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

Actually phoenix this one was one of my faux pas as an adult.

. I read a book as a child, with a main character called Penelope. I read the entire book pronouncing her name as Penny-lope.

Perhaps he/she was just reading something out and" hi- per-bollee" was an unfamiliar word.
It is hardly used in everyday conversation.
I think we can get too critical at times, a shrug of the shoulder to myself seems to work for me.

I heard the same mis-pronunciation just recently - jarring! But it's no good saying "Don't use a word if you can't pronounce it correctly!" - maybe they didn't know their pronunciation was wrong?

couldn't care less ,the day I get annoyed about mispronounciation is the day I'll give up on life.Why let stupid things like this annoy you?

One of my cringe moments as a child, was reading out loud in class and pronouncing ‘quay’ the way it is written and not ‘key’. What I want to know is how the other laughing, 11 year olds knew the correct pronounciation. Hardly a common word.
P.S. I am over t now.

paddyann it didn't "annoy" me, was just rather surprised.

Because they are wrong, and it does matter. If you are speaking on Radio 4, thereby being broadcast to millions of people, it behoves you to be correct.
Ensuring the correct use of capital letters and correct spelling is important too.

eazybee

For many years I pronounced ennui as 'en you eye' until a dear friend who is a linguist gave me a puzzled look and said, "Oh, you mean 'on wee'".
It was long before the days when unfamiliar words could be heard by the click of a button on a laptop.

Maybe he/she is a superbowl fan and just thought it was a bigger, better version (like a hypermarket)

DH deliberately mispronounces words for a laugh - or to wind me up. Kwin-o-a is his favourite instead of Keen-wa.

I truly cannot believe anyone using the word hyperbole in its correct context would mispronounce it.
I still think someone was reading it .

annsixty it seemed to me to be part of a conversation, rather than read aloud. No doubt it will be available to listen again on BBC Sounds.

No it's not earth shattering but it is extremely annoying. 'Sixth' is my bugbear. No one on TV can pronounce it. They say 'sick' or 'sith'. Most of these people are presumably well educated. I was dragged up in Birmingham but I think I know how to speak properly.

Not disagreeing phoenix just seems so odd to me .
I have a friend, very close to me, and she always ,always refers to balsamatic vinegar, in a restaurant we others just smile , she has no idea.

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'

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

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.

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.

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

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

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 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.

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!