So you think you know English?

I got about halfway and decided I don't speak English!

Hahahaha! There were a few words that stumped me, too.

Oh well. I don't need to speak better than 90% of the native speakers anyways...

I don't speak no bad American. I speak good American. I speak it real good! :)

Holy cow, where do you find this stuff? My patience ran out about 3/4 of way through but pretty sure the only one that gave me pause was Terpsichore, is it pronounced chore or core?

Terpsichore (pronounced turp-sik-uh-ree, rhymes with "hickory") in classical mythology is the Muse of dancing and choral song, or the art of dancing itself.

I scour the internets to bring you things that I think are interesting. English is a difficult language because of its inconsistencies in pronunciation and grammar. I had a very difficult time learning the language when I was growing up.

Now that's fantastic!!

What I find more interesting is the way different cultures pronounce certain words.

For example:

Dance, now I pronounce Dance like "chance" not ANTS, it isn't an Ae sound it is an ah sound, now some say that pronunciation is incorrect but when you take a look at where the word derives from then pronouncing Dance with an ah rather than an antz is correct. Just like Chance I suppose, it sounds grating to me to hear it said like it has ants in its pants, rather chance is like dancing you need a little cha cha cha to make it sound right *-)

What is helpful is if you know how to follow a cadence when saying this. I love this, I really do thank you Grape.

sorry following the threads of responses, you would have found it difficult Grape, your whole way of moving your mouth to pronounce your own native language would have made our lovely English a nightmare in tongue twisting and brain teasing. Especially with the silent letters.

They say Icelandic is the hardest language to learn after that its English.

Lucy I pronounce Chance and Dance like Ants...if I pronounced it Aunce, I think it sounds British. Weird...and very interesting...

I know, I was bought up on the queens English, my grandfather use to grill me about pronouncing words correctly. He'd sit me on his lap and ask me to say rhymes and verses until I said them right, then I would get a pat on the head and be told to "go play". te he he he

I get lazy every now and then but I do prefer to not drop letters, or shorten sounds when I talk. Most people think I come from Adelaide in Australia because in Adelaide they didn't have convicts only free settlers, there the accent (british) is even stronger.

Okay so how do you pronounce Plethora ?? pleh-thora? or pleth, errra ?? LOL word games are fun (dork head I know)

Definitly the first one, its "Pleh Thora".

oooo

People with no money, are called poor...

Do you pronounce Poor: "Pour" or "Poohr" ?

oh dear.... poohr te he he

BlossOm or blossUm ???

What about adver-tis-ment or adver-tize-ment

Ohh I love the way Americans pronounce our Main City here in FNQ

Cairns.... US citizens say Carnz... LOL but it is definitely Ch(silent h)erns

Yup its supose to be pronounce Poohr, but I dont know anyone that says it correctly...One of my HS english teachers would freak out about it. lol...

I say Blossuhm

It cant really be adver tis ment can it? Cause i defintily say adver tise ment.

I would have said "Care nz"...there is a town here called Cairo and people debate on whether its said Kyro or Care-o...

Theres also a town here spelled Ewing, but said "you-ing".

Or Neligh, people butcher the crap outta that one- how do you think you say that one?

Language is a wonderful thing, but actually pronunciation is a relative thing. I have friends who pahk their cah in the cah pahk. Some of them are pooah. I know a few who warsh their hands with watah.

It is really a matter is where one is that determines correct pronunciation.

soaring

lucy: You know what's funny? Dance chance and ants are all pronounced the same way. I think I would have a blast listening to Aussies and Kiwis reading that poem. :D

I was taught the Queen's English, too. When I first learned English. So I learned to say things like "bonnet", instead of "hood", and "lift" instead of "elevators", "parcels" instead of "packages" and such.

Now I talk like Tom Brokaw. Well... Not really... What I mean by that is that I don't have any discernible accent at all.

star: Poor I believe is pronounced more like "pore".

soaring: I see that you're near beantown, huh? I do have a couple of friends out there. Funny thing is, while they themselves don't talk like that, all of their friends and relatives do. See you at the bah by the hahbah (Bar by the harbor). Ha!

I made it about a third of the way "through", because it was too "rough." Ha. I've always said the English language must be one of the hardest to learn because we have so many rules of sound and spelling. There are probably less confusing languages with fewer symbols. Us crazy English folks just don't know what they mean.

wombie: It is a very difficult language to learn. Not just because of the inconsistencies in pronunciation and spelling, but in grammar as well.