Words That Make You Wonder

[BabyGirl]

[color=deeppink]Does anyone have words in the English language that always trip them up? There are many, many words that I know the meaning of but fail to know the correct pronunciation.

[b]Van Nuys[/b] -- Who names a city this? They could have at least done the rest of us a favor and spelled it Van Eyes.

[b]Ethereal[/b] -- Heck, I don't even know what this one MEANS. I can pronounce it now, but the meaning is still beyond me.

[b]Epitome[/b] -- Doesn't everyone want to look at this and say "ep-it-ohm"? One of my friends said it that way and it was funny. But I suppose that's just because I know the meaning [i]and[/i] the correct way to say this one.

[b]Jinzouningen17[/b] -- I still can't get your name right :p

What about everyone else? Am I the only one with this sort of trouble?[/color]

[klinanime1]

Ethereal. It means ghostly, spectral. Of another world. Ether, meaning air or the heavens, and real meaning, well, real. Unnatural. ^-^ Yeah, there are words that trip me up too. Can't think of one right now... But that's because I haven't taken the words apart to discover the roots.

[Dan L]

"Deus Ex Machina"

When it's all one word like my AIM SN, deusexmachina92, you wouldn't be surprised at all the kind of names people see in there.

I won't elaborate cos you should be able to figure that out.. heh

Also very few can really pronounce it right in my experience.

Hence the name change.. heh

[Kwai]

Jinzouningen 17 isn't an English word... it means Android 17 in Japanese :) As for me... I can't figure out what inflagrantedelicto means... I think its Latin... n e one care to define this for me?

[Shy]

[size=1][b]Messanger[/b] - It doesn't make any sense. Messangers deliver MESSAGES, not MESSA[color=red][b]N[/b][/color]GES. Argh, it just doesn't make any sense.

I actually know what Ethereal means. You see, "Ether" was one of the five elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Ether) that was believed to have created everything on earth. Ancient alchemists once thought that all matter was made by a combination of these five elements. Ether was thought of as a spiritual element, and thus the spiritual plane is also known as the ethereal plane.

You see, I had to do a research paper about alchemy. ^_^"

-Shy[/size]

[Vicky]

I can't figure out what Tacume means. It latain too. I know it's probly not english, but do you know what it means? It pevs me off.
I think that word inflagrantedelicto is latain. I could ask my uncle, but I'll have to tell you later. I'll just go look in the oxford dictionary. Hmmm, it's not in there. I'll ask some one who knows latain. I'll tell you, don't worry ;) So, do you know what Tacume means? :?

[Mitch]

[size=1][font=rockwell] Shy you never cease to make me laugh. ^_^"

Yeah, ethereal basically means from heaven. Or from something holy. As does beatific..heh.

*notices Dan's name change*

I miss the God that came from the machine already...*sob*

I really don't have too many words that just leave me standing when I try to say them. But I've said pious wrong before...said it like pie. O.o'..or maybe it was the other way around. I'm not sure..but I said it wrong when I was being Creon when we were reading Antigone in English.

Heh. Antigone. I still can't get over how it should be pronounced like what it looks like. But no, it has to be Antigoneee..or whatever. Bleh.

I'll think of more as they come to me.[/size][/font]

[vegeta rocker]

As mitch said, Antigone. I always want to say it an ti gone.
Moliere also is one. Mo lee air. I always want to say moh liar
invalid i want to say in-vaa-lid, seperate the words but its all together invalid
snickers, i always said sneakers before
there are many more but i will add as they come to me.

[Guest Crimson Spider]

Three words that puzzeled me witht their unesisary length is:
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia
Antidisestablishmentarianism.

Who needs words that long anyway? If you look at all of the words on the SAT's, most of those are purposless. e.i. Acquisable. What the heck is that. (By the way, I know it means to be easily agreed upon).

A word I always thought was cool was juggernaut. It means an unstoppable force of chaos and destruction. Bane is another cool word.

[Kei]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Crimson Spider [/i]
[B]Antidisestablishmentarianism. [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=royalblue]That's about the only one I recognized, and that's only because I heard in on "Jeopardy!"....

I remember when I used to have trouble saying pneumonic. That was before I found out the "p" was silent, lol. But the most trouble I've had with a word is "Mnelmoth." --;[/color]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]I think the only problems I have are with some of the foreign names in the bible, Bablyonian kings anyone? But I guess those dont count.

I think the one word that bothers me the most, because of my girlfriend from yank-land, is 'Ken'. I say it 'Kin' and she says it 'Kehn', and supposedly i'm saying it wrong.

Texas Accents are odd.[/color]

[Juu]

[color=ff00cc] [size=1]*pokes Big sister* Is it pronounced Kin? o.o;;

The word that boggles me is 'artery'. I can't pronounce it! I always say 'aardery', and Celia bugs me about it. - .-;[/color] [/size]

[EcCenTriC fairy]

[size=1]Yeah, what's funny about the word "messanger" is that it's interchangeable with "messager." :cross:
Oh, and since I'm from South Carolina, I say everything with my southern accent, so all words sound funny. ;)[/size]

[Circ]

Mine is simple: Inconspicuous.

For some reason, I con't assimilate the meaning.
Also each time think about "Attract", I can't remember the word.

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" is the disease caused by inhalation of volcano cinder particle.

"Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" would technically be fear of aquatic (poto) equine (hippo) monsters (monstros) half a feet long (sesquipedalio). Go figures. It actually means "fear of long words

[BabyGirl]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathKnight [/i]
[B][color=crimson]I say it 'Kin' and she says it 'Kehn', and supposedly i'm saying it wrong. [/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

[color=deeppink]A friend of mine is from Washington and he pronounces his short "e" vowel like a short "i" and vice versa. We always give him **** about it because it's so funny.

