I’ve met people like this. They become defensive rather than admit ignorance, even if it makes them sound ridiculous (e.g. people who say “ee-light” instead of “ill-eat”). One called me an “ee-light-ist” for pointing it out.
Regarding the “pronunciation manual” video, it reminds me of early speech synthesizers in the 1980s and 1990s. If a word had different pronunciations, the program only produced the most common sound (e.g. slough like “slew” , wind like “winned”), and most could not produce different syllable stresses (e.g. object, desert). If you wanted a word produced properly, you sometimes had to misspell it (e.g. “whined” for rotation, “dessert” for running away).
Reginald Selkirksays
As well. I suspect it is common in people who read a lot. How many American children would still be thinking of Herm-ee-ohn Granger if the Harry Potter series hadn’t been turned into movies?
Reginald Selkirksays
One recent example for me: Keynesian economics. I always thought that it sounded somewhat like Polynesian.
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Those wigs are hideous.
Mano Singhamsays
Not just children. I too thought that was how Hermione was pronounced until I saw the films.
More than once I’ve mispronounced a word which I’d read but never heard spoken.
That’s why we must be thankful for Pronunciation manual.
I’ve met people like this. They become defensive rather than admit ignorance, even if it makes them sound ridiculous (e.g. people who say “ee-light” instead of “ill-eat”). One called me an “ee-light-ist” for pointing it out.
Regarding the “pronunciation manual” video, it reminds me of early speech synthesizers in the 1980s and 1990s. If a word had different pronunciations, the program only produced the most common sound (e.g. slough like “slew” , wind like “winned”), and most could not produce different syllable stresses (e.g. object, desert). If you wanted a word produced properly, you sometimes had to misspell it (e.g. “whined” for rotation, “dessert” for running away).
As well. I suspect it is common in people who read a lot. How many American children would still be thinking of Herm-ee-ohn Granger if the Harry Potter series hadn’t been turned into movies?
One recent example for me: Keynesian economics. I always thought that it sounded somewhat like Polynesian.
.
Those wigs are hideous.
Not just children. I too thought that was how Hermione was pronounced until I saw the films.
Non-parody pronunciation dictionary
Thanks! That is very useful and I have bookmarked it.
There was a bar in a small town I used to live in called “The Elite.” Its name was pronounced ee-lite even by people who knew better.