Anonymous
05/24/2026 22:11
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
I can never pronounce "mausoleum" correctly.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 20:43
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Mischievous - I pronounced wrong for years until someone pointed it out. I have since heard several famous people like Julia Roberts pronounce it wrong as well...made me feel a little better.
No there are multiple, acceptable, explanations.
Mis-CHIV-is
And Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us
I do not think you are correct re the second pronunciation. “Vous” just doesn’t have a long “e” sound.
From Webster,
Mischievous vs. Mischievious: Usage Guide
A pronunciation \mis-ˈchē-vē-əs\ and a consequent spelling mischievious are of long standing: evidence for the spelling goes back to the 16th century. Our pronunciation files contain modern attestations ranging from dialect speakers to Herbert Hoover. But both the pronunciation and the spelling are still considered nonstandard.
Sometimes alt spellings and pronunciations do make it into the acceptable use just from sheer popular force. That's how languages evolve. But Webster is not ceding on this one. Yet.
Thanks for the cite! I can’t imagine that “mischievous” is used often enough in spoken language that the people who mispronounce it as “ Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us” will ever prevail, but at least they can take comfort in knowing that others have been making the same mistake for centuries.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 10:42
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:There's a guy I work with that says attribute wrong and noone has corrected him either (although everyone else says it correctly).
He says A-tribute like he's talking about hunger games instead of at-tribute.
The word "attribute" is pronounced differently if you're using it as a noun or a verb. The emphasis is on the first syllable when used as a noun. When used a verb, the emphasis is on the second syllable.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 09:28
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Oh well. It’s probably not a word you use often.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 09:26
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:How do you say "niche"?
I always avoid saying that word allowed
neesh
*aloud
No way really??? I heard it pronounced “nitch” on TV the other day and assumed I’d been saying it wrong . Because I don’t actually know.
I just Googled it and "nitch" is the Americanized version that was most common up through the 20th C, and "neesh" is more British/Canadian/Int'l (and now social media, apparently). It vindicates my belief that I've heard it as "nitch" for almost my entire life (born 1978), but my teenaged daughters were trying to convince/gaslight me the other day that "neesh" is and has always ever been the only correct pronunciation and "nitch" is just flat out wrong. Not exactly true.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/niche
If you want to stick close to the original French word, it's neesh. Which is why the UK and Canada pronounce it like that.
Not sure about Canada but the UK anglicizes a lot of French just to be ornery. 100 years war and all that.
Think filet, duvet, garage, Beauchamp, etc.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 09:24
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Mischievous - I pronounced wrong for years until someone pointed it out. I have since heard several famous people like Julia Roberts pronounce it wrong as well...made me feel a little better.
No there are multiple, acceptable, explanations.
Mis-CHIV-is
And Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us
I do not think you are correct re the second pronunciation. “Vous” just doesn’t have a long “e” sound.
From Webster,
Mischievous vs. Mischievious: Usage Guide
A pronunciation \mis-ˈchē-vē-əs\ and a consequent spelling mischievious are of long standing: evidence for the spelling goes back to the 16th century. Our pronunciation files contain modern attestations ranging from dialect speakers to Herbert Hoover. But both the pronunciation and the spelling are still considered nonstandard.
Sometimes alt spellings and pronunciations do make it into the acceptable use just from sheer popular force. That's how languages evolve. But Webster is not ceding on this one. Yet.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 09:18
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I thought biopic was bi- OPIC instead of BI-oh-pic.
This is actually changing though I prefer the older pronunciation
Good point. Why is it Bi-O-graphy for writing
and not Bi-O-picture for viewing?
If we need to be consistent, I prefer
BIO-graph
BIO-pic
Anonymous
05/24/2026 09:16
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I will never, ever forgive my mother for laughing at me (aged maybe 10-12) when I said epitome as epi-tome instead of eh-PIT-toe-mee. She tried to backpedal, saying it was an indication that I was a reader, and that's a good thing... but she laughed at me.
