Australians vent frustration over commonly mispronounced words – after a top writer shared his SCATHING opinion of why they’re said incorrectly
- Australians have vented frustration over common mispronunciations
- It comes after writer Kel Richards revealed words often said incorrectly
- Ask, specific, something, vulnerable, and espresso were among worst offenders
Australians have vented their frustration over the ‘death of the English language’ after a writer revealed the country’s most commonly mispronounced words.
Hundreds took to social media to slam the mispronunciation of simple words such as ‘ask’, ‘specific’, ‘something’ and ‘espresso’, in response to a Sky News interview with renowned wordsmith, Kel Richards.
The 75-year-old told host Peta Credlin he believes mispronunciation is caused by nothing more than a ‘lazy mind and lazy mouth’.
One person said they cannot stand how ‘vulnerable’ is often pronounced as ‘vun-rable’, or how ‘something’ is sometimes said as ‘some-fink’.
Hundreds took to social media to slam the mispronunciation of simple words such as ‘ask’ and ‘espresso’, which is often said as ‘ex-presso’
A second said people who pronounce ‘ask’ as ‘aks’ make them ‘want to scream’, while a third said their pet peeve is ‘should of’ instead of ‘should have’.
Speaking to Sky News last week, Mr Richards said he received a ‘tsunami’ of emails from viewers complaining about the mispronunciation of words such as fifth, normality, and remuneration, the term for money paid for work or a service.
He said dozens more wondered why often, burglar and the phrase ‘pleaded guilty’ are so widely misspoken.
Mr Richards expressed disbelief about the confusion surrounding ‘remuneration’.
‘I still don’t understand how people can make that mistake, if they’re the least bit educated, because they can’t write the word like that,’ he said.
A second said people who pronounce ‘ask’ as ‘aks’ make them ‘want to scream’ (stock image)
Later in the segment, Mr Richards dismissed the mispronunciation of the word fifth – which Australians often say as ‘fith’ – as pure laziness.
‘They leave out the ‘f’ in the middle…these things are caused by a lazy mouth or a lazy mind, and this is a lazy mouth – it’s someone not bothering to bring their bottom lip up to their teeth,’ he said.
He offered similar criticism for those who pronounce often as ‘off-ten’, with a hard ‘t’.
Australian writer Kel Richards dismissed the mispronunciation of the word fifth – which Australians often say as ‘fith’ – as nothing but laziness (stock image)
Mr Richards said anyone who says ‘normalcy’ instead of ‘normality’ using an Americanised version of the word, while people who say ‘plead guilty’ instead of the correct past participle ‘pleaded’ are using a colloquialism from Scotland.
The clarifications, which have racked up almost 4,000 views since they were uploaded to YouTube on Wednesday, sparked passionate responses.
‘OFF-TEN is a pet peeve of mine, spoken on the US east coast. The T is silent,’ one man wrote.
Mr Richards said some of Australia’s most commonly pronounced words include burglar (left) and the phrase ‘pleaded guilty’ (right)
After claiming that mispronunciation is caused by a ‘lazy mind and lazy mouth’, Mr Richards expressed disbelief about the confusion surrounding ‘remuneration’ (stock image)
Others vented their frustration about additional mispronunciations.
‘The most cringeworthy Aussie pronunciation is saying data as ‘darter’ instead of ‘day ter’,’ one man wrote.
‘How about ‘should have’ instead of the incorrect ‘should of’,’ said a second.
A third added: ‘Prahran (the area). I am always hearing people who cannot pronounce Prahran trying to help others pronounce it. Only deep routed old Melbourne folk get it right,’