Lesson
Here are some English words and Phrases that are usually mispronounced..
| Don't say | Do Say | Comment |
| Bidness | Business | The change of [s] to [d] before [n] is spreading throughout the US and when the unaccented [I] drops from this word the [s] finds itself in the same environment as in "isn't" and "wasn't." |
| a blessing in the skies | a blessing in disguise | This phrase is no blessing if it comes from the skies. (Pronounce it correctly and help maintain the disguise.) |
| Old-timer's disease | Alzheimer's disease | While it is a disease of old-timers, it is named for the German neurologist, Dr. Alois Alzheimer. |
| Close | Clothes | The [th] is a very soft sound likely to be overlooked. Show your linguistic sensitivity and always pronounce it. |
| duck tape | duct tape | Ducks very rarely need taping though you may not know that ducts always do—to keep air from escaping through the cracks in them. |
| aks | ask | This mispronunciation has been around for so long (over 1,000 years) that linguist Mark Aronoff thinks we should cherish it as a part of our linguistic heritage. Most of us would give the axe to "aks." |
| Mute | Moot | The definition of "moot" is moot (open to debate) but not the pronunciation: [mut] and not [myut]. |
| Often | Ofen | We have mastered the spelling of this word so well, its spelling influences the pronunciation: DON'T pronounce the [t]! This is an exception to the rule that spelling helps pronunciation. |
| Snuck | Sneaked | I doubt we will get "snuck" out of the language any time soon but here is a reminder that it really isn't a word. |
| Suit | Suite | If you don't wear it (a suit [sut]), then it is a suite [sweet], as in a living room suite or a suite of rooms. |
YOURS OCEAN