You sound odd. Kids mispronounce things all the time and adults laugh at that all the time. Nothing to hold a grudge against your own mother for. My 10 year sometimes still says Pacific instead of specific and we laugh at her and correct her.
You’re an athole for laughing at people. Including a 10 year old.
+1
You can think it's cute but you never laugh. You relate to it because we all did it.
I was going over resumé building with my 6th graders as an informative sidequest and they earnestly asked about "resooms" -I would never laugh at that. How would they know this word even with the accent (and it is often dropped in print!). Instead I praise them for their phonetic skills because that's what they are doing, talk about it with the correct pronunciation and maybe discuss word origin.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 08:39
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I thought biopic was bi- OPIC instead of BI-oh-pic.
What? You're wrong. It's bi-OP-ic
Well, actually, I'm wrong and I stand corrected. Why does the media get this wrong so much? I've heard this word a lot and I've never heard it pronounced BIO-pic (short biographical picture)
Anonymous
05/24/2026 08:38
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Mischievous - I pronounced wrong for years until someone pointed it out. I have since heard several famous people like Julia Roberts pronounce it wrong as well...made me feel a little better.
No there are multiple, acceptable, explanations.
Mis-CHIV-is
And Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us
Nope. I remember an elementary school teacher specifically mentioning your second version as wrong. There's nothing in the third syllable to add the EEE sound but it's a common error. Your first example is just weird and I have never heard it pronounced that way.
I was at the library yesterday and wanted to ask where to find John Le Carre (not in mystery section, not in fiction, how they they have zero Le Carre books???) but to be save I looked up the pronunciation on my phone because I've never known what it is.
But it's BI opic and not bi OP ic? I had no idea! So, like biomom? I think the other way sounds better.
I mean, who cares what one random dumb elementary (!) teacher in America says about how you pronounce a word?
How do you pronounce the word thieves?
Anonymous
05/24/2026 08:36
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Mischievous - I pronounced wrong for years until someone pointed it out. I have since heard several famous people like Julia Roberts pronounce it wrong as well...made me feel a little better.
No there are multiple, acceptable, explanations.
Mis-CHIV-is
And Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us
I do not think you are correct re the second pronunciation. “Vous” just doesn’t have a long “e” sound.
No. I’m not wrong.
DP. You are wrong. The correct pronunciation is MIS chi vus
https://writingexplained.org/mischievous-or-mischievious-spelling
Thanks for this! I was wrong.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 08:34
Subject: My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:
I'm French and there are so many English words I don't pronounce correctly, despite being a bookworm and extremely well-read in classic English literature (mostly British). It also took many years for me to switch to American spellings, since I learned English in the UK.
All the words that the US has in common with France I risk pronouncing in the French way
Continuité: con-ti-nu-i-té or con-tee-nuu-ee-tay
Niche, French word: nee-shh. Not nitch.
I used to pronounce segue as see-g (hard g sound). My bad. Not a French word!
Niche is definitely pronounced neesh, all around the world. Only uneducated Americans pronounce it as nitch and everyone shakes their heads internally. It’s the same group who says things like “he got bit”.
Anonymous
05/24/2026 08:34
Subject: Re:My whole life I’ve said continuity as “continue-uh-tee” when it’s “con-tuh-new-uh-tee”?!
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Mischievous - I pronounced wrong for years until someone pointed it out. I have since heard several famous people like Julia Roberts pronounce it wrong as well...made me feel a little better.
No there are multiple, acceptable, explanations.
Mis-CHIV-is
And Mis-CHEEV-EEE-us
Nope. I remember an elementary school teacher specifically mentioning your second version as wrong. There's nothing in the third syllable to add the EEE sound but it's a common error. Your first example is just weird and I have never heard it pronounced that way.
I was at the library yesterday and wanted to ask where to find John Le Carre (not in mystery section, not in fiction, how they they have zero Le Carre books???) but to be save I looked up the pronunciation on my phone because I've never known what it is.
But it's BI opic and not bi OP ic? I had no idea! So, like biomom? I think the other way sounds better.
Your teacher was wrong.