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More on Misspoken or Mispronounced Words and Phrases
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A few weeks back we explored words and phrases that can sabotage our
communication—and our perceived persuasion—by being
mispronounced or misspoken. The article inspired thoughtful feedback and additional entries from readers who likewise monitor the proper use of English.
What follows are two items from our current list that were questioned, as
well as more words and phrases to watch out for.
Contested Entries
Forte to mean “strength” or “talent,” correctly
pronounced fort, often mispronounced as for-tay.
Responses both supported and opposed this entry. Observations in favor
distinguished the French forte (silent e: fort) meaning
“strong” from the Italian forte (FOR-tay) meaning
“loud.” In this case, pronunciation communicates definition,
reinforcing our stance that forte to mean “talent” or
“strength” in American English maintains the silent e.
The opposition pointed out that forte has no satisfactory
pronunciation in American English. While acknowledging the difference
between the word’s French and Italian uses, some linguistic purists
will also point out the accurate pronunciation of the French forte
is for—the t and the e are both silent.
Another reader further noted that the Merriam-Webster dictionary allows for
pronunciation of forte as either fort or for-tay.
After weighing the feedback and evidence, our stance is that try as we
might to define and uphold a single proper usage, forte will vary
in pronunciations that may not form a majority. If they do, the most
prominent form in American English will likely tilt toward for-tay with the
accent on either the first or the second syllable or no accent at all.
Niche to mean “suitable position, distinct market segment”; correctly
pronounced nich, often mispronounced as neesh.
Similar to the counterclaims concerning forte, opposing
observation cites the pronunciation of this French word meaning
“recess, alcove” as neesh or, in some cases, neesh-uh.
While we recognize the word’s source and original treatment, we are
most interested in American English pronunciation and usage. Within that
context, most of our office dictionaries, as well as those we checked
online, list the pronunciation nich. A few allow for neesh as a secondary
pronunciation, which is more popular in British English than in American.
Added Entries
Our readers identified these other misspoken or mispronounced words and
phrases:
| Word or Phrase (Glitch: S=misspoken, P=mispronounced) |
Correct Treatment |
| brother/sister-in-laws (S) |
brothers/sisters-in-law |
| physical (relating to financial matters) (S) |
fiscal (FIS-kuhl) |
| I could care less. (S) |
I couldn’t care less. |
| irregardless (S) |
regardless |
| jewelry (P) |
JOO-uhl-ree not JOO-ler-ee |
| library (P) |
LIE-brer-ee not LIE-bare-ee |
| Old Timers’ Disease (S) |
Alzheimer’s disease |
| prostrate disease (S) |
prostate disease |
| frigerator (S) |
refrigerator |
| salmon (P) |
SAM-uhn not SAL-muhn |
| verse (to mean opposed to, in conflict with) (S) |
versus |
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We also received references to words with two apparent schools of
pronunciation: era (EER-uh or AIR-uh) and often (OFF-en
or OFF-tun). As with forte and niche, here we have
diction that may be proper and common to some but not accepted by others.
Furthermore, dictionaries provide one pronunciation or the other (or both)
for each word. As we’ve noted before, our stance is that we’ll
stick with OFF-en while designating OFF-tun as a
hypercorrection
.
We also conclude that this topic inspires us to refer to multiple
dictionaries when we’re uncertain of how to say a word correctly.
Doing so opens us all to different points of view and helps us determine
which pronunciation suits our sense of accuracy, as well as our style of
usage.
We’ll remain on the lookout for other words and phrases that can
interfere with articulate writing and speaking. We encourage you to
continue doing the same!
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