More Mispronounced Words

by Arlene Miller, The Grammar Diva

Here we go with Part 3 of commonly mispronounced words: L through R 

Here are Part 1 and Part 2 if you didn’t read them.

Liable –This word has three syllables and in legal terms means obligated. Libel has two syllables and is a defamatory statement.

Library –An oldie but goodie! It is a little hard to put in that first R, But it isn’t liberry.

Mauve– This is a purplish color and it does not rhyme with stove. The au is  pronounced like the o in odd and like the au in slaughter.

Meme– Invented by a British scientist in 1976, it rhymes with seem, and is not pronounced mee-mee, may-may or mem.

Mischievous – This is my pet peeve of mispronunciation. It is neither spelled nor pronounced as  mis-CHEE-vee-us. The word has three syllables. There is no I in the last syllable, and the accent is on the first syllable. So many people pronounce this incorrectly and tell me I am wrong when I tell them so. Rachel Maddow pronounced it wrong on her show this past week, and I almost blew a gasket.

Niche – It comes from the French. Some people (wrongly) go for a French sound and say ni-chay. Others go for a super Anglican pronunciation and say nitch. The preferred pronunciation is neesh in most dictionaries. However, nitch has become so common, it is preferred by other dictionaries.

Often – Pronouncing the t is officially a no-no, according to Merriam-Webster.

Nuclear  –Another oldie but goodie. At least four presidents (Bush, Clinton, Carter and Eisenhower) have messed it up and said nucular. Switching the adjacent sounds is a linguistic phenomenon called metathesis.

Prelude – The first syllable doesn’t sound like pray. The correct pronunciation is prel-yood.

Pronunciation– I think this is a weird one. The verb is to pronounce. However, when it becomes a noun, the o gets left out.

Regime – Doesn’t sound like RUH-geem. The correct pronunciation is RAY-geem.

Want to brush up on your grammar? Check out my books on amazon or goodreads.

A Special Mother’s Day Post

BY ARLENE MILLER, The Grammar Diva

Motherhood: All love begins and ends there – Robert Browning, English poet, 1812–1889

Whether it’s Mother’s Day, Mothers Day, or Mothers’ Day (it appears to be Mother’s Day), welcome to our annual Mother’s Day post. Some facts about Mother’s Day: 1 Mother’s Day is celebrated on various days and in many parts of the world—most commonly in the months of March or May. For example, in Egypt, Mother’s Day is celebrated on March 21, the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. 2 In the United States, the celebration of Mother’s Day began in the early 20th century. 3 In 1908, the U.S. Congress rejected a proposal to make Mother’s Day an official holiday. 4 By the early 1920s, Hallmark Cards and other companies had started selling Mother’s Day cards. 5 By 1925, carnations had become associated with Mother’s Day, and the American War Mothers raised money by selling carnations. Wearing a colored carnation meant that a person’s mother was living. A white carnation indicated that a person’s mother was deceased. 6 In 2015, 26.4 was the average age in the United States for first-time mothers. 7 In its early days, people observed Mother’s Day by going to church and writing letters to their mothers. 8 More people purchase fresh flowers and plants for Mother’s Day than for any other holiday except Christmas and Chanukah. 9 In 2018, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that U.S. consumers will spend $23.1 billion celebrating Mother’s Day. 10 Each shopper will spend an average of $180 on Mom. 11 Most consumers will give cards (77%) and flowers (69%) to their mothers or take her out to eat (55%) in 2018, but more money will be spent on jewelry ($4.6 billion) than any other category, according to the Retail Foundation. 12 According to the Insure.com 2017 Mother’s Day Index, the various tasks moms perform at home would be worth $67,619 (up from $65,523 in 2016) a year in the professional world.