/lit/ - Literature

#1: dour (correct: rhymes with poor and tour, or book and took; incorrect: rhymes with flour)

DOW-ur has caught on in American speech, as the general public slowly strips away its original Scottish essence, however no authority gives it precedence over the correct pronunciations, which are still standard in Britain.

#2: basil [ARGUABLE] (correct: BAZ-il; incorrect: BAY-zil)

Though a wholesale shift towards BAY-zil is still proceeding with an alarming speed, the careful speaker knows that BAZ-il was the only correct pronunciation until about the middle of the 19th century. The incorrect BAY-zil started with the name Basil, and then was also applied to the herb.

#3: espresso (correct: es-PRES-oh; incorrect: ek-SPRES-oh)

The erroneous "expresso" presumably comes from the public believing that Italian espressos were "fast" and "express."

#4. experiment (correct: ek-SPER-uh-mint, ek-SPAIR-uh-mint; incorrect: ek-SPEER-uh-mint)

There is no "spear" in experiment.