Oft-mispronounced words
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well, i was watching a current affairs article on CNA not too long ago, there was this lady who wrote a book about commonly mangled words.. in singapore, that is..
there are a few which are always around.. and some with hilarious results
just like the CEO of GNC just said:
"meal" - "mew"
then the hilarious one..
"third" - "turd"
which brings me to something a lot of singaporeans don't seem to be able to pronounce: TH
"thanks" is not "tanks"
"things" is not "tings"
then the mispronunciation "d" in words..
"food" becomes "foot"
"rude" becomes "root"
"good" becomes "goot"
what others are there out there?
i really need to improve my diction.. it's getting worse by the day
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Oh... I watched that same show when it was broadcasted over CNA too.
Here are my own observations :
There are a handful of folks who cannot pronounce the letter 'v'. For instance, 'van' becomes 'wan', 'vehicle' becomes 'wehicle'.
"Three" becomes "tree".
And "Vase", which should rhyme with 'Base', is very commonly pronounced here as 'V-Arse'.
"Sword" (pronouced 'Sord') becomes "Sword";
"Economic" should be "Air-conomic" but often pronounced "Ee-conomic", because "Economy" is pronounced as "Ee-conomy";
"Photographer" ("Fur-tor-grapher") becomes "Photo-grapher";
"Flour" should be pronounced as "Fl-Our" but we often pronounce it as "Fl-ah";
And this next one I have argued over many a woman over! "Lingerie" (pronounced "Lohn-jer-ray") becomes badly mispronounced as "Linger-ree".
That's all I can recall for now... I'm sure there are more. Will post them as and when I recall t hem. -
it is a "varse"
we're still using the Queen's English..
vase is american pronunciation -
That's the problem with me. Mine's a mixture of both Queen's and American pronunciation.Originally posted by the Bear:it is a "varse"
we're still using the Queen's English..
vase is american pronunciation -
Oh!Originally posted by the Bear:it is a "varse"
we're still using the Queen's English..
vase is american pronunciation
hehehehe! OK, 'V-Arse' then! -
Its usually 'S' that most ppl cant pronounce properly like wind coming out when the teeth meets the toungeOriginally posted by Rhonda:Oh... I watched that same show when it was broadcasted over CNA too.
Here are my own observations :
There are a handful of folks who cannot pronounce the letter 'v'. For instance, 'van' becomes 'wan', 'vehicle' becomes 'wehicle'. -
ant-tee or ant-thigh?
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rhonda
i think urs is mostly american english
i remember the brits pronounce flour as flar, while the american's fl-Our -
I had a lecturer who made me shudder each time she mentioned "Singapore"... she mispronounced it as "Seng-ka-pore"! Aaaaaargh!!!
And oh, way before Boat Quay and Clarke Quay was popular, they were both local delicacies, 'Boat Kueh' and 'Clarke Kueh'! -
I often mix up the words cement and semen
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The famous idiotic principal of ACJC, cant pronounce her words properlyOriginally posted by Rhonda:I had a lecturer who made me shudder each time she mentioned "Singapore"... she mispronounced it as "Seng-ka-pore"! Aaaaaargh!!!
And oh, way before Boat Quay and Clarke Quay was popular, they were both local delicacies, 'Boat Kueh' and 'Clarke Kueh'!
I dont know becomes I donch know
and she has to emphasise it..arghhhh -
Originally posted by I_am_PeTe_Parker:I often mix up the words cement and semen .
How about 'condo' for 'condom'! hehehe! "I wanna live in a condo" is very very different from "I wanna live in a condom". hehehehe! -
po-tay-to or potahtoe?
to-may-to or tomato? -
masterbed room.
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to-mah-to
coz we're using the Queen's English
this word is killing me: DATA...
it's "DAY-TA".. not bloody "DAH-TAH".. it comes from the word Datum or Reference.. -
Depends if you wanna speak Queen's English or American englishOriginally posted by laurence82:po-tay-to or potahtoe?
to-may-to or tomato?
This so reminds me of the song by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong ' Let's call the whole thing off' -
Originally posted by Rhonda:
How about 'condo' for 'condom'! hehehe! "I wanna live in a condo" is very very different from "I wanna live in a condom". hehehehe!
And imagine the embarassment if the lady says "Buy me a condo if you love me" and you go buy a Durex instead and she really meant a condo. -
Lau, I checked the phonetics for the word "Flour" in the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which gives both the British and US pronunciations of words and British or American, the word IS pronounced as "Flower". Interesting.Originally posted by laurence82:rhonda
i think urs is mostly american english
i remember the brits pronounce flour as flar, while the american's fl-Our
Check it out here! -
here's one:
"subtle" - the B is silent.. pronounced "suttle"
also this one..
"often" - the T is silent.. pronounced "offen" -
evil telebanana or devil radiograpefruit?
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Oh, this 'I donch know' is very common.Originally posted by laurence82:The famous idiotic principal of ACJC, cant pronounce her words properly
I dont know becomes I donch know
and she has to emphasise it..arghhhh
You're from ACJC too? -
hahahahahaha!!!Originally posted by I_am_PeTe_Parker:
And imagine the embarassment if the lady says "Buy me a condo if you love me" and you go buy a Durex instead and she really meant a condo. -
yeap...Originally posted by Rhonda:Oh, this 'I donch know' is very common.
You're from ACJC too? 
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A few years back,
"Hey, wanna go and watch the musical, 'Less Miserables'?"
"Huh? Which play? The name again?"
"'Less Miserables'!"
"Ooooh... You meant, 'Les Miserables'?" (pronounced 'Lay Mee-zay-Hable', French 'R' is very heavy and sounds like the 'ach' before you 'pui'! hehehe! )
This one is totally excusable... because it's a foreign language. Just thought it was cute! -
i tot its le mi-se-ral?