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And in fact that informs how to pronounce the word. It's not hah-buh-NYAIR-oh, it's hah-buh-NAIR-oh. A similar one that I used to get wrong all the time is emp

And in fact that informs how to pronounce the word. It's not hah-buh-NYAIR-oh, it's hah-buh-NAIR-oh. A similar one that I used to get wrong all the time is empanada. No ñ in that either, but I always said em-puh-NYAH-duh. Then one day I noticed it was just a regular n and it is pronouced em-puh-NAH-duh. Now for a really embarrassing one. This was back in the day when I was working with my friend and colleague Alan Cooper (of interaction design fame) on what became Visual Basic. We were on a phone call and I said something about a zhuh-NAIR of music. Alan asked "what's that?" I explained that it was like a category or a particular style. He said "do you mean ZHAHN-ruh?" It's funny how these embarrassing moments stick in your brain. I could tell you exactly where I was, and even which direction I was facing when we had that conversation. But I was grateful that Alan corrected me and I won't sound like a fool any more when I talk about a genre. I had one friend who would never gracefully accept a correction like that. One time he told me about a neighbor who "took his dog to the pond." I said "that's nice, does the dog like to go swimming?" He said "no, the POND, the place where they put dogs to sleep." He went through his whole life mispronouncing "dog pound", and many, many other words.

stavros 5y ago
A Chinese colleague of mine liked to say that "there are many ways to peel a cat".
- Stratoscope 5y ago
  Ouch. As someone who lives with three dogs and three cats, that one hits close to home. One of our cats thinks she is my girlfriend! When I go to bed, she immediately jumps on the bed next to me and places herself right where my hand is, so I can scratch her back and tummy. No cat peeling here!
- pathseeker 5y ago
  I love these idiom screw-ups. One of my coworkers once tried to use an English idiom and it came out, "let's not beat a horse to death."
  - usui 5y ago
    The worst offenders are ones that can be solved logically if the person spent 5 seconds to think. "I could care less" vs "I could not care less" The amount of people who defend the former with their own head-canon is frightening. Ones I have heard are "It's sarcastic" and "I care so little that I won't put the extra effort into caring less"
    - Stratoscope 5y ago
      Steven Pinker and other linguists would like a word with you: https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+pinker+i+could+care+less https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+pinker+i+could+care+l... From Pinker's book The Language Instinct (p.377 or 389 depending on the edition): > A tin ear for prosody (stress and intonation) and an obliviousness to the principles of discourse and rhetoric are important tools for the language maven. Consider an alleged atrocity committed by today's youth: the expression I could care less. The teenagers are trying to express disdain, the adults note, in which case they should be saying I couldn't care less. If they could care less than they do, that means that they really do care, the opposite of what they are trying to say. But if these dudes would stop ragging on teenagers and scope out the construction, they would see that their argument is bogus. Listen to how the two versions are pronounced: [If viewing on mobile, turn your device sideways to avoid wrapping.] ------------------------ COULDN'T care LE ESS. i ------------------------ I CARE LE ESS. could ------------------------ > The melodies and stresses are completely different, and for a good reason. The second version is not illogical, it's sarcastic. The point of sarcasm is that by making an assertion that is manifestly false or accompanied by ostentatiously mannered intonation, one deliberately implies its opposite. A good paraphrase is, “Oh yeah, as if there was something in the world that I care less about.” But I hear you and sympathize with your point of view. I have been there myself. It didn't make sense to me that people would use a word or phrase in any meaning other than its literal one. Especially a word like "literally", right? Merriam-Webster has a article on that. It's literally the best article ever written! https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-lite...
a_e_k 5y ago
I discovered just this evening that the approach I try to use to correct my kids on that sort of thing was described by Marcus Aurelius: > From Alexander the grammarian: to avoid fault-finding and not to censure in a carping spirit any who employ an exotic phrase, a solecism, or harsh expression, but oneself to use, neatly and precisely, the correct phrase, by way of answer or confirmation or handling of the actual question—the thing, not its verbal expression—or by some other equally happy reminder. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_1 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Empero...
Stratoscope 5y ago
I just remembered a couple more of my late friend's interesting pronunciations: "Old-timer's disease" (Alzheimer's) "Valentime's Day" Too late to correct him now! May he rest in peace.
- b3morales 5y ago
  Old-timer's/Alzheimer's probably qualifies as an Eggcorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn (In fact I see that it is mentioned at the beginning of that article!)
pezezin 5y ago
I will never be able to understand English phonetic approximations. Spanish is my mother language and I don't know how they are supposed to sound like xD In any case, "empañada" is a real word, it mean's "foggy", but used for glasses, not for the weather itself. For example, "tengo las gafas empañadas" -> "my glasses are foggy"

