Don't use a word if you can't pronounce it correctly!

I recently heard of an outfit trimmed with ‘Malibu!’. Same person also says ‘pro-feet-a-rollies’!

How do you pronounce Prezzo as in the restaurant chain? I say Pret-zo with the ‘t’ sound as in pizza or mezzo, while others say Prezzo as it is written.

Sorry I admit I should have used something a bit "gentler".

Good point Anja

Title of this thread is a bit much! Who's a bossy-boots then? ?

I just love in, a pub, when in the company of one of my adult children, asking for a bag-u-et. ?

I think the BBC are having an "all change" period at the moment with pronunciation. Drives me mad.

My grandmother used to say ridiclous and my DF pronounced it wrongly too

I had an incident last night having to pause the conversation to pronounce the word pirot

Humpty Dumpty. I pronounce it Lattay

Think we should encourage people to use more expressive language and not feel intimidated. I don't mean swearing though!

My MiL liked to eat Pisas . We never told her she pronounced it wrongly. It was quite endearing really.

A dictionary gives the pronunciation of the word.

I had a friend who came out with some classics. She had a gazzy-boo (gazebo) in her garden. She would write me a long email and end it with "Excuse my epitaph" (presumably she meant "epic". I still smile fondly.

pensionpat wrt latte - do you pronounce it 'lat'?

sodapop How difficult can it be?

My Mil was a Hyacinth Bucket type and used to pronounce cotoneaster (the flower) Cotton Easter. Made me smile as she said it at the Flower Club with all her "posh" friends!

That's right Anja how does one know its a mispronunciation, I find it difficult to correct people over this unless I know them well. I would expect someone broadcasting to be aware of these pitfalls though.
Several times I have heard Yo Sem Ite instead of Yosemmitty.. Sixth annoys me too
KatyK

I would rather know that I was misprounouncing. I can’t seem to type it! My closest friend is the same, so I knew she would want to know she was going to visit Yosemite (like committe) rather than Yozemight.
Can I ask for opinions? How should we pronounce latte? I always say it as it looks, but so many people say lartay. I’m not familiar with Italian. Which is correct!

I hear mispronunciations often but have never once thought they shouldn’t add it to the conversation as I am fully aware of their meaning.

I too have reintroduced the word with the correct pronunciation but would hate to think I had embarrassed someone because of their, not that important, faux pas.

And isn’t there an apocryphal story about a Hyacinth Bucket type who asked a young waiter for a “quickie” as she thought that was how you pronounce Quiche?

I had a very sweet and classy aunt who always referred to “bag-u-ettes”
Didn’t have the heart.

And how do you know you are mispronouncing a word in the first place?

The BBC used to have a Pronunciation Unit to help their staff, but it got erased due to cost.
And it isn't hard to get words wrong if you are a big reader and never actually hear them said. I remember saying inter-preter and getting laughed at, by adults. I was only about 6 and I knew what the word meant and used it correctly, The laughter still rankles.

Difficult one this. A bit like correcting.a friend’s spelling on FB. Need to be careful.

A friend recently told me there was a special offer on Merlot (rhyming it with Charlotte) so I managed to slip it into a sentence by replying ‘Prefer a nice Cabernet myself but Merlot (sans T) is my next favourite. Must get a few bottles in.’

That’s about all you can do without embarrassing people.

Droring (as in snoring) instead of drawing, is the one that drives me to distraction. Surprising how many people say that.

DH and I always refer to cotoneasters as Cotton Easters. Some one picked me up on this once and told me the correct pronunciation. How could I tell her that I knew the correct pronunciation, the mispronunciation was a private joke. I smiled and thanked her for the information.

When I was a child my vocabulary was full of mispronounced words, I had only seen them in print; conspicuous was one that I always pronounced 'conspichus'