/lit/ - Literature

#5: forte (correct: FORT; incorrect: FOR-tay)

From Morris and Morris (1985):
Forte (derived from the French word "fort") meaning "one's strong point," is sometimes pronounced for-TAY. This is wrong. The final "e" is a false feminine ending, acquired by analogy to words such as "morale" and "locale." Those who say for-TAY do so on the false assumption that all French words ending in "e" have the final syllable pronounced AY. Actually, the final feminine "e" in French is always silent.

Expresso isn't always a mispronunciation. There were places called "expresso bars". The name probably originally arose from a mispronunciation, but that hardly matters now.

Also:

Nucular
ek cetera

#6: fracas (correct: FRAY-kis; incorrect: FRAK-is)

This first a is long. When you enter the fray, you enter a FRAY-kis.

#7: coup de grâce (correct KOO-du-GRAHS; incorrect: KOO-du-GRAH)

A regrettably large number of people believe that the grâce in coup de grâce should be pronounced like the gras in Mardi gras. These people are completely wrong. Coup de grâce is pronounced with a final s sound even in French.

#8. coupon (correct: KOO-pahn; incorrect: KYOO-pahn)

We do not say SYOOP for soup, byoo-TEEK for boutique or TYOOR-ni-kit for tourniquet.

macabre

Is often pronounced Muh Kab

Should be pronounced Muh Kab Ruh

#9: crème de menthe (correct: KREM duh MAHNT; incorrect: substituting KREEM for KREM and substituting MENTH or MINT for MAHNT)

#10: flaccid (correct: FLAK-sid; incorrect: FLAS-id)

FLAS-id is now more common in educated speech than FLAK-sid. However, the majority who say FLAS-id probably have no idea that their pronunciation is an upstart, that FLAK-sid is the traditional pronunciation and that the minority who say FLAK-sid consider FLAS-id spurious and ridiculous.

I say (ek-SPER-i-muht). What now?
Also, it's (KOO-pon), not (KOO-pahn). And, actually, the little 'y' people slip in there was quite common I believe in higher class speech and is associated with antiquated speech or the upper-class British.

>>1054054
could give a word that is prounced as the correct "a" in basil?

>>1054113
Like in rat or hazard.

>>1054113

BATMAN

Language is not static. Traditional =/= correct.

>>1054115
Oh, I see. I was thinking the a in vase when you posted. Thanks for that.

>>1054119
Yes, but then other languages sprout up. The people in the rural swaps of southern U.S. speak bayou, a form of english that has almost no correlation in pronunciation in English.

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

Alos this one is bullshit, because Scots aren't saying dour like door, they are saying do-oar (say it quickly).

Repeat do-oar five times fast with your best Scottish accent, and then try the maligned DOW-ur variant.

Both sound fine, but the DOW-ur is preferred because do-oar just sounds like slurred mumblety-juppet.

#11: Phoenician (correct: fi-NISH-in [rhymes with remission]; incorrect: foh-NISH-in, foh-NEESH-in)

#12: plantain (correct: PLAN-tin; incorrect: PLAIN-tayn)

Current dictionaries do not recognize the spelling pronunciation PLAN-tayn. The -tain in plantain is properly pronounced like the -tain in captain and mountain.

>>1054137
Maintain. Remain. Refrain. Obstain. Plantain.

Fuck you. In the rain.

>>1054136
DOW-ur isn't preferred, it sprung up as a false analogy with words like hour and flour. No current authority prefers it. We may not be pronouncing it exactly as the Scots either way, but DOOR and DUUR are definitely more accurate than DOW-ur.

>>1054147
why the door face, you knob

dour is used by the civilized (but not by the civilised)

>>1054143
False analogies for the word that don't match up with its origin. Other true analogies include fountain and chaplain.

>>1054147
I guess this makes you rage:

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=dour

>>1054143
>>1054149
ok WTF?!!

>>1054149
Champain. Check fucking *mate*.

