Word pronunciations

"Psalm 34" Number of posts : 54431 Mood :

Since it's been quiet here the last few days, I thought I'd ask about the way certain words are pronounced in your area. When I was little, my family visited West Virginia. My Mom was talking with one of the locals, and he asked about all of us children. She introduced us all, and when she came to my oldest brother, Aaron, the man asked "What did you say his name is?". She replied "Aaron". (Pronounced Air-in) He said "How do you spell that?" She spelled it for him, and he said "That may be how you say it where you come from, but around here, we'd call him AY-ron". grinsmiley

So even names are pronounced differently in differing areas! So, what about words? Harass, coupon, wash, insurance, iron, kilometer...........I was so surprised to learn that not everyone - even in the U.S. - will pronounce those the same way.

Harass . . . that's always been huh-RASS for me - never "hariss". I'm not British enough. batEyes

And NOBODY on the news EVER said "hariss" until a couple of years ago. Now, I hear it quite often, and find it puzzling that they're starting to use a different pronunciation.

Coupon. . . coo-pon...........but my Grandma always called them "q-pons".

Wash........ My southern relatives all say warsh, which I think is really cute. (Where did that R come from, anyway? LOL) But I'd sound dorky saying it.

Insurance - HA!! This one makes me laugh. My Mom HATES it when people on the news say that "INsurance" will cover the losses. She'll huff and say "It's inSURance!!".

Iron. . . . I-ern. (As in "I earn". lol) But friends from out east pronounce it "I-run".

Anyway....you get the idea. So, are there words that you HATE to hear mispronounced? And are there pronunciations that you're used to hearing in your area, but have found that not everyone says it the same way?

AND.........now you'll all start posting more, just to keep me from making this bizarre type of post, won't you? LOL!!

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:40 pm

Savannah..

:think: Hmmm.... I gotta think about this one...
Well i think the word 'caramel' comes to mind. I pronounce it ca-ra-mel
I hear others say 'kar-mel' grinsmiley

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 1:43 pm

Well Savannah, I say quite a few words the same as you. I was born and raised in California, so it was an eye opener, or should I say ear opener when I heard some of the words coming out of people's mouths!!! :haha:

I am with grandma on coupon (q-pon) though....but with the word insurance, I don't seem to hit any of the syllables with a hard accent....lol I crack up when I hear people say "warsh" as I am with you and want to know where that "R" came from. My mother in law calls the state of Colorado differently than I have heard anyone. I say "Col-o-raw-doe" and she says "Col-o-ray-dah" LOL Another word in the south is the pronunciation of greasy, like greasy food. I say, "gree-see" and around here, they say, "gree-zee".

Off topic a little here.......I laugh at some of the misuse of words. My husband is good at saying, "That's a good ideal" or "I have no ideal" It is IDEA....not IDEAL!!! An idea is something you think of in your head,"That's a great idea, I wish I had thought of that"....with ideal, you would say...."The ideal place to go would be to the mountains" Oh the life of a Southerner....:haha:

CANCER FREE!!! April 9, 1998-April 9, 2025-I AM A SURVIVOR!!!

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:03 pm

Rhonda wrote:: ... and she says "Col-o-ray-dah" LOL

I want to go to Col-o-ray-dah! ROTFL

Proverbs 3:5-6 Number of posts : 2539 Mood :

My dad says "warsh" and he's not from the south but the north! I think it's a lazy habbit that he won't take the time to correct.

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:13 pm

Savannah wrote:: Coupon. . . coo-pon...........but my Grandma always called them "q-pons".

I've heard it both ways, too. When I lived in Connecticut, my co-worker pronounced it "coo-pon" and I've heard it the other way, too.

What about New Orleans. I've heard (New Orleans and New Or-leans).

"I would fight for you - I'd lie for you - walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you..."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:18 pm

Carol wrote:

Rhonda wrote:: ... and she says "Col-o-ray-dah" LOL

I want to go to Col-o-ray-dah! ROTFL

Don't forget from LH, Almanzo, Al-MAN-zo and Al-Manzy.! ROTFL

The real Laura even said herself that it was Al-MAN-zo.

