Epitome [and other oft-mispronounced words]

Nightd · Mar 3, 2012

I think I have been using this word incorrectly.

In 2004, my novel was still an idea, but I had an abstract. Instead of calling it an abstract, I found this word in the thesaurus (I know, really bad idea), thought it was fancier, and used it instead.

Up to now, I have always thought it to be pronounced "EPI -- Tome" and so did a lot of my friends.

But today, I met a few people who corrected me and says the word is pronounced "ih-pit-uh-mee". They also didn't know it meant "a condensed account, especially of a literary work; abstract."

I felt so embarrassed. I'm sure they're right, but I just wanted to be absolutely sure.

mccardey · Mar 3, 2012

tonten said:
I think I have been using this word incorrectly.

In 2004, my novel was still an idea, but I had an abstract. Instead of calling it an abstract, I found this word in the thesaurus (I know, really bad idea), thought it was fancier, and used it instead.

Up to now, I have always thought it to be pronounced "EPI -- Tome" and so did a lot of my friends.

But today, I met a few people who corrected me and says the word is pronounced "ih-pit-uh-mee". They also didn't know it meant "a condensed account, especially of a literary work; abstract."

I felt so embarrassed. I'm sure they're right, but I just wanted to be absolutely sure.

Don't be embarrassed - life's about learning! Here's a good link for you - the first definition is the one you were using (that's new to me!) and the second definition is the one that's most generally used for epitome. And if you press on the speaker icon, you'll hear the correct pronunciation.

Jamesaritchie · Mar 3, 2012

I'm an old man, I read extensively, but still come across words that I find I've been mispronouncing for years.

Deleted member 42 · Mar 3, 2012

tonten said:
But today, I met a few people who corrected me and says the word is pronounced "ih-pit-uh-mee". They also didn't know it meant "a condensed account, especially of a literary work; abstract."

I felt so embarrassed. I'm sure they're right, but I just wanted to be absolutely sure.

They're right about the pronunciation, but epitome in an archaic context can mean a miniature version of something:

Who did the whole world's soul contract, and drove
Into the glasses of your eyes ;
So made such mirrors, and such spies,
That they did all to you epitomize—

John Donne The Canonization

dpaterso · Mar 3, 2012

tonten said:
Up to now, I have always thought it to be pronounced "EPI -- Tome" and so did a lot of my friends.

Yeah you're not alone, that's one of the words I never pronounce the right way, I stop, backtrack and smack my head. Another is hors d'ouvres, which I pronounce in the worse way possible, raising eyebrows in restaurants.

-Derek

Libbie · Mar 3, 2012

Heh heh -- I went to a fancy-pants arts-focused high school and a big part of our grade for each unit was our final project, which for most kids was a performance of some kind, since almost everybody in the school was into the performing arts. One of my friends wrote a poem and was to perform it in front of the whole school during finals. Teachers and peers looked over her poem and it all made sense written down, but she apparently didn't know how to pronounce two words she'd used, so when she did the performance she mispronounced them and she was terribly embarrassed when her grade came down. One was epitome, which she pronounced the way you thought it was pronounced, and the other was inevitable, which she pronounced "in-eh-VEET-able."

I will never forget the correct pronunciation of either word, thanks to that performance!

But you learn new stuff all the time, so don't be embarrassed. I didn't know there was a second definition for epitome. You taught me something new. Yay!

Orianna2000 · Mar 5, 2012

There have been many words that I know because I've read them, but I've never heard them pronounced. Sometimes I'll hear them on TV and then I'll have a lightbulb moment--"Oh, is that how you say it?!" Other times, if I need to use the word in conversation, I'll just honestly say, "I don't know how you pronounce this." Then whoever I'm with will either tell me the proper pronunciation, or they'll laugh and say, "Me neither!"

Susan Coffin · Mar 5, 2012

Like James, I am also old, read a lot, and mispronounce words. Everybody does so from time to time. Nothing to be embarrassed about.

