Which Words Do You Botch?

(AP)

We recently heard from listeners after our mispronunciation of the word “synecdoche,” meaning “a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole or a whole for the part,” according to Dictionary.com.

And we asked for your most embarrassing pronunciation errors. There was no shortage of answers:

Joan in Philadelphia writes: “As a child I read ‘clandestine’ as ‘CANdle-STEEN’ and didn’t have it corrected until I was in my 20′s.”

A listener named Barbie writes:

 Once I said for the golf ball trademark, “Titleist” the following: Tit List (long i as in heist.)

And listener Allison reminds us that English teachers aren’t always pronunciation authorities:

“I taught high school English for eight years.  My first year teaching, I was reading a passage from the bookTo Kill A Mockingbird  aloud to the class and pronounced the word “assuage” as “uh sue uhge.”  A 9th grade girl in the back of the classroom and said, “Ms. Allison, I think that word is pronounced ‘assuage’.”    I was able to laugh and say, “Oh, really? I suppose you’re right. I’ve only ever read that word before. I’ve never heard it pronounced.”  Of course, I looked it up later, and sure enough she was right.   Sometimes, English teachers are wrong too. :) “

Josh writes:

Everyone’s favorite: For all intents and purposes – most people say “all intensive purposes”, but I said “all intensum purposes” like it was a latin word. We all agree on the definition, though.

What words or phrases do you mispronounce? Tell us in the comments section.