Names which you mispronounced for years, before eventually realising...

diplodocus For about 10 years I've pronounced it

Dip-low-dough-cus

Found out last week upon visiting the Natural History Museum. :facepalm:

Reply 781

Cualquier

Penelope! - Read a whole book calling her, Peenie lope. Until my mum nearly wet herself when i told her what the book was about :s

Reply 782

WhyAmIHere?

John, i used to say "joe-on" hahaha

Reply 783

Left Hand Drive

18

Che! I had never heard anyone else say it. I had only read it. I though it was Ch-e instead of 'shay'

Reply 784

allthelove

8

Original post by Danf159

Pretty sure my pronunciations here are wrong.

Peugeot as per-jo
Porsche as por-shay
renault as re-nolt
Keynes (as in John Maynard Keynes) as key-nees

I say Peugeot like Pu-ge-ot. Haha.

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 785

paulmch

It's not something I do, but I hate it when people call me "Pol" or "Pole" instead of "Paul"!

Reply 786

vienulo

I used to think:
"Lesotho" was "LEH-soh-thoh" instead of "li-ZOO-too".
Niger was "NIGH-jer" instead of "nee-ZHAIR"
archipelago as "AR-chippy-lah-go" instead of "ar-kee-PE-la-goh"

Does anyone think of the company Braun as "Bra-unn" instead of "Brown" or "Brawn" (probably because of the larger A in the logo)? I did until I heard an advert haha :tongue:

Reply 787

Amy_505

I pronounced Isla as it's spelt up until about a month ago when my friend went 'It's ILA!'
Embarrassing at 19...

Reply 788

manchesterunited15

everything irish :colonhash:

Niamh - Neev
Caiomhe -Keevah
Siobhan - Shivawn
:angry:

Surely it should be Nigh-am-huh, Kay-oh-me and Sigh-ob-han :colondollar:

Reply 789

DotComBoom

3

Siobhan.

I always said it how it looked. Even though I was constantly corrected, I could never quite remember how to pronounce it.

Reply 790

StarsAreFixed

13

Original post by manchesterunited15

everything irish :colonhash:

Niamh - Neev
Caiomhe -Keevah
Siobhan - Shivawn
:angry:

Surely it should be Nigh-am-huh, Kay-oh-me and Sigh-ob-han :colondollar:

Why should it? These names are all in Irish, and they make perfect sense to people who speak it. They make NO sense whatsoever in English or to English-speakers, but then, they weren't meant to and it is a very different language. Not to get on my high horse or anything but if you were looking at Native American names for example you wouldn't be too surprised if you couldn't pronounce them and you would not suggest they should be spelled phonetically to suit you. I understand that Irish names have travelled fairly extensively to the UK but the principle is the same. You can show me an Irish name I've never heard before and I will still pronounce it correctly. It depends on your knowledge of the language which will be zero in the UK.

Also, Caoimhe is a big victim of becoming popular abroad. Its correct pronunciation is Kwee-vah, not kee-vah, but the w is always lost in the UK! :biggrin:

When there was a Big Brother contestant with that name and the narrator was saying 'KEEEEEvah is in the kitchen' I was all ehh what, what have they done to her name...

Reply 791

StarsAreFixed

13

Original post by DotComBoom

Siobhan.

I always said it how it looked. Even though I was constantly corrected, I could never quite remember how to pronounce it.

This name seems to cause the greatest difficulty (It is shuv-awn by the way). There are plenty that are far harder and much more incomprehensible-looking but they're nowhere near as popular as Aoife, Niamh and Siobhán abroad. Give a go at Sadhbh, Meadhbh, Caoilfhionn, Béibhinn, Gráinne and Oisínn.. :biggrin:

Spoiler....rhymes with I've, rhymes with wave, keel-in, bay-vin, grawn-yah and ush-een

Reply 792

lothiriel

9

Carlisle. *hangs head in shame* I thought it was pronounced like "Car-lee-sleh" I didn't think that it was isle like island.

Reply 793

Tackla

14

Original post by sammy-lou

same, literally until I was about 13

You are a lass so you knew it when you were 13. I didnt know until few months back lol. :wink:

Reply 794

sammy-lou

16

Original post by Tackla

You are a lass so you knew it when you were 13. I didnt know until few months back lol. :wink:

Haha yeah I suppose it's not a word that finds its way in to a mans vocabulary very much!

Reply 795

lelikins

I always thought Lois was pronounced loice, as in rhymes with voice :L

Reply 796

manchesterunited15

Original post by StarsAreFixed

Why should it? These names are all in Irish, and they make perfect sense to people who speak it. They make NO sense whatsoever in English or to English-speakers, but then, they weren't meant to and it is a very different language. Not to get on my high horse or anything but if you were looking at Native American names for example you wouldn't be too surprised if you couldn't pronounce them and you would not suggest they should be spelled phonetically to suit you. I understand that Irish names have travelled fairly extensively to the UK but the principle is the same. You can show me an Irish name I've never heard before and I will still pronounce it correctly. It depends on your knowledge of the language which will be zero in the UK.

Also, Caoimhe is a big victim of becoming popular abroad. Its correct pronunciation is Kwee-vah, not kee-vah, but the w is always lost in the UK! :biggrin:

When there was a Big Brother contestant with that name and the narrator was saying 'KEEEEEvah is in the kitchen' I was all ehh what, what have they done to her name...