BTW, Carol! Love your avatar. I love "Gilmore Girls."

"I would fight for you - I'd lie for you - walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you..."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:03 pm

Misti wrote:: BTW, Carol! Love your avatar. I love "Gilmore Girls."

Me too. To be honest, I know the show is over, but I recently started watching it through Netflix... I'm barely on season 1 and loving it! :idance:

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:18 pm

Oh God I hate the way us Pittsburghers talk, lol.

Instead of house he say haas, or daan taan instead of down town. We have a place called East Liberty and we call it Sliberty, lol. Or insead of saying something like, do you eat hotdogs and hamburgers we say, do you eat hot dogs n'nat. On one of our radion stations they do a litte joke about a super hero names, N'nat Man, lol. In the south you know how they say y'all? Well we say Yinz or how yinz guys doin? We talk pretty wierd here I must say.

Beckie

LETS GO PENS!

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 5:26 pm

MattLabMyLove wrote:: We talk pretty wierd here I must say.

Beckie

Yeah I must agree grinsmiley

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Fri Jul 06, 2007 7:56 pm

A lot of my older relatives said "Sair-day" for "Saturday." Maybe it's a Danish immigrant thing?

Great avatar, Carol. (Rob sings: "If you're out on the road, feeling lonely and so cold... "):sing:

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Sat Jul 07, 2007 2:12 am

When I was in Connecticut, my Boston friend would say, Caaa in the yaaad instead of car in the yard.

"I would fight for you - I'd lie for you - walk the wire for you - ya I'd die for you..."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:46 pm

My Dad Says to Coupons COUPENS

Man of Constant Sorrow Number of posts : 2648 Mood :

Man....where to begin? When you talk like a hillbilly, you take it for granted and don't usually notice. Let's see...

Iron~Ahrn
Harness~HORE-ness
Fire~Fahr
Ambulance~AM-blance
Battery~BAT-ry
Potatoes~TA-ters
Cornbread~CONE-bred

That's all I can think of right now.

Little House Lady Number of posts : 2761

A phrases in my local area that I can think of off the top of my head is "down the line". As in, "she lives down the line", regardless of in which direction you're talking about, LOL.

I met a friend of a friend recently who is from West Virginia, and had such an adorable Southern accent. I love hearing other people's accents sometimes, although I'm sure there are some words' pronunciations that bother me too! LOL.

"It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures and to be cheerful and have courage when things go wrong."

Mom Of 2 Kitties Number of posts : 3822 Mood :

Well, both of my parents say wash~wush
My father in law says wash~warsh also he says closet~clouse-et
Also iron is commonly referred to as i-RON
lol, and another oil~ooool

Frontier Traveler Number of posts : 372

The one thing I noticed with southerners is that they actually don't all have the same way of saying things, despite the stereotype.

Alabama says "ya'll" and Georgians says "you-uns" and Louisiana says "yuns" and I've heard Texans say "all ya alls"

lol

Good times!

You remain responsible.. Forever...
For what you have tamed.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:50 pm

Debbie wrote:: Well, both of my parents say wash~wush
My father in law says wash~warsh also he says closet~clouse-et
Also iron is commonly referred to as i-RON
lol, and another oil~ooool

I hate it when ppl say warsh, lol.

Beckie

LETS GO PENS!

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:31 pm

Debbie wrote:: and another oil~ooool

:haha: One of my friend's says oool, we would always tease her and ask her what was Popeye's girlfriend's name, she would say "Olive Ooool." :Hahaha:

"Within the heart of every stray, lies the singular desire to be loved."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:26 am

RoseRed wrote:: The one thing I noticed with southerners is that they actually don't all have the same way of saying things, despite the stereotype.

Alabama says "ya'll" and Georgians says "you-uns" and Louisiana says "yuns" and I've heard Texans say "all ya alls"

lol

Good times!

