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.
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