has an African!

Illinois is pronounced with a silent s
Theater is thee ah ter, not thee a ter
Often is pronounced with a silent t and
October not Optober

I have to say that my mom and I's biggest PET PEEVE for most mispronounced words is literally...i always ALWAYS hear people say "literaltly"...with a T!

"Can I aks (axe) you a question?"  Let's try "ask" not "axe".

Here's one in Daniel 3, that I noticed just a few weeks ago.  The names of Daniel's 3 friends are Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  How many times has the last name been pronounced AbeNdego?    

It's the "fruit" (singular) of the Spirit, not "fruitS".  There is no 'S'

I moved from NJ to MD. These are some of the ones I have come across. No doubt they think I say some things wrong.
1.Jaguar-I live near a zoo. On class trips the kids always want to go see the Jag wires.
2.Saw. I sawl it over there.  
3.Doberman Pinscher. Doberman Pincherman
4.Rottweiler. Rocka wiler
5.Desks. I'm gonna clean the desses.
6.Street. Turn down that skreet.
7.Pillow-Pillar
8.Hello-Yello

A friend from Mississippi use to insist that "welt" (raised skin injury) was pronounced "whelp".  We went back and forth until I showed him the words in the dictionary.  His response?  I'm tellin my Mom!!!!  lol

  I have lived in the south for 20 years after spending the first 43 in Indiana. The use of cent instead of cents when saying your change is 23 cent instead of the proper cents. Same in Georgia and North Carolina.Have worked as a teacher in both states and the teachers even say it wrong but admit it when I tell them.

We know people that always pronounce weren't as werntent and the same with bought; they say boughten.  Something about adding another n to the word...

I have known people who pronounce the following words with a T at the end:

oncet
Twicet
Acrosst

Also some of my southern relatives put an R in the city of ChicaRgo.  Also people who live here say, Illinoise.

"I could care less" for "I couldn't care less is also one of my pet-peeves.
My Mother-in-law always says "Sarah Wrap" for "Saran Wrap" and "Walmarks" for "Walmart" no matter how often we show her the right words on the box and the side of the building! She and her husband can't say "gazebo" - it comes out "gazboe".
My Mom pronounces "aluminum" as "aluminimum".
Another one that bugs me. We go to "Awana" (club for kids), not "Awanas".

It drives me a little crazy when people put an 'h' on the end of height and pronounce it heighth.

oh my goodness! i've really enjoyed everyone's entries! so much fun!
how about ornery (or-nur-ee)which always gets pronounced as awnree.
or when people say awanaS instead of just awana.
the topper for me is my sweet grandma (gone to heaven now) who used to mispronounce her OWN last name (which she had for 70+ years) - pronounced hoffschneider as huffsnider. so funny & so sweet

I guess this isn't really a mispronunciation, but in e-mails and chats, my friends always type defiantly instead of definitely.

Oh, and my sister when she was younger would always say "yust" instead of "just".

My husband argued with three different people who referenced a dictionary and three different websites, that a proper pronunciation of the word queue (cue) was "quay-way!"

My dad always says lish instead of leash..and zinc instead of sink..and my brother says marra instead of mirror..

Mass - a - tu - setts instead of Mass- a - CHUS - etts.

Prostate is usually pronounced - prostrate or more recently, I even heard "postrate"

my mother drives me nuts by answering the phone...  yellow for hello... ugh

my Mom use to call Iowa  - Ioway

I get frustrated when people say 'fustrated'-----Dont forget the /r/ after the f

JD--one of the MOST often mispronounced words is the word...OFTEN...the "t" is silent, as in Soften, so, they are properly pronounced, "soffen" and "offen"...NOTE:  Please pass this bit of information on to Kelly!

It's not "intensive purposes." It's "intents and purposes." I don't know what intensive purposes are, and I don't think that anyone else does either.
Also, not the sequel to the SuperBowl, "hyperbowl," but "hy-per-bo-lee." (Hyperbole.)

There's a guy in my graduate class that always says the word "ideal." I wouldn't mind it so much if he would use it in the right context! Ever time he uses "ideal" it is actually supposed to be "idea." These two words are NOT interchangeable. They both have different meanings.

Down here in the south, we have words such as y'all, ain't, gonna, woulda, cattywampus, thingamajig (or bob), dadgummet, dadblammet, dog gonnet, and my friend says whomppyjogged...lol...wow

I've always called various spices, "erbs" (herbs)with a silent "h".  Then I heard Martha Stewart always say HERBS with the "H" pronounced.  Who can counterdict THE Martha Stewart!  lol

Matlock

aluminum***********pronounced
al-you-minium    or al-umimum

I am a Colorado native.  The word is pronounced like "radical"  Colo"rad"o.  It is not pronounced like "rock" Colo"ro"do.

One of my petpeeves is that people say anyway(s), using the s.  That is not proper. LOL!

Preventive  is NOT pronounced Prevent-uh-tive.  No such word as preventative.  It's preventive medicine or preventive care.  Also conversate is considered nonstandard as in "i'm trying to conversate with you."  It's "converse with you" or "have a conversation with you" in real English.  

How about May-onnaise pronounced Man-naise.  I've heard those 2 different pronunciations.