stavros 5y ago

A Chinese colleague of mine liked to say that "there are many ways to peel a cat".

Stratoscope 5y ago
Ouch. As someone who lives with three dogs and three cats, that one hits close to home. One of our cats thinks she is my girlfriend! When I go to bed, she immediately jumps on the bed next to me and places herself right where my hand is, so I can scratch her back and tummy. No cat peeling here!
pathseeker 5y ago
I love these idiom screw-ups. One of my coworkers once tried to use an English idiom and it came out, "let's not beat a horse to death."
- usui 5y ago
  The worst offenders are ones that can be solved logically if the person spent 5 seconds to think. "I could care less" vs "I could not care less" The amount of people who defend the former with their own head-canon is frightening. Ones I have heard are "It's sarcastic" and "I care so little that I won't put the extra effort into caring less"
  - Stratoscope 5y ago
    Steven Pinker and other linguists would like a word with you: https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+pinker+i+could+care+less https://www.google.com/search?q=steven+pinker+i+could+care+l... From Pinker's book The Language Instinct (p.377 or 389 depending on the edition): > A tin ear for prosody (stress and intonation) and an obliviousness to the principles of discourse and rhetoric are important tools for the language maven. Consider an alleged atrocity committed by today's youth: the expression I could care less. The teenagers are trying to express disdain, the adults note, in which case they should be saying I couldn't care less. If they could care less than they do, that means that they really do care, the opposite of what they are trying to say. But if these dudes would stop ragging on teenagers and scope out the construction, they would see that their argument is bogus. Listen to how the two versions are pronounced: [If viewing on mobile, turn your device sideways to avoid wrapping.] ------------------------ COULDN'T care LE ESS. i ------------------------ I CARE LE ESS. could ------------------------ > The melodies and stresses are completely different, and for a good reason. The second version is not illogical, it's sarcastic. The point of sarcasm is that by making an assertion that is manifestly false or accompanied by ostentatiously mannered intonation, one deliberately implies its opposite. A good paraphrase is, “Oh yeah, as if there was something in the world that I care less about.” But I hear you and sympathize with your point of view. I have been there myself. It didn't make sense to me that people would use a word or phrase in any meaning other than its literal one. Especially a word like "literally", right? Merriam-Webster has a article on that. It's literally the best article ever written! https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-literally https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/misuse-of-lite...

a_e_k 5y ago

I discovered just this evening that the approach I try to use to correct my kids on that sort of thing was described by Marcus Aurelius: > From Alexander the grammarian: to avoid fault-finding and not to censure in a carping spirit any who employ an exotic phrase, a solecism, or harsh expression, but oneself to use, neatly and precisely, the correct phrase, by way of answer or confirmation or handling of the actual question—the thing, not its verbal expression—or by some other equally happy reminder. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Emperor_Marcus_Antoninus/Book_1 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Meditations_of_the_Empero...

Stratoscope 5y ago

I just remembered a couple more of my late friend's interesting pronunciations: "Old-timer's disease" (Alzheimer's) "Valentime's Day" Too late to correct him now! May he rest in peace.

b3morales 5y ago
Old-timer's/Alzheimer's probably qualifies as an Eggcorn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn (In fact I see that it is mentioned at the beginning of that article!)

pezezin 5y ago

I will never be able to understand English phonetic approximations. Spanish is my mother language and I don't know how they are supposed to sound like xD In any case, "empañada" is a real word, it mean's "foggy", but used for glasses, not for the weather itself. For example, "tengo las gafas empañadas" -> "my glasses are foggy"