Niiicola · Mar 5, 2012

I know of at least two people who still read the word "misled" as "mize-uld" in their heads. Happens to everybody

kaitie · Mar 5, 2012

My boyfriend has an entire book of commonly mispronounced words. There are definitely a couple we've discovered are wrong, and a few I still say wrong, to be honest with you.

Epitome is one of my favorite words, though, just because I love the way it sounds versus the way it looks. Facetious is another. That's one that I actually didn't realize what it said until I looked it up one day and found out I actually knew that word.

This isn't a mispronunciation situation, but a similar embarrassing situation. When I was in high school, I thought the word "business" was spelled "buisness." I'd spelled it that way for years and honestly had no idea I was wrong.

Me being the smarty pants that I was (and still am lol), I went up to my history teacher after class to be all, "I found a typo in the textbook!" only to be told that no, in fact that was the proper way to spell it. I was sooooo embarrassed. Truth be told, I still have to think twice when I write it.

kaitie · Mar 5, 2012

Orianna2000 said:
There have been many words that I know because I've read them, but I've never heard them pronounced. Sometimes I'll hear them on TV and then I'll have a lightbulb moment--"Oh, is that how you say it?!" Other times, if I need to use the word in conversation, I'll just honestly say, "I don't know how you pronounce this." Then whoever I'm with will either tell me the proper pronunciation, or they'll laugh and say, "Me neither!"

You know the word "err?" I think every person I've ever met in my life has pronounce it so it sounds like "air." I've heard the phrase over and over, dozens of times, always the same way.

My boyfriend tells me a few months ago that the proper pronunciation is "urr." Are you kidding me? This word that no one ever pronounces that way!? I refuse to believe it's so!

Needless to say I was mildly annoyed while watching Law and Order a few weeks later and Ben Stone says "urr." Sometimes I hate having to admit I'm wrong.

pandaponies · Mar 5, 2012

I did the exact same thing with "epitome" as a teenager in front of a bunch of my mother's friends. Absolutely humiliating. You're not alone, never fear!

That incident scarred me for life. After that I started looking up the IPA pronunciation in the dictionary of every new word I encountered BEFORE I ventured to use it out loud.

Gilead · Mar 5, 2012

It took me years to work out that the word 'segue' in books and the word 'seg-way' that people kept saying on television were in fact the same thing. I don't think I ever tried to use it out loud before the moment of realisation, though. Thankfully.

I do also remember reading something in school when I was about eleven, and pronouncing the word 'typical' correctly. And then a boy sitting next to me leaned over and said loudly 'It's pronounced type-ical'. And there was a moment of doubt before the teacher corrected him. I felt a bit sorry for that guy. Although not that sorry.

Sophia · Mar 5, 2012

Gilead said:
It took me years to work out that the word 'segue' in books and the word 'seg-way' that people kept saying on television were in fact the same thing.

Well, that's my new thing learned for the day. :e2paperba

Some things suddenly make a lot more sense!

Sophia, who, until now, pronounced it "seeg".

KatieJ · Mar 5, 2012

It can be embarassing, but you do it because you are well-read. You are using words that you come across while reading and learning, and there is nothing wrong with that. Mine was hors d'oeuvres. I was sure it must be pronounced horse devores. I knew what they were, though, which no one of my age did.

And this is kind of a neat site about common errors.http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/errors.html

owlion · Mar 5, 2012

I used to pronounce 'fatigue' as 'fa-ti-gyu' when I was younger...

Al Stevens · Mar 5, 2012

dpaterso said:
Another is hors d'ouvres, which I pronounce in the worse way possible,

My brother pronounced it "horse douvers" (do'-verz)

Chasing the Horizon · Mar 5, 2012

You don't want to know how old I was when I realized not pronouncing the 'b' in subtle wasn't a regional mispronunciation in my area . . . And I still pronounce crochet the way it's spelled, lol (I know it's wrong now, but I discovered that if I pronounce it this way around my mom enough, she'll start accidentally repeating my mispronunciation in front of others, which is hilarious).

