[pruh-nuhn-see-ey-shuhn] n.
Let me just preface this by saying that even though I’m about to ask you a series of questions to which I’d appreciate responses peppered with humor, this is NOT the same thing as Casey’s weekly questions. Capiche? And while we’re on this topic, any future bits of fun conversations I take out of context and meld with other conversations to find a bigger meaning are NOT SNIPPETS.
Ahem. Now. Being an English major, I’m probably more apt than others to fixate on the ways people pronounce certain words. I’m also probably more apt to erupt in fits of violence when other peoples’ speech patterns don’t agree with my own. Just out of curiosity:
1) Do you pronounce the “t” in “often?”
2) Do you pronounce the “r” in February?
3) Do you say “sherbert” or “sherbet?”
4) Do you have any friends from Philadelphia who have omitted the preposition “with” from their vocabularies altogether? I.E. instead of saying “I’m done with dinner,” they’ll just say, “I’m done dinner?” Does it drive you crazy? Have you murdered them yet? If so, how? Can you tell that this bothers me??!
5) Are there any other words you pronounce differently from your friends and they give you a lot of flack? For example, sometimes I say “drawring” instead of “drawing.” My college buddies laugh. I also sometimes say “ass hole” instead of “buddy.”
Please answer any of the above questions honestly, and feel free to include an anecdote about any pronunciation-related debacle you’ve endured. Or just write the anecdote. Or don’t write anything at all, see if I care. What I’m really trying to find out here is what that stupid “r” is doing in February.











16 Comments
1. I pronounce the t
2. I don't pronounce the r
3. Sherbert
4. no
5. I don't say anything that my friends give me shit about about but I do have one that drives me fucking nuts. I'm from Kansas City Missouri and I have friends and family that pronounce Missouri with an "A" at the end or I guess you could even say a "UH". So it sounds like miz-zur-uh instead of miz-zur-ee. PISSES ME OFF!!!
1) No.
2) No.
3) I kind of switch, I guess, I'd never really thought about it.
4) No, but that sounds awful.
5) My whole life I've been saying "melk" instead of "milk," and I didn't know there was anything wrong with it until freshman year of college when my friend called me on it. Worst thing about it is he's one of those New England douchebags who refers to sprinkles as "jimmies" and milkshakes (melkshakes?) as "fraps." I hate New England. Bill Belichick is a douchebag and I'm glad his asshole narcissism caused Rodney Harrison to get injured. Sorry, I might have gone off topic there for a second. Melk.
I'm Cuban, so I say Sangwitch instead of Sandwich. Apparently I also capitalize random words for my own amusement.
No
No
Sherbert
I don't have any friends at all
I say the word "room" as "rum" and broom as brum...I don't know what accent it is, I think I just have a speech impediment. And I say "oway" instead of okay. I think it's because I mumble.
By the way, it's flak. Not flack. And frappes are made with ice cream, milkshakes are just milk. Also jimmies only refer to the chocolate sprinkles.
1. I do use the T quite often.
2. I don't think I have ever heard anyone use the first R in February.
3. I say sherbert when sober and sherbet when intoxicated.
4. I knew a kid who always omitted the T from the word picture and that always bothered me. I found out later though that he thought it was spelled picure, and I understood from that point on why he was so stupid.
5. I have friends from Cleveland, and after awhile I started saying some words with their accent like car and bar, which makes me sound like a tool in the eyes of my Cincinnati friends.
1. No
2. No
3. I pronounce it aise kreem
4. No, I don't associate with those people.
5. Sometimes I pronounce "lovely young lady for whom I have nothing but the utmost respect", "skanky ass hoebag".
In other news, I'M SIIIIIIINGLE.
Ladies.
I also used to say "axe" instead of "ask", but I schooled myself out of that one after much mockery.
I also say melk instead of milk.
I am often laughed at for saying al ways instead of allways and i seem to say color with a th sound. This probably is why my parents sent me to spech class as a kid, didnt really help thou
Please take into consideration that I have an Australian/English accent here....
1- Yes
2- Yes I say the R!
3- Sherbert
4- Never come across that, but in Australia, people often ignore the 'th' sound in clothes which fucks me off royally!
5- I have one friend that pronounces satchet as satch-ett which is amusing, the same friend says naw-ing for the word gnawing.
Aaron--I have a good friend from Missouri who shares your grief.
Alex--I'm from New England and that "melk" thing is really annoying. We are officially fighting.
X--I say axe too, yo.
Kate--What is a satchet?
1. No T in often
2. No R in February
3. I say sherbert, but I still think sorbet is the same thing. Am I wrong?
4. People from Philly say "Water Ice" for "Italian Ice." So weird. Of course, I have a mixture of about five accents, so I say things that are completely confusing to 80% of the people I speak with.
5. I used to have a hell of a time saying aluminum and piano. Oh, I sometimes say, "Photograffy" instead of "Photography." Yeah, I can't blame that on head trauma.
1. No T in often.
2. always the r in february...it's there for a reason, right? I know not all letters are pronounced in all words in the english language, which is part of what makes it such a bitch, but I pronounce the r.
3. Sherbet. Once again, if it were supposed to be sherbeRt there would be a fucking r. There's not. You can't just add letters willy nilly whenever you feel like it.
4. There are a few words that supposedly can go either way on pronunciation. Like pecan. It drives me insane to hear someone say pe-can, like as in tin can. I hate that. Treat that a like an o. Otherwise you sound like a hick from Georgia or some other godforsaken backwater state. I'm born and bred Louisiana, like I've got a lot going for me...
1) No
2) No
3) Sherbert
4) No
5) No
Sorry- I meant sachet (my bad)
1. yes
2. yes
3. sherbet
4. no
5.maybe?
also, in certain parts of New England it's a cabinet, not a frappe. Milkshakes are just flavoured milk.
1. 70% off-en, 30% off-ten. depends on the context and who i'm using it around (like, rednecks or intellectuals -- usually the two are mutually exclusive).
2. no
3. sherbert
4. no (only know one person from philly though)
5. i used to say "holme" instead of "home" until my high school friends made fun of me so much i learned to say it right.
1. No
2. No (who says the 'r'...does anyone use the 'd' in Wednesday)
3. Sherbet (slightly faster and easier to say...perfect for those such as myself equipped with simple minds)
4. Only know 3 americans and they're all family who used to be canadian so, no.
5. No, but i mess up song lyrics all the time and for some reason people dont like that
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