Things Americans Say Wrong

This is a list of my personal pet peeves regarding people’s pronunciation of certain phrases here in the States. Note that this is not making fun of regional accents or speech impediments. Instead, these are true misunderstandings of what each phrase is supposed to be.

a whole other… Not “a whole ‘nother…”
abercrombie Not “ambercrombie”
across Not “acrost” or “acrossed”
addictive Not “addicting,” when used as an adjective.
all I did was… Not “all’s I did was…”
all of a sudden… Not “all of the sudden…”
alumni This is often mistaken as the singular form of itself. The correct form is alumnus for singular masculine, alumna for singular feminine, alumnae for plural feminine, and alumni for masculine or generic plural.
Alzheimer’s disease (ALTS-heim-ers) Not “old-timer’s disease”
Antarctica Not “Antartica”
anticlimactic Not “anticlimatic”
anyway Not “anyways”
as best as you can Not “as best you can” (pronoun may vary). Even more appropriate would be “as well as you can.”
as long as Not “so long as”
as opposed to Not “as oppose to.” This one is fairly subtle, since even in the correct pronunciation, the “d” is almost inaudible. However, many people do indeed consciously and audibly omit the “d.”
ask Not “axe.”
asterisk (AS-te-risk) Not “asterix” (AS-te-riks). This error is made frequently by low-ranking office employees or people who are beginning to learn computer terminology.
based on Not “based off of”
beck and call Not “beckon call”
better than the last Sometimes, to express pleasure toward something, someone might incorrectly say, “every day is better than the next,” or “every bite is tastier than the next,” and so on. If you think about this carefully, you’ll realize that these are actually negative statements. When a person says, “every day is better than the next,” it is equivalent to saying, “every day is worse than the previous.” The person is essentially implying that every day since the beginning has been getting progressively worse. The correct phrase, therefore, should be, “every day is better than the last.”
biceps Not “bicep.” The singular of biceps is still biceps.
boisterous Not “voice-terous”
bystander Not “by-standard”
calculate Not “caculate.”
cavalry Not “calvary.” Of course, if you’re referring to the place outside of Jerusalem, then you’re fine.
card sharp Not “card shark.” A reader contributes: “When someone is good at shooting pool or playing cards, they are sharp. Therefore, they are a ‘pool sharp’ or a ‘card sharp.’ They are not sharks as in ‘pool sharks’ or ‘card sharks.'”
chipotle (chi-POT-lay) Everyone seems to have their own pronunciation of this word. Most commonly, however, people mispronounce it by saying “chipolte” (chi-POL-tay), or “chipote” (chi-PO-tay), omitting the “l” altogether, or even “chipottle” (rhymes with “bottle”). The word itself has its origins in the Aztec language Nahuatl, where the “tl” sound was very common. It is derived from the words chil (chile), and pochilli (to smoke).
comeuppance Not “comeuppins”
couldn’t care less Not “could care less.” When you think about it, to say “I could care less” really means that you actually do care about something, and it’s possible for you to care less about it. It is more appropriate to say “I couldn’t care less” to indicate that you have reached the rock bottom of carelessness about something.
Darth Vader Not “Dark Vader”! Yes, I’ve seriously heard people say that!
data The word data is plural. Therefore it is inappropriate to use a phrase like “this data.” It is more appropriate to say “these data.” The singular form of the word is datum.
daylight saving time Not “daylight savings time”
drivel / dribble Dribble is what one does with a basketball. Drivel is worthless or nonsensical language.
drowned Not “drownded”
enormity The word enormity refers to excessive evil or wickedness. It does not, however, refer to general excessive size. For that, the preferred term would be enormousness.
espresso Not “expresso.” I mean, come on.
et cetera Not “exetera.” Commonly abbreviated “etc.,” this is literally the Latin words et, meaning “and,” and cetera, meaning “the rest.” When spelled out, this is two words, not one.
exact revenge Not “extract revenge.”
fateful day Not “faithful day”
founder Not “flounder.” Founder is what a ship does when it collides with something and sinks in the water. Flounder is a kind of fish.
for all intents and purposes Not “for all intensive purposes”
hair’s breadth Some believe that this metaphor is actually “hare’s breath.”
heart-rending Not “heart-rendering”
height Not “heighth”
hertz This applies to the singular form of the unit, which is still hertz. Some people mistakenly say, “1 hert.”
horseradish Not “horsh-radish”
hunger pangs Not “hunger pains”
I’d just as soon… Not “I’d just assume…” An example phrase might be, “I’d just as soon not go to the park today.”
