WHAT? It's pronounced like THAT?
March 31, 2025
As that conveniently passive-voice saying goes: mistakes were made. Well, one, anyway.
Did you happen to notice the little typo in my February newsletter?
Maybe you didn’t read the February issue. (Tsk. Tsk.) Maybe you read it but didn’t catch the typo. (Clearly, you aren’t reading carefully enough.) Maybe you caught it but decided to keep the error to yourself. (Always an option.)
My sister-in-law, Patricia, didn’t. Keep the error to herself, that is.
February’s Clarity Chronicles had barely left the building when I got a text from her. “I’m not criticizing,” Patricia began, “but in the ***** blurb, I think you left out a word. Just thought you might like to correct.”
I sure would like to correct!
But with the whoosh of “send” already a distant sound on the horizon, that ship had sailed. My newsletter had been emailed and was sitting, guilty as all get out, in the inboxes of millions and millions a few hundred people.
Oops!
I wish I hadn’t made that mistake, but, as an Australian colleague was fond of saying, whenever there was a minor business mishap, “no one died.” And at least I was able to correct my error before posting on LinkedIn and on my Verve website.
Not only that, thinking about that little mistake (okay, maybe I was ruminating) inevitably got me thinking about other mistakes we make with the English language.
Mistakes in pronunciation, for example.
If, like me, you were taught to read using the phonics method, you learned to “sound out” words, systematically matching written letters to spoken sounds. I’m no linguist, but I believe the vast majority of English words follow a fairly predictable pattern of pronunciation.
As with almost all rules and patterns, however, there are exceptions. Words that simply do not conform to our expectations. Words that sure as hell look like they should be pronounced one way, but—surprise, surprise—they’re not. These outliers are one of the reasons English is a difficult language to learn.
Here are 10 of my “favourite” outliers. (Note: The capitalized letters indicate the emphasis.)
1. Colonel
Definition: an army office of high rank.
What it looks like: COAL-o-nel. Three syllables.
Actual pronunciation: KUR-nuhl. Like a kernel of corn. Two syllables. And that “l” in the middle is silent. Go figure.
2. Coxswain
Definition: the steersman (or woman) of a racing or other boat.
What it looks like: cocks-WAIN. Two syllables.
Actual pronunciation: KAHK-sn. Still two syllables, but sounds completely different. Not a “w” in earshot.
3. Epitome
Definition: a person or thing that is a perfect example of particular type or quality.
What it looks like: epi-TOME. Two syllables.
Actual pronunciation: uh-PI-tuh-mee. Four (count ‘em, 4) syllables.
4. Hyperbole
Definition: exaggerated claims or statements not meant to be taken literally.
What it looks like: HY-per-bowl. Like Super Bowl. Three syllables.
Actual pronunciation: hye-PUR-buh-lee. Four syllables.
5. Salmon
Definition: a large, pink, edible fish.
What it looks like: SAL-mon. Two syllables.
Actual pronunciation: SAM-uhn. Still two syllables, but like our coxswain above, the “l” is silent.
6. Segue
Definition: as a noun, an uninterrupted transition from one thing to another; as a verb, to move without interruption from one thing to another.
What it looks like: SEEG. One syllable.
Actual pronunciation: SEH-gway. Two syllables.
7. Solder
Definition: as a noun, a low-melting alloy used for joining other metals; as a verb, to join with solder.
What it looks like: SOUL-der. Two syllables. Also sounds like, but is definitely not like, soldier.
Actual pronunciation: SAH-der. Two syllables. (Why, then, is this not just spelled “sahder” or “sawder”?)
8. Subtle
Definition: delicately complex and understated; muted, subdued, indirect.
What it looks like: SUB-til. Two syllables.
Actual pronunciation: SUH-til. Two syllables. As for the silent “b,” see #1, 2 and 5 above.
9. Synecdoche
Definition: a figure of speech in which a part is meant to represent the whole or vice versa.
What it looks like: Um…...SIGN-ec-dote-chy?…sign-ec-DOAK-ee? Anyway…four or more syllables.
Actual pronunciation: suh-NEK-duh-kee. Four syllables. (Just do yourself a favour and give this word a wide berth.)
10. Worcestershire
Definition: a county in western central England; also a tasty sauce.
What it looks like: wor-CEST-tuh-shire. Four syllables.
Actual pronunciation: WU-stuh-shr. Three syllables.
That’s the English language for you. Outliers such as these occur for many reasons—some of these words are borrowed from other languages, many have evolved over time—but that doesn’t make their spellings or pronunciation logical.
My advice? Just do your best. And perhaps take heart in these words from Canadian writer Douglas Coupland: “English is flexible—you can jam it into a Cuisinart for an hour, remove it, and meaning will still emerge.”
Remember this:
English is a difficult language to learn. It has a vast vocabulary, including words borrowed from several other languages, as well as inconsistent spellings and unpredictable pronunciations. Don’t fight it. Instead marvel in all its beautiful, messy glory.