My spelling is really good, but my pronunciation has always been atrocious because I *gasp* pronounce words the way they're spelled! I've never been embarrassed, though. I say if you don't want subtle pronounced 'sub-tell' then take the goddamn 'b' out!

ETA: Just had to check and am relieved to see that my definition of 'epitome' has always been correct. Good, cause I use that word way too much!

KatieJ · Mar 5, 2012

Chasing the Horizon said:
You don't want to know how old I was when I realized not pronouncing the 'b' in subtle wasn't a regional mispronunciation in my area . . .

my sister still says SWord instead of sord.

Debio · Mar 5, 2012

My little brother still pronounces battalion as "battle lion". He picked it up reading Battle Tech books 25 years ago.

I never pronounced retinue right till I started listening to audio books. I always assumed that the few times I heard it, the other guy was wrong. Well, go figure.

pandaponies · Mar 5, 2012

Hahaha, English's pronunciations are so random (or just mixed up or borrowed from so many other languages) that half the time there's honestly just no telling until you look it up. I see a lot of French words with their pronunciations warped by years and years of English borrowing and I used to waffle between which pronunciation I should use (the English - wrong - and sound normal, or the correct French and sound like a freak?). My biggest pet peeve is probably "femme" since I hear it constantly in the lesbian community and NO ONE knows that it's not freaking pronounced "fem," it's closer to "fahm." True story.

Rubay H. · Mar 5, 2012

My husband still laughs at me whenever I pronounce growing.
I mean groin.

Yorkist · Mar 5, 2012

KatieJ said:
It can be embarassing, but you do it because you are well-read. You are using words that you come across while reading and learning, and there is nothing wrong with that.

This. I mispronounce a word around once every day on average (today it was "erudite" and "infantilization"; ok, shut up, my husband and I are epically nerdy), to the point where it's kind of a legend amongst my friends and family. The first time I remember doing it was when I was 10 or 11 and it was the word "decrepit" (DECK-reh-pit). It took my parents a couple of minutes to figure out what the hell I was talking about, though the context was right.

It's bad when there are words you've been saying in your head incorrectly for so many years that it's impossible to establish new neural pathways for them or something. I read so much and was so socially withdrawn as a kid and 'tween that that portion represents about 2-5% of my total vocabulary. (Or, hey, maybe it's brain damage; I remember a college friend laughing hysterically when I wanted to make CRAY-pays (crepes).)

My English profs always thought it was hilarious because they knew exactly where it came from, though it puzzles some others. Anyway, you could be embarrassing yourself about once a day, just sayin'. I have to make sure to not use any not-too-common words in important social situations like job interviews.

What is more embarrassingly disheartening is when your spelling starts to go! Which I'm pretty sure happens to everyone... right?

blacbird · Mar 5, 2012

KatieJ said:
my sister still says SWord instead of sord.

Is she from Lung Giland, New Ywawk, maybe? Where they drink Cwoffee and Twawk on the cell phone?

caw

Libbie · Mar 6, 2012

Rubay H. said:
My husband still laughs at me whenever I pronounce growing.
I mean groin.

This is now my favorite thread ever. So many things I want to say in it.

When I was a kid I had a teacher who was not from around these-here parts -- these-here parts being the home of Boeing, the aerospace giant. It's pronounced BO-ing, with a heavy emphasis on the first syllable, and all the locals know that, but she persisted in pronouncing it "Boing."

Re: the word segue. Since the invention of the "cleverly" named Segway, the device that allows you to move at the speed of a gentle stroll without actually having to move your legs, it seems everybody misspells the word segue as "segway." ARRRGH. Another unfortunate misspelled victim of modern times is the word ludicrous, which everybody now misspells as ludacris thanks to the rapper of the same poorly spelled name. This one MAKES ME CRAZY.

A final note: I absolutely refuse to pronounce the word ague however it's properly pronounced. It will always be homonymous with egg to me. I REFUSE TO CHANGE.

Epitome [and other oft-mispronounced words]

Deleted member 42

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