Sunday, May 22, 2011

Enunciation. The Difference Between.

I do apologize for the lack of updates in the last long while. Blame end-of-school-year projects. I'll try to manage my time better though, so hopefully you'll see some more goings-ons in the near future.

Language Complications ~ Part 13

So you know what annoys me? Bad pronunciation.

Don't get it?
Allow me to explain.

So the other day, a group of people came to my school to celebrate the birthday of the famous person that my school was named after. They made this hugely long speech about how this person was kind, generous, and giving, and how, as a doctor, he saved the lives of many.
Nothing wrong with that, right?

However, every time he used the word "Selfless", what came out was "Selfish".


I mean, I understand the whole problem with accents (goodness, even I have one) and I give props to the speaker for trying, but no matter how much you try to keep these things from getting to you, it's really hard to ignore.
Especially since he kept repeating the phrase throughout his speech.
For the record, the principal was wearing rather uncomfortable heels, and kept wincing throughout the ceremony, particularly whenever "Selfless" came up in the speech.

26 letters in the english alphabet
Half a billion ways to get them wrong...
Intense, isn't it?
Of course, everyone makes mistakes, and the speaker was probably somewhat stressed as well (English wasn't his first language), so you can't blame the poor guy, but it did put him in a rather awkward spot and really brought down the temperature in the room. In the end, the only reason why the result was as bad as it was was because his mispronunciation gave way to an entirely different (and rather negative) word (this whole sentence is a grammar horror...to many "was"es).

What about you? Have you any words you're constantly mispronouncing? Did they ever cause you any trouble?

I have this thing was the "ch" sound. For example, instead of pronouncing "Chemical" the right way ("kenmecal') I use ("CHEN-mical"). Luckily for me, most of my friends seem to know what I'm talking about, and the only person who got confused was my science teacher. Still, it was somewhat embarrassing when I found out I was pronouncing it wrong all those years.

Today's Surroundings: Sunlight. Lots and Lots of Sunlight
Today's Object: Flower Petals
Today's Color:  Cream

PS: Today's title sounds like it could be a quality movie with deep thoughts about what goes on beyond normal everyday life (or something). Would you watch it?

12 comments:

  1. My best friend's name is Jesse, and I have the hardest time trying to prounouncr his name, but that's probably just because of my braces. XD
    Also, I'd like to say I really like your blog:)

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  2. @ Dustin
    Ahh, names :) I always thought "Anne" was pronounced as "Annie" because of the E at the end. Luckily, I never met an Anne, but when we were reading Anne of Green Gables in class, well, you can imagine what happened.

    Thanks for reading! XD

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  3. Hi - I am really happy to find this. cool job!

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  4. @Anonymous
    Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed my blog!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hey your blog is really good and I'm using at as example of a blog in my englush project- from someone who lives in England

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  6. haha i know a million people who pronounce 'pronunciation' wrong.
    and i had the Anne/Annie issue with Anne Frank too. x)

    http://lets-make-believe.blogspot.com/

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  7. @Anonymous
    I'm honored :) Good luck on that project!

    @Starlit Mushrooms
    Yeah, people go crazy over the big words.
    Haha, glad to know I'm not alone on the Anne-Annie issue (now I know I'm not crazy!) :P

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  8. loving the blog ! :)

    http://lovingvintageretro.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  9. It's nails on a chalk board when I hear someone I know use "perfumate" (per fume ate) instead of permeate.

    He's one of those, 'I know everything' types, so instead of gently correcting him, I stiffle an aggressive giggle each time he says it.

    ...Yes. I'm a baaaaaaad person. ;D

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  10. @BigBrownGirl

    Perfumate? I must say I've never heard this version before! Skin that is extremely permeable to perfume, perhaps?
    Haha, I think he's onto something incredible. A new invention, perhaps. You'll never know ;D

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  11. Just found this blog...I'm staying...:)

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  12. hey ur blog is very nice!!in india as well pronunciation is a hell lot of a problem..u exprssed well !

    ReplyDelete

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