A pillow wasn't a pellow the last time I checked.
And spaghetti isn't spaghitti.
His roommate's name Benny [i]definitely[/i] isn't pronounced as Binny...

So that's why we always raz him. It's weird how some people mix up their "e's" and "i's"...I guess it all has to do with where and how you were raised. I would call Ken "Kehn", not "Kin"...that'd be strange where I'm from ^_^;[/color]

[Semjaza]

I think pretty much any word makes almost no sense if you keep saying it for a while.

Mail. Mail. Mail. It's weird. I can't think of a word that still sounds right if you keep saying it and thinking about it.

And peopel say it "kehn" around here... and actually anywhere I've ever been in my life.

[klinanime1]

Personally, I think they have REALLY long words because they ran out of permutations of letters and accents and had to make something up. It took me forever to figure out turgid meant bloated.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]I am confused by any word that uses "ph" together. Doesn't "F" sufficently cover that sound. Imagine how horrible "F" must feel, knowing that it can be replaced by "ph" at any time. "ph" has already invaded "fat"..."phat"...and redefined the word. What is next, maybe alcohol will be referred to as "phormula", or hash as "phern". Eventually "ph" will take turn all bad things into good things, we'll start reffering to Ford Pintos as "pherraris" and phrases like "you have a Phat Pherrari"[/color]

[MillieFan]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Metatron [/i]
[B]Jinzouningen 17 isn't an English word... it means Android 17 in Japanese :) As for me... I can't figure out what inflagrantedelicto means... I think its Latin... n e one care to define this for me? [/B][/QUOTE]

[I]in flagrante delicto[/I] means, roughly, "caught red-handed," or "caught with the evidence."

I read law books for fun a few years back. O.o

[Guest Hikaru Ichijyo]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by BabyGirl [/i]
[B][color=deeppink]
[b]Ethereal[/b] -- Heck, I don't even know what this one MEANS. I can pronounce it now, but the meaning is still beyond me.
[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

That's easy:

Ethereal:

1.)Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.

2.)Highly refined; delicate. .

3.)Of the celestial spheres; heavenly. Not of this world; spiritual.

4.)Chemistry. Of or relating to ether.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

[Shy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Hikaru Ichijyo [/i]
[B]Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. [/B][/QUOTE]
[size=1]..and looking it up in the dictionary is the other half, heh.

I amuse myself so much sometimes... :p

-Shy[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]For some reason, I find this word amusing:

Discombobulated

I know what it means and how to pronounce it, but the word itself just strikes me as amusing. I don't really know why, either. :twitch:[/color]

[Dan L]

(To Mitch)

Deus Ex Machina: *feels missed*

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Desbreko [/i]
[B][color=indigo]Discombobulated[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

.....That's a real word?.. heh..

I always thought it was made up.. it sounds kind of like a word that a kid would make up for taking something apart. Or I think so anyway. kind of like "thingamajig" is a word kids made up for "thing".. heh

Studying biochem, I come across far too many long words..

Trishydroxymethylmethylamine

Immunoelectrophoresis

Phosphofructokinase

and my all time favourite,

[b]P[/b]hospho[b]e[/b]nol[b]p[/b]yruvate [b]c[/b]arboxy[b]k[/b]inase

(abbreviated to PEPCK)

[Sara]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Dan L [/i]
[B]When it's all one word like my AIM SN, deusexmachina92, you wouldn't be surprised at all the kind of names people see in there.[/B][/QUOTE] [SIZE=1]*coughs violently, trying to cover up a laugh attack*

Okay, here's an interesting one: [b]Cleave[/b]. It means both [i]to cut apart[/i], and [i]to adhere to.[/i] It's its own opposite. And if that isn't spiff...

Some of my favorite words are [b]regalia[/b]...(haha, I love that word) and [b]der Schmetterling[/b] (it's [i]butterfly[/i], in German.)

I read more than I talk, so I'm always coming across interesting new words...and I'll get what they mean, and how to use them....but I'll have no idea what they're supposed to [i]sound[/i] like.

For example...[b]genre[/b]. I knew what that meant in [i]writing[/i], but when my freshman year biology teacher asked what [i]jhan-rah[/i] of books I liked, I could only stare at her in complete confusion.

Or when my friend said that I'd [i]peeked[/i] his interest, it took me an awkward moment or two to realize he'd just said [b]piqued.[/b]

If I don't know how to say a word I'm looking for, I'll just grossly exaggerate the mispronunciation and wait for someone to correct me. It's funny, and keeps me from looking like I don't know what I'mt alking about. (Well, I [i]don't[/i], but I sound like I'm just making fun at something, so it works. ^_~)[/SIZE]

[James]

[color=#808080]Hm, well, there aren't many words that stump me (when it comes to pronounciation), mostly because I'm always hearing all sorts of bizarre terminology at school. o_O

Although I do notice that people generally pronounce some words wrong (or use them incorrectly).

I'll give you two examples of pet peeves. lol

First is the word "often". I notice that people frequently say [b]off-ten[/b]. But that's not correct. The 't' is silent. [b]Off-en[/b].

The other would be the phrase "I could care less about that". So, if I'm talking about something I don't care about, I might say (incorrectly):

"I could care less about Eminem's record sales"

When actually, it should be "I [b]couldn't[/b] care less about Eminem's record sales"

If you say [i]could[/i] care less, it means that you actually care about the very thing that you are implying you care little about. lol

I think I've mentioned it before and someone told me where it originated...but it's horrible. lol I really dislike it when people use that phrase incorrectly. It sounds stupid and it makes no sense. I'm starting to think that kids don't even know that it doesn't make sense, despite the fact that if you really LOOK at the wording, it contradicts the intention that it is used for.

So yeah, those are a couple of my language pet-peeves, I guess. ^_^;;[/color]