>>1054152
For gods' sake man: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?dour0002=dour

#13: cumin (correct: KUHM-in; incorrect: KYOO-min, KOO-min)

Should be easy for 4chan browsers to remember. Rhyme this word with summon, not human.

#14: nucleic [ARGUABLE] (correct: noo-KLEE-ik; pseudo-Latin: noo-KLAY-ik)

Scientists pronounce nucleolus noo-KLEE-uh-lus, never noo-KLAY-uh-lus, no why say noo-KLAY-ik? It defies all logic and the evidence of etymology and analogy. One can only conclude it's an affectation.

#15: often (correct: AWF-in or AHF-in; incorrect: pronouncing the t)

Soften, moisten, glisten, listen, often.

>>1054147
HOUR I'M A DOUR

Sounds very intellectual.

I'm going to start pronouncing it (DAU-uh) just to piss off OP.

>>1054152

Let me know when Merriam Webster's online dictionary is a major authority on the English language. Even the populist dictionary.com doesn't have DOW-ur as its primary pronunciation.

>>1054167
>Scientists pronounce nucleolus noo-KLEE-uh-lus
Wrong, it's noo-KLEE-oh-lus.

>>1054173
Let me know when the populist dictionary.com online dictionary is a major authority on the English language.

Webster's is the single authority on the American English language, even South Park fans know this (you pronounce it sow-TUH pook, like eel or jelly bean no doubt).

OP is a raging faggot (pronounced FAG-oh, never fa-GOT).

#16: ogle (correct: OH-gul; incorrect: AH-gul, AW-gul)

#17: respite (correct: RES-pit; incorrect: ruh-SPYT)

Though ruh-SPYT is rapidly gaining popularity and has been listed as an alternative in a handful of dictionaries it is, of course, not sanctioned yet. Maybe someday.

>>1054175
You are correct. That is also a common pronunciation for the word, especially in America. The point stands on KLEE though.

#18: schism (correct: SIZ'm; incorrect: SKIZ'm)

Most words beginning with sch- are pronounced either SK-, as in school and scheme, or SH-, as in schmaltz, Schmidt, schnauzer and schwa. Schism, however, because of its history, is a special exception.
Schism entered English in the late 14th century from the Greek and Latin schisma, through the Old French cisme. Of the numerous spellings that arose in its first 200 years in the language, scisme was the most common, and it wasn't until the 17th century that writers began reinserting the h from the original Latin and Greek. In 1644, Milton used scism; 24 years later, Izaak Walton spelled it schism. The crop of dictionaries in the 18th century served to establish schism as the standard spelling, but the pronunciation SIZ'm had already been established for centuries.
As a SKIZ'm sayer you can defenestrate your dictionary and dismiss the entire profession of lexicography as a bow-tied bunch of ivory-tower eggheads with too much wax in their ears, or you can sit back for a moment and consider why the weight of authority is so steadfastly behind SIZ'm. You can ponder the singular history of the word, how ancient, hoary and venerable the traditional pronunciation is compared with SKIZ'm, the impertinent offspring of 18th pedantry and 20th century ignorance, and you can ruminate of the fact that the clergy, who undoubtedly are most knowledgeable about schisms, are generally conscientious about pronouncing them properly. I don't think you'll have to mull things over too long before you come around and after you've said it a few time, SIZ'm won't seem odd to your ears at all, especially when you know you have every authority and every dictionary printed to back you up. If that doesn't give you confidence in SIZ'm, nothing will.

>>1054188

you flaming rejects, its NOO-klee-OH-lus.

>>1054203
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nucleolus

Remember that science teachers don't make very good lexicographers. The -uh is still standing, even on online dictionaries.

#19 niche (correct: NICH [LOLUMAD?])

