Why does almost nobody pronounce these words correctly?

February NOT Febyouerry

Etcetera NOT exsetera

(and of course, Nuclear, NOT nooculler.
I can handle an American "Noo-klee-ur", although of
course Her Majesty's "Nyoo-klee-ur" is more refined.)

Lee K...

She says ''shedule", but not "shool", what's up with that?

Rumpelstiltskin...

I say "skedyool" and "skool", but Ms. Majesty,
I suppose speaks "fa fa fa", not really English.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

rg...

Corn? Korn.
Cool? Kool.

The English language has been butchered.

Sorry about this, but I just heard "exsetera" on the TV
one time too many without having the series broken by
hearing at least one person say "etcetera" in between.

Zip...

Here are some of my pet peeves:
in-DUS-try =IN -dustry
pairk=park
pork=park
pack=park
and one that sends me up the wall, and is common to today's younger
set: did-dint = didn't.

Rumpelstiltskin...

Now with my residual English accent, or at least that's
my excuse, there's no difference in the sound between
"pork" and "park". That may be related to the fact that
I can't master the American pronunciation of "half".

George Z. Bush...

Clearly true.....it doesn't nearly approach your English "hahf" unless, of
course, you happen to be in "Bahston". In England, the "a" in half is
pronounced as we would an "o" as in stop. Do I have an ear for languages, or
what?
(^+^))))))

George Z.

Jean Smith...

Yeah we know. "Red" is a two syllable word around here.

Rumpelstiltskin...

Wow, I'd have had trouble envisioning that except for
Emily's post about the two-syllable pronunciation of "life".
I guess "red" is "reigh-edd", with "eigh" as in "eight"
assuming that "eight" is pronounced the same way
where you are as where I am.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

davesvideo...

That one makes me cringe as well. An alternate pronunciation is
ekcetera. Another annoyance is the supermarket checkout line with the
sign "12 items or less" or the radio contest in "50 words or less". I
did recently hear of a contest of "50 words or fewer", but, that was of
course on NPR.

emily2...

That's one of my pet peeves as well. The same people, many of them on
TV, sometimes refer to "the amount of people who..."

Rumpelstiltskin...

Oh yes, the "or less". I'm somewhat inured to that by now, but
that's just evidence of the decay of my sensibilities due to my
55-year sojourn in the colonies. One of my friends was affronted
by notices that one "must be 18 to enter", because that seemed
to him to mean he couldn't enter because he was thirty-something
rather than 18.

My priggish mnemonic for "fewer" and "less" is "Less salt,
fewer salt grains". I don't know if I've actually lectured anybody
on that, though. I might get punched out, and I might deserve it.

Rita...

This is one of my linguistic pet peeves -- I always catch it when
someone uses these modifiers incorrectly and am amazed at how
many well educated folks do.

AndyS...

Rita, I must keep you in a perpetual state of awe !!!

:>)))) Andy in Eureka

( Y'all take care now, heah ? )

What's with "bonafied"? It sounds like a condition of a male
dog in heat. "Bona Fide" (in good faith) is pronounced
"bohna feeday"

An interesting one is "long-lived", which I was taken by surprise
a few years back to learn should be pronounced with a long "i".
The "lived" comes from "life", not from "live", so it inherits the
long "i" from "life". "Wived" also inherits the long "i" from "wife",
though perhaps "wived" is too rare now to make a good example.

emily2...

Regardless of its origin, it still sounds weird to me when pronounced
correctly. Anyway, "life" doesn't really have a long "i" except in
parts of Tennessee, does it?

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger

I personally would not at all mind living amid the
refined sophisticates of Nyew Yark, but not amid the
barbarous heathens of Noo Yawk.

Anyone who can say "brewery" can say "February".

My sister, when she was about ten years old, used to
check out books from the liberry. I tried to assist her
out of her barbarous pronunciation, but no matter how
often I tried, she persisted in her error. I got the
feeling she persisted just to annoy me though I can't
imagine why anyone would do that. We get along
great now. She has a husband to deal with, which I
suppose makes dealing with a brother seem like a
walk in the park.

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger