Meryl's Notes Blog

Re: Mispronunciations that make you sound stupid. I have to rely on my knowledge of English words and derivatives when pronouncing a word for the first time or one that rarely comes up that I never remember how it’s pronounced. Some of these words do indeed make a person sound obtuse when they’re mispronounced, but “stupid” is a little much. Then again, “stupid” probably catches people’s eyes so they read the rest of the article.

Check out the comments that follow — fun conversation. One mentions the use of “library” as “liberry.” Anything with an “R” in it is a nightmare for me including my own name. Gee, should I drop the R and change my name to Mel? Not after 30-plus years with this name.

Paul and I discussed the pronunciation of anemone as it came up while reading a children’s book. I don’t recall how I got started in pronouncing it like “anyone” with an “m” in the middle — the correct way sounds like “enemy” (any-monay).

NPR had a style guide that included how to pronounce certain words, but I can’t locate it. Voice of America has a big pronunciation guide.

I avoid correcting people (unless it’s one of my kids) for two reasons: (1) I could be wrong (I was wrong about forte’), and (2) politeness. Want to share a couple of frequent errors:

Irregardless — forget the word. It doesn’t exist.

Most people say, “I could care less” when they don’t give a whit about something. Actually, this leaves room for caring a little less. Therefore, you really “couldn’t care less.”

Ah, English. Love it. Hate it. Did anyone benefit from diagramming sentences in school? I didn’t.

Past entries on pronunciations.