Discovering you've been pronouncing a word wrong all your life

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MudMeanderer Oct 2022 9:28pm, 28 Oct 2022 2,311 posts	0 MudMeanderer I used to make a bizarre pronunciation of ethereal, sort of like 'ever-real' spoken with a lisp. At some point I got a bit paranoid about mispronunciation, so always checked the guide in the OED (though never got around to learning IPA). Though English feels like a lucky dip of pronunciation that may or may not in any way resemble the spelling, so I've become slightly less concerned. I'm still always bemused that despite one deriving directly from the other, Quixote and quixotic are said completely differently!
JenHB Oct 2022 9:40pm, 28 Oct 2022 1,114 posts	0 JenHB beckybofwinchester.com
JenHB Oct 2022 9:42pm, 28 Oct 2022 1,115 posts	0 JenHB that's a link to a pronunciation poem
sallykate Oct 2022 9:46pm, 28 Oct 2022 10,565 posts	0 sallykate [One of the odd things about learning Swedish is that there is at least one combination of letters which isn't always pronounced the same. Other languages I've tackled - French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian - are more consistent.]
Old Mum Oct 2022 11:17pm, 28 Oct 2022 172 posts	0 Old Mum I pronounce all of my words correctly thanks to a catholic mother who strictly followed the teachings of her strict nuns (for info, rulers on the knuckles really fucking hurt when you're 7yo!). I still however keep being asked by locals if I'm from Cornwall. I was born in Bolton, raised in the Highlands of Scotland and spent 25 years in Dumfriesshire before moving to Fife 10 years ago. Last visited the Eden Project in 2016. That's as proper hard core close to Cornwall I get. Also have a Swedish step mum and a few German and French speaking Canadian friends and a handful of Polish/Lithuanian friends who have been very patient with me while I fudge their languages. Musculoskeletal is my fail. A problem for me given that I work in health and safety and odd because I worked in NHS for around 12 years.
Steve NordRunner Oct 2022 11:31pm, 28 Oct 2022 2,117 posts	0 Steve NordRunner I'm still not sure about swath and swathe - whether there really were always two words or whether one is from mispronouncing the other and it stuck. I suppose I should google it. [ I did: Proto-Germanic swaþō]
swittle Oct 2022 11:53pm, 28 Oct 2022 91,874 posts	0 swittle that's a link to a pronunciation poem ...and most excellent it is!
leaguefreak Nov 2022 4:09pm, 1 Nov 2022 10,820 posts	0 leaguefreak Oldmum - stick with MSK then. Makes you sound in the know. I can't say anemone. Well, it's more that once i get going I can't stop. It ends up as anemonemonemon... until the kids laughing at me brings me to a halt.
3M (aka MarkyMarkMark) Nov 2022 5:00pm, 1 Nov 2022 19,541 posts	0 3M (aka MarkyMarkMark) leaguefreak, I think that's known as an anemone phenomonadondandonemom.
leaguefreak Nov 2022 5:30pm, 1 Nov 2022 10,823 posts	0 leaguefreak 🤣