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submitted 3 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

Before I heard it being said I kept pronouncing the surname "Mangione" as "Man-jee-own" rather than "man-jo-nee" and I'm still ashamed about it lol I'm sorry

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[-] [email protected] 1 points 15 hours ago

Yosemite

I've learned in school quite early that it is pronounced as Yo-semmy-tee, but I deliberately pronounce it Yoh-ze-mite, because it's funny.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Gillian like Gil in Gilbert and the Gill of a fish not Jill like, well, I honestly still don't know why it's spelled Gillian but pronounced Jillian.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I'll answer for the 99% of people in my life: Hiram

🫠

[-] [email protected] 26 points 3 days ago

All English town names, by spite and ignorance but mostly spite.

Oh, I am not pronounching "Glouchestershire" correctly? SPELL it correctly then!

[-] [email protected] 20 points 3 days ago

For all native English speakers, this is how the rest of us feel about any words in English

[-] [email protected] 11 points 3 days ago

Is that the one pronounced "Wooster"?

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

No, Worcestershire is pronounced woostershire

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

And Gloucestershire sounds like Glousteshire.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

In his comments on the Jeeves & Wooster series Stephen Fry talked a bit about English family names. Among others, he said Mainwaring is pronounced "Mannering", and Cholmondeley is "Chumley".

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

There was a YouTube video I watch ages ago and it explained it pretty well.

The differences depends on who settled the town. Roman, Saxon, or Viking

[-] [email protected] 6 points 3 days ago

I have American friends who couldn't pronounce it. it was always some variant of "Glow-kester-sheer" but tbh I can't blame them, the spelling doesn't do the pronunciation justice 😂

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago

Start intentionally pronouncing "Pittsburgh" with the -burgh suffix from Edinburgh or Musselburgh to get them back

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[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

When I was on vacation with my father in Scotland we wanted to see the highland games in Glenisla. We needed directions or needed to know the exact date when they'd take place or so, so we went to some tourist information. That poor girl there had no idea what we wanted when we asked about glennis-law. But she soon figured out that we meant glen-ila.

The highland games were awesome, btw!

[-] [email protected] 21 points 3 days ago

Pronounced Siobhan as SheOhBahn for years.

Sorry SheVohn!

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I used to have a work friend named Siobhan and when I'd come home I'd mention her to my partner. Sometimes I would text him about her. He fully thought these were two different people for like a year.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

For me it's, Saoirse

I have to look it up every time I see it.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

If I remember this one, it's Sher-sha?

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

Yeah, and apparently it's the Irish equivalent of fucking "Joan" or similar. JFC.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Same here. One of my favorite bit-part actors is Siobhan Fallon, who played the wife of "Egger" in Men in Black. She absolutely stole the few scenes she was in. I didn't know I was mispronouncing her name for years.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

came here to say literally THIS name haha, crazy

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 days ago

omg I know the feeling. had someone in college named this and I pronounced it the same way until she corrected me and I was so sorry 😭 an apology to Siobhans everywhere!

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Two common names in Scotland are Aileen and Eileen but damned if I don’t say the wrong one every time.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

I always pronounced Tolkens name as Token, apparently nobody else made that mistake.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Internal monologue:

Fuck. Jeremy? Germy? Jehrehmy? Jerremy?

Yo! J-dawg how's it hanging man?

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Lancaster (as in Pennsylvania).

Pronounced it as "LAN Caster" like some sort of cyberpunk mage.

[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

I'm not convinced there is a correct pronunciation for "Kirsten."

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[-] [email protected] 10 points 3 days ago

Chongqing like "Chongqing Chicken". not pronounced "chonking".

"Añejo", not pronounced "ah-neh-joe"

"Hors d'oeuvre". funnily not pronounced "horse divorce".

[-] [email protected] 15 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

"Hors d’oeuvre”. funnily not pronounced “horse divorce”.

That's a new one and I love it I like calling them "hours devours" which also adds in a non-existing consonant.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

yeah, french (and borrowed words) is usually my hard-mode when it comes to pronunciations. this one is special because it's dessert (or so I think).

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago

As used around here in the US it is fancy finger foods, usually appetizers. But we also tend to use the words differently than the source, like we use entree for the main part of the meal.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

How's Chongqing pronounced?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago

Wikipedia says it is like Chóngqìng. "Chong" with long o sound, then tsin.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago
[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Any Chinese name beginning with X. Took me awhile to figure out Nuyen as well.

[-] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

Nguyen

'N when did you find out?

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Isn't X just like a muted "sh"?

[-] [email protected] 4 points 3 days ago

Just mentioned this in another thread - Kraken. I say it phonetically - "krayken - but for some reason the world says "cracken".

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[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Hasan - I feel like different people have different pronunciations of it and I can't keep track of which is for who.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 days ago

Loudon Wainwright

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this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2025
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