"French no longer," says Holt (1937). "Rhyme it with ditch."
Yes. This word's long history has yielded two alternative pronunciations, NEESH and NISH. The latter is eccentric, the former is pseudo-French, and both are best avoided. American Heritage 3 (1992) sanctions NEESH as an alternative, but careful speakers would be wise to heed M-W 10 (1998), which gives priority to NICH and labels NEESH with an obelus, indicating that it "is considered by some to be objectionable."

not /lit/
also, learn to use IPA

>>1054252
IPA just turns people off who don't know how to interpret it. With this it's clear.
And also I am sure /lit/ is the board with the most well-spoken gentlemen, or at least people who want to be.

#20 primer (introductory textbook: PRIM-ur; paint PRY-mur)

>>1054202
'size'm?
>>1054230
niche as in nice or ditch

>>1054269
SIZ as in scissors.
Niche as in ditch.

>>1054271
thanks again. always pronounced the sch as though it were a german word.

#21: Genghis Khan (correct: JENG-gis KHAN; incorrect: GENG-is)

GENG-gis (with a hard g as in gun) is sometimes listed, but no authority I know of prefers it. Funk and Wagnalls Standard (1897), Phyfe (1926), Webster 2 (1934), Columbia Encyclopedia (1963) and Encarta (2001) countenance only JENG-.

>>1054278
You're welcome. And you are most definitely not the only one. I am guilty of most of these on the list. The irony here is that often times well-read people are the ones who mispronounce these words the most, as they are more exposed to them and, therefore, their common mispronunciations.

You guys know that what with language being ultimately a matter of convention and all that it doesn't matter how it's pronounced so long as what is meant by it is understood right gaies? u kno dat right gaies?

Also, OP u forgot to put [ARGUABLE] in absolutely every word in that list. You're welcome :)

Oh look, a tripfag that doesn't understand living languages.

How long until you get to melee?

i reserve the right to make fun of people for saying nucular

>>1054288
Perhaps if you're talking with your bros about grabbing an expresso because you have a kyoopon for Starbucks. In an academic or otherwise well-spoken environment, it's fairly important that you pronounce words correctly, and why not start at home? I'm sure you've facepalmed over someone mispronouncing a word before. These may be common, but they're as incorrect as Bush's nuuk-u-ler or "Febuary" without the r. This list isn't supposed to be "AHA! GOTCHA!", it's just a guide for those who care.


Bonus round:
Bemused and nonplussed are often pronounced correctly, but misused. Bemused and nonplussed are similar to bewildered, not the opposite as many people believe. If you are bemused, you are not mildly amused or nonchalant. Same thing with nonplussed.

>>1054292
Only tripfagged up this thread because I was OP. And by the way, you might want to investigate lexicography, the source for all of this. Just because the majority of your friends pronounce something incorrectly doesn't mean you can sanction it immediately because it's part of a "living language." Sure, anywhere from a handful to many of the words on this list might be swept away in 100 years, but for now authority stands behind each and every one of them.

let us discuss how much capitalism enforces grammar and pronunciation

Hey guys can you imagine being around people in academic or social contexts who are so stupid that they don't recognise the subjective nature of syntactical rules so they get mad and don't brush it off when you say a word they understand differently? Lol who would want to be around such disgusting stupid pigs

>>1054308
The only mad I'm seeing in this thread is coming from you living language folk.

>>1054310

Plz don't lump me in with that moron and whatever pseudo-linguistic horseshit he's spouting.

... and there goes the the thread.

>mfw pronunciations are enitrely subjective and dictionaries merely have common pronunciations, not correct ones

>>1054335

>mfw the common pronunciation is the correct one

Are these British sources. A few of them don't seem to make sense from an American perspective.

i like this thread.

>>1054409
>>1054342
>>1054335
>>1054292
>>1054291
>>1054288
>>1054170
>>1054157
>>1054143
>>1054119
>>1054110
>>1054081

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/etymology

Bump for enraged e/lit/ists (or not)

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

>>1054680

Wow, that really has no bearing whatsoever on anything I said in this thread. What does the ISC stand for, Incompetent Stupid Cunt? ;shades;

ITT: ElatedRevolutionary tells us how great it is to speak Middle English.

Fuck you Britain when we won the revolution we took the language too.

