Things you pronounce funny?

[AllenSmithee]

Here, I'll start.

I say "giraffe" as "Jai-raff". It rhymes with Eye-Laugh, see?

I also say "Toronto" as "Tuhrawnuh" rhymes kinda with piranha.

Obviously this is just based on the norm around wherever you are.

GO!

[Incog Neato]

Well, I once pronounced "alternative" as alter native.

There was also a word where, every time I saw it, I was think of the French pronunication. Pretty sure that word was "formidable". :P

FOR ME DAB BLUUUUURRR

[Raison D'etritus]

People tell me it's odd that I often (not always) pronounce "minority" with a soft i.
Min or itty

I know there are a dozen more, but at the moment this is the only one that comes to mind.

[Ascended Mermaid]

The. I either pronounce it "Thee" or "Thuh" and it feels like it completely breaks the flow of my sentences, as I even *feel* myself pausing awkwardly after saying it. There are a few other words, but I can't think of them right now.

// Ah yes, Death/Deaf is one of mine, as well -- and it's completely reversible too!! Another word is comfortable -- whereas most people pronounce it "comfy" or "comftorble", I actually say "come fer tuh bull". Again, it completely breaks the flow of my sentences!! XD

[AllenSmithee]

I choose The or Thuh depending on if it is a title or if I'm pronouncing it HARD.

Raison, I also say a lot of things with a soft I. I have very little consistency in how I pronounce things.

[Raison D'etritus]

come fer tuh bull

Stay fer tuh cow.

I have very little consistency in how I pronounce things

Which reminds me; my eithers are also I-thers, and it seems to be completely random how I say it.

[AllenSmithee]

I say either I-ther or Ee-they, either works.

Which eithers did I use though?

(I say comfortable kinda like convertable, which I guess is to say the same as Maggot's way of speaking it).

[Lenalia]

Nov 12, 2010 23:15:20 GMT -5 Wyrdwad said:

Apparently, I pronounce "water" very strangely. Or so I've been told.

I pronounce it with an extra-dipthongized "a" sound, as in the word "war."

-Tom

I think that's just a regional thing, since I do that too. I'll pronounce it normally about half the time, but those are the times that I think about it and specifically try to pronounce it the way everyone else does.

[sushi]

My lil sis pronounces it Falcum

[Raison D'etritus]

This morning, I said privacy with a soft i. It seems completely random; like there's some Brit in me trying to get out.

Next I'll be saying "lift" and "lab-or-a-tory"

[sushi]

Yet more innuendo that is unintentional, Raison! (OR IS IT?!)

[Nalacakes]

Aside from a whole host of British pronunciations that would probably sound funny to those of you from far-off lands, I used to have trouble with silent letters when I was very young, and my family thought it was cute, so a few of my mispronunciations have entered our everyday vocabulary. Even though it's (mostly!) intentional, I still pronounce subtle and knife the way they look. Imagine my surprise when Philip Pullman goes and writes a book called The Subtle Knife. The title makes me smile to this day. :'D

Oh, and even though my Japanese is quite good now I still mispronounce Japanese words I learned before I started studying the language through force of habit. When I speak Japanese it's fine, but when I speak English there's lots of anname and karatty.

[AllenSmithee]

What is anname supposed to be?

I always say Anne-Imm-May.

[Nalacakes]

Nov 14, 2010 15:31:40 GMT -5 AllenSmithee said:

What is anname supposed to be?

I always say Anne-Imm-May.

It's how I always pronounce anime, for whatever reason. Like the name 'Anna' and the word 'me' put together. XD

[AllenSmithee]

Hmm, oh okay.

I also pronounce manga like "main-gah".

I say my stuff pretty Canadian.

[Raison D'etritus]

I say common Americanized Japanese incorrectly too, because old bad habits die hard, starring Bruce Willis.

Anime is easier for me, but I NEVER catch myself on maan-ga. I typically wind up saying it twice, because I realize it after the first pronunciation--which makes me look stupid, repeating it.

And then when you say it correctly, American's make fun of you. Back in PA, my friends made fun of me for pronouncing japanese words correctly, because they said the pronunciation sounded forced.
I can understand that too.
On the food network there's an Italian chick with a perfect American accent; she says all her Italian words with a heavy Italian accent, however. It sounds dumb as hell suddenly hearing "mozzarella" or "proscuitto" with a distinctly different accent than the rest of the sentence. There's a Mexican woman who does the EXACT same thing with words like tortilla and taco.

there's some Brit in me trying to get out.

Yet more innuendo that is unintentional, Raison! (OR IS IT?!)

Nope. Usually they're trying to get INTO me.

[AllenSmithee]

Yeah, I used to say Japanese things in a Japanese accent as best as I could, but thought it founded forced, and in a way disrespectful... So I say it as a mix, without trying too hard on either side.

[GundamuExia]

Everything what I pronounce is funny

[Mutagene]

I should record myself saying 'world' so you can hear how bad my speech impediment is sometimes. Not even 8 years of speech therapy has helped with 'rl' sounds.

[Raison D'etritus]

I was horrible with "r"s as a kid, sounded like I was from Brooklyn, and speech therapy was a huge waste of time.
Do they make you look at your tongue in a mirror? Have them do the same damn thing, and see how much better THEY can talk with their mouth wide open.
Anyway, I got over the problem naturally after quitting, so if you're not seeing any improvement, I suggest the same recourse.

And Karura, I hope you pointed out to those teachers that they are HISTORY and not LANGUAGE teachers, and how you say things is none of their damn concern!