I'm in Alabama and have lived here all of my 39 years. I have relatives in Georgia, and they say "ya'll" or "you all", just like I do. I have friends in Texas who either say "ya'll" or "you all". as well. Maybe it depends on what part of the state you're in, or how you were raised.

No offense to those who have or love a deep Southern drawl, but there are some words and accents of the South that drive me nuts. banghead

Gaah! I've never had a heavy Southern accent, and I'm soooo glad. My mom raised us not to speak the way most of our friends and other people around us spoke. Some people have to listen fairly close to tell I'm from the South. Others can tell pretty easily, but think I may have moved here from either up North, back East or out West, and caught the accent. LOL! Those of you from those areas...I'm sure most of you would know the difference right away if you heard me. I don't think I'd be mistaken for someone who lived all their life in New York or Michigan. My cousins can tell you that. LOL!

I may have told you all about this before, but in case I haven't, or someone missed it - - when I was in middle school, one of my sixth grade teachers was telling the class that her sister had just had a baby boy. I'll try to type it the way she said it, if possible. "I'm an ainty. My sister had a baby bowie. A leetle bowie." Geeez! Huh?

I've heard people say "warsh" instead of "wash". That annoys me! Other words with the Southern accent that drives me nuts - -

oil - earl (a classmate says it that way)
watermelon - watamelin
store - stoe
aunt - ain't
church - chuch or chuoch (that's a tough one to spell as it sounds. LOL!)

That's all for now. It's probably enough, too. :shy:

Wave

dreamNwish Photo Art & Gifts - http://www.zazzle.com/dreamnwish_photo_art

"If you can't be good, be good at it."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:35 am

One of my first jobs working in a preschool, left me with a story at the end of each day. One little 3 or 4 year old boy was so cute and had the strangest accent for a little guy born and raised in California. He sounded just like he had come straight out of the Bronx......Our conversation at recess one day went like this.

Little Boy: "Mith Whonda, I got hoyt."

Miss Rhonda: "You did, where did you get hurt?"

Little Boy: "Over thair in the doyt."

Miss Rhonda: "You got hurt over there in the dirt? Are you ok?"

Little Boy: "Yeth, I am fine, but when I got hoyt in the doyt, I got my shoyt all doyty."

Miss Rhonda: "You got hurt in the dirt and got your shirt all dirty, is there anything else?"

Little Boy: "No, bye..........."

I was rolling with laughter when he ran off.......One of my favorite stories from working with children...........

CANCER FREE!!! April 9, 1998-April 9, 2025-I AM A SURVIVOR!!!

Frontier Traveler Number of posts : 372

haha how cute

You remain responsible.. Forever...
For what you have tamed.
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"Psalm 34" Number of posts : 54431 Mood :

Awwwww, that's so cute, Rhonda!!

I've travelled a lot through the South, and have never heard anyone actually use "you'uns" unless they were being fecitious - mockingly talking in a stereotyped Southern way, rather than the way they actually speak. My Aunt is from Louisiana, and always says "y'all". But like LM said, maybe you'uns is a regional thing.

One thing I have noticed is that people from Northern states do tend to speak much more quickly than people from Southern states generally do. I'm sure that there are exceptions. But when my Aunt and cousins from Louisiana and Missouri come to visit, they always mention how fast everyone here talks. LOL

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Wed Jul 18, 2007 3:27 am

Hi, Savannah. Wave

You said - never heard anyone actually use "you'uns" unless they were being fecitious - mockingly talking in a stereotyped Southern way, rather than the way they actually speak.

I agree.

I know what you mean about some people from the North talking faster than some people here in the South. You reminded me of why some people might think I'm not really a Southerner because I do talk really fast most times, and even faster when angry. My brother does the same. We had to have gotten that from our mom. Love

dreamNwish Photo Art & Gifts - http://www.zazzle.com/dreamnwish_photo_art

"If you can't be good, be good at it."

Subject: Re: Word pronunciations Mon May 02, 2011 10:27 pm

Don't get me started...

» Oh my word!
» First Word you Can Think of.
» What's in a Word?
» In Three word...how would you describe yourself?
» That's not a nice word...