Correct: Aluminium.
Incorrect: Aluminum.

Fuck you America.

#49: love (correct: loove; incorrect: luv)

While debased tongues have recently preferred this erroneous pronounciation, it was never a correct one until at least the end of the 18th century. For a correct example we need look no further than the Bard:

>Doubt that the stars are fire
>Doubt that the earth doth move
>Doubt truth to be a liar
>But never doubt I love

The same rhyme appears in 'Love's Secret' by William Blake. While those that rhyme 'love' with 'glove' are under the impression their pronunciation is correct, the enlightened, who rhyme it with 'prove' or 'groove', correctly consider it an abberation.

These are all American mispronunciations.

>implying the old english pronunciation isn't the correct one

Pronunciation prescriptivists are by far the worst linguistic prescriptivists.

what a loovely thread of gigantic faggots.

-I'm so glad I finally peaked in /lit/.

Okay pronunciationfags, how do you pronounce "Sartre"? As in Jean-Paul Sartre.

>>1055764

Like fart.

#50: pronunciation (correct: pron-unce-ee-ay-see-oon; incorrect: pron-unce-ee-ay-shun)

It is only since the decline of Chaucer's poetic craft in the English language and his rejection by the masses in favour of Heath-Ledger starring adaptations that the uneducated have started to forget the French roots of words like 'dominion' and 'pronunciation' and prefer unwarranted forms to, as Chaucer would correctly have it, 'dominioun' or 'pronunciacioun'.

>>1054293
So what is the correct pronunciation of February?

>>1054342

This. Whichever is the most common pronunciation is the correct one. Language is a tool for communication after all, if you're focussing on how you express your ideas rather than the ideas themselves you're missing the point.

>>1055770

I haven't been on /lit/ long enough to tell trolls from twats. Can I get a clue?

Since were on the subject.
How do you say Jorge luis Borges?

Since it's a spanish name is it pronounced Horhay luis Bor-hes?

>>1055805

The g's are pronounced like the first part of Chanukah/Hanukkah (like you have a hairball)

>>1055809
Ah.
Thanks anon.

>>1055805
http://www.forvo.com/word/jorge_luis_borges/

The first one's good.

I pronounced meme: 'mayme' for years and noone corrected me, my friend said 'maymay' though the retarded fag lol

#51: toad (correct: 'tow-ad'; incorrect: rhymes with 'bode').

Before the Norman Yolk and the imposition of foreign terms upon the language, the English spoke a thick, pure version of the tongue - that same dialect so strenously promoted by Alfred the Great and so vainly disregarded by those that came after him. While the general public have since the 11th century persisted in error, no authority since the Norman Conquest has supported it, and a fastidious speaker is perfectly and painfully aware that English in its correct form contains absolutely no dipthongs whatsoever. That is to say that no pair of vowels should ever be crudely mashed together to make a combined sound, but always pronounced crisply and distinctly; thus 'road', 'bread', 'fraud', etc, are restored to multisyllabicity, and rescued from their regrettable drift towards monosyllabic oblivion.

>>1054230

YES! FUCK YOU NEESH SAYERS!

FUCK YOU RIGHT IN THE ASS!

>>1055785

Febarrary.

Like 'Tiperary'.

>>1055809
Spanish speaker here. The [x] phoneme is a regional thing - using [h] is perfectly fine.

Or, alternatively, you could ignore almost all of OP's corrections and have people understand you.

>>1055992
I'm all for proper spelling and pronunciation, but I wonder if this is the way to think on the matter. Common usage decides on what's proper over time anyway, and me walking around saying "dour" properly once or twice a year won't change that.

>>1055998
You're right, you'd probably just come off as pretty faggy.

>>1056007
>implying that I don't come across pretty faggy in general

>>1056008
Oh I wasn't really attacking you or anything, more like anybody who uses archaic pronunciations because people with PhD's do too. Obviously I wouldn't know if you come across as faggy in general.

ITT: massive ignorance