I've always thought of myself as somewhat articulate. I can form a complete sentence and write a coherent paragraph.
But over the past year, it has been brought to my attention that there are at least two English words I have been pronouncing incorrectly my entire life. I was stunned to learn this.
The first is "warriors." Say that word to yourself: "warriors." How do you pronounce it? Probably correctly: "WAR-ee-ers." Not me. I've always said "WER-ee-ers." Not only did I have no idea I said it this way, I didn't even realize it was wrong.
My wife was the one who pointed it out. I don't remember why the word came up in conversation, but she looked at me funny and said, "Worriers? Did you just say 'worriers?'"
"No, of course not," I replied. "I said 'warriors.'" (only I pronounced it "worriers")
"Exactly! You said 'worriers.' It's 'WAR-riors.'"
And then I said the word to myself several times over. I quickly realized I had been mangling it for years. Then I tried to say it aloud. Only I couldn't. Seriously, I couldn't. It took several tries and a concerted effort before I could say it right: WAR-riors.
This happened about a year ago. And to this day I'm still self-conscious when I say that word. I have to say it slowly: WAR-ee-ers. Not that it's a word I use often, but when it comes up, I'm stumped.
The other word I've been mispronouncing, apparently, is "crayons." How do you say it? I've always said, "CRAY-ons." Just like it's spelled. But my wife and son informed me the other night that most Americans say it differently. I don't really know how to render it phonetically for you, but apparently the common pronounciation is "CRAY-ens," with the "ens" part said very subtly and almost softly.
I guess you're not supposed to say it like it's spelled. The word ends in "ons," so I say "CRAY-ons," with a distinct short "o" sound on the last syllable. Terry tells me I've been saying it wrong for years but she just has never called me on it.
Again, this is stunning to me. I'm a father of five kids, so believe me, crayons have been an almost daily part of our family lexicon for years. And I've been saying the word wrong.
It makes me wonder what ELSE I've been pronouncing incorrectly. Do I not speak true American English? Where did I pick up this speech impediment?
The whole thing is very disconcerting (dis-con-SERT-ing...I think), to say the least.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
-
About a month ago, my sister-in-law Chris brought over some old photos she found at her house, most of which were baby/toddler shots of our ...
-
NOTE: This post originally ran on my old blog, "They Still Call Me Daddy," on April 6, 2012, and it was far, far, far and away the...
-
This is us with our kids (and our son-in-law Michael thrown in for good measure) at Disney World a couple of years ago. I've always like...
I've been meaning to mention that since you were about 6 years old....
ReplyDeleteWARriors, yes, you were wrong. That reminds me of the often mispronounced mElk for milk. But CrayONS? I agree with you on that one. You don't specify which son corrected you, but if was the eldest, I may have to agree with him. Crayons seem to make him happy, or at least talkative. I just purchased a new box to keep in my car the other day, and I think more words were said by him than the last few crayonless car journeys combined! Nothing like playing chauffeur to two 13 years olds going on a "date" to go see The Lorax and color on the way home ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd let me say how much we appreciate your willingness to chauffeur, Kelly! And yes, it was Jared who was in the car with Terry and me when the whole "crayons" thing came up. I'm sure he's the most skilled 6-foot-tall colorer you'll ever see.
ReplyDeleteMark: I knew it! What else am I saying wrong?
The world's broadcast news sources look to the great American mid-west as their talent pool for on-line journalists...apparently we speak 'english' with the least amount of regional and dialectic inflection...unlesss of course you are from the Mahoning valley region where you will consistantly mispronounce 'wash' as 'warsh' and 'tomorrow' as 'toomwoirrew'
ReplyDeleteMark: I meant to tell you that that was easily the greatest phonetic rendering of the Mahoning/Pennsylvania pronunciation of "tomorrow" I've ever come across. Well done.
ReplyDelete