I’m not sure Not “I’m not for sure”
I’ve seen Not “I seen”
in other words Not “another words”
infinitesimal Not “infintesimal”
instant messaging Not “instant messenging”
integral Not “intregal”
inverse square law Not “invert square law”
jewelry Not “jewlery”
jury rig Not “jerry rig”
kielbasa (kil-BA-sa) For some reason, this is commonly mispronounced “kielbasi” (kil-BA-see)
lackadaisical Not “laxadaisical”
laundromat Not “laundrymat”
let it be Not “leave it be”
library Not “libery”
lie / lay These two are a constant source of confusion. Here are some correct uses of the words, so pay close attention: Lie down, Sally. Are you lying down? I lay there when Frank entered the room. I had lain there all morning. Lay those papers on my desk. You laid down the precious jewels with care. Our hens had laid many eggs that week. One of them is laying an egg right now.
literature Not “litature”
mano a mano In Spanish, this literally means “hand to hand.” However, many Americans incorrectly pronounce it as “mano y mano,” which would mean “hand and hand.”
mayonnaise Not “man-aise”
memento Not “momento”
menstruation Not “menstration”
mischievous (MIS-chee-vus) Not “mischievious” (mis-CHEE-vee-us).
moot point Not “mute point”
myrrh / mirth Myrrh is an aromatic gift brought by the Three Kings for Jesus from the Christian folk myth. Mirth means amusement, as expressed in laughter.
nauseated Not “nauseous.” A reader contributes: “Too often I hear people who are sick to their stomach say “I am nauseous” rather than “I am nauseated.” Saying “I am nauseous” means that I cause OTHERS to feel sick to THEIR stomachs.”
nuclear (NEW-clee-ar) Often disgustingly mispronounced as “nucular” (NOO-kyoo-lar). I still cringe when remembering George W. Bush say “nucular” in his speeches.
nunchucks Not “numchucks.” A reader contributes: “Nunchaku is technically correct. However in English usage it is acceptable to use nunchucks, but not in Martial Arts usage or Japanese.”
off Not “off of,” as in “get off me” or “peel the sticker off the box.”
olfactory Not “old factory”
on one hand… Not “on the one hand…”
one and the same Not “one in the same”
orangutan Not “orangutang”
overexaggerate Just “exaggerate” is enough.
parenthesis One of these “(” is a parenthesis (as opposed to parentheses, which is plural)
phenomenon The word phenomena is plural. Therefore it is inappropriate to use phenomena when speaking of a single phenomenon.
pieces and parts Not “pieces parts.” For some reason, this is catching on at an alarming rate.
powers that be Not “powers to be”
prescription Not “perscription”
pronunciation Not “pronounciation”
realty/realtor Not “real-a-ty” / “real-a-tor”
regardless Not “irregardless”
regimen / regiment A regimen is a schedule for dieting or taking medicine. A regiment is a military unit.
relevant Not “revelant”
repercussions Not “reprocussions”
rhombus Not “rhumbus”
sacrilegious Not “sacreligious.” It has nothing to do with “religion.”
sherbet Not “sherbert”
sidetracked Not “sidetracted”
statute of limitations Not “statue of limitations.” To quote Jerry Seinfeld, “Fine, it’s a sculpture of limitations!”
strength Not “strenth”
supposedly Not “supposably”
sustenance Not “substenance”
take for granted Not “take for granite”
tangent Not “side tangent.” Just tangent is enough.
tenet Not “tenant”
that’s not fair Not “that’s no fair”
touch base with… Not “touch bases with…”
triathlon Not “triathalon.” Also applies to biathlon, tetrathlon, pentathlon, etc. Even the word athlete is sometimes mispronounced “ath-a-lete.”
utmost Not “upmost”
verbiage Not “verbage”
vertebra The word vertebrae is plural and should not be used as the singular.
vice versa Not “vice-a-versa.”
voluptuous Not “volumptuous”
warranty Not “warrantee.” It should not sound like “guarantee.”
wheelbarrow Not “wheel barrel”
where are you? Not “where are you at?” and certainly not “where you at?”
whole gamut Not “whole gambit”
width Not “wi’th”
would have Not “would of”
wreak havoc Not “wreck havoc”
yin/yang Not “ying/yang”