How do you pronounce words?

[Diane AKA Traska]

My son came home from school yesterday and told me he was learning about the philosophers SO-crates (Socrates), Pla-TEAU (Plato), and Hair-o-DEE-as (Herodias)   

So-Crates?  EXCELLENT!

[reflection5]

Sword - heard someone pronounce it with the "w", kind of like "toward".  The w is silent, pronunced like "board".

Prerogative - the first "r" is silent.  Often misspelled.

[Bottlecaps]

Sword - heard someone pronounce it with the "w", kind of like "toward".  The w is silent, pronunced like "board".

Prerogative - the first "r" is silent.  Often misspelled.

I pronounce "sword" with the W. I'm not sure why, I just always have. I know it's not supposed to be pronounced like that, it's just so drilled into me by now that it's hard for me to change my ways, hehe.

However, I must respectfully disagree about the pronunciation of the word "prerogative." I actually had to look it up because I thought, "Maybe I've been saying that one wrong the whole time, too." LOL.

(Quoted from Google)

pre·rog·a·tive 
/priˈrägətiv/

[reflection5]

The American pronunciation of prerogative is

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/pronunciation/american/prerogative

(you can listen)

But I don't want a google war.

[WillyNilly]

The American pronunciation of prerogative is

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/pronunciation/american/prerogative

(you can listen)

But I don't want a google war.

I hear both the "r"s in that link.

MacMillian dictionary even writes out the pronounciation with both "r"s: prɪˈrɑɡətɪv

Miriam Webster: pre·rog·a·tive noun \pri-ˈrä-gə-tiv\
Dictionary.com: pre·rog·a·tive  /priˈrägətiv/
TheFreeDictionary.com: pre·rog·a·tive 

[Bluenomi]

When I moved to the UK it took me a while to work out what time half 8 was. Apparently it is 8:30 or half past 8. It makes sense when you think about it but wasn't what I was used to!

I vary what I say Sometimes it's quarter past or quarter to, other times its x:15/45. I work in 24 hour time so sometimes it will be 20:15 just to make life fun.

When I worked in TV we worked on a 30 hour clock so 2 am was 26:00. That's not at all confusing!

The 30 hour clock sounds a bit odd.  Was that done to accommodate different time zones?  How did it get reset?

I'm going to take a guess here.  Since early morning is actually considered late night by TV, I'm going to guess that 00:00 to 06:00 simply don't exist, and the rest is as a normal 24-hour clock.

That's fairly close. Our schedule ran from 6am to 6am so to avoid getting confused it was 0600-2959 so it was all on the same day. So Wednesday was 0600 Wednesday morning to 05:59am Thursday.

[Diane AKA Traska]

When I moved to the UK it took me a while to work out what time half 8 was. Apparently it is 8:30 or half past 8. It makes sense when you think about it but wasn't what I was used to!

I vary what I say Sometimes it's quarter past or quarter to, other times its x:15/45. I work in 24 hour time so sometimes it will be 20:15 just to make life fun.

When I worked in TV we worked on a 30 hour clock so 2 am was 26:00. That's not at all confusing!

The 30 hour clock sounds a bit odd.  Was that done to accommodate different time zones?  How did it get reset?

I'm going to take a guess here.  Since early morning is actually considered late night by TV, I'm going to guess that 00:00 to 06:00 simply don't exist, and the rest is as a normal 24-hour clock.

That's fairly close. Our schedule ran from 6am to 6am so to avoid getting confused it was 0600-2959 so it was all on the same day. So Wednesday was 0600 Wednesday morning to 05:59am Thursday.

Yeah, our local cable company used to do that a long time ago... new programming day started at 6AM.  These days, of course, it's largely irrelevant, with 24 hour channels and such.

[reflection5]

I hear both the "r"s in that link.

It's your prerogative to pronounce prerogative however you wish.

[Melle]

Hair-o-DEE-as (Herodias)

Incidentally, that would be correct.

When I was doing voiceover work, I kept stumbling over the combination of the words "with psychic" - I needed about 10 tries to get it right. Why oh why is that p silent >_<

[Thipu1]

Hair-o-DEE-as (Herodias)

Incidentally, that would be correct.

When I was doing voiceover work, I kept stumbling over the combination of the words "with psychic" - I needed about 10 tries to get it right. Why oh why is that p silent >_<

In my working life, we often dealt with the works of 'Her-OH-dee-us'.  That was nothing compared to helping people pronounce  'Nespanetjerenpere'.  Even 'Meroe' was often pronounced 'Mer-OH'.

[Bottlecaps]

The American pronunciation of prerogative is

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/pronunciation/american/prerogative

(you can listen)

But I don't want a google war.

I hear both the "r"s in that link.

MacMillian dictionary even writes out the pronounciation with both "r"s: prɪˈrɑɡətɪv

Miriam Webster: pre·rog·a·tive noun \pri-ˈrä-gə-tiv\
Dictionary.com: pre·rog·a·tive  /priˈrägətiv/
TheFreeDictionary.com: pre·rog·a·tive

Yep. It's really easy to miss that first "R" I think though, so I tend to give a pass on that word.

It's your prerogative to pronounce prerogative however you wish.

Hehe, well said!

[Melle]

In my working life, we often dealt with the works of 'Her-OH-dee-us'.  That was nothing compared to helping people pronounce  'Nespanetjerenpere'.  Even 'Meroe' was often pronounced 'Mer-OH'.

Hang on, are we talking about the princess or the poet (the latter being Herodas)?

[BeagleMommy]

After I left government work it took me forever to stop using military time.  The first phone message I left for my new supervisor said that the caller called at 14:22.

Supervisor asked what clock did I have that gave the time at 14 o'clock. 

[Bottlecaps]

After I left government work it took me forever to stop using military time.  The first phone message I left for my new supervisor said that the caller called at 14:22.

Supervisor asked what clock did I have that gave the time at 14 o'clock. 

LOL! When I was a kid, the first time I ever saw military time, I said, "Uncle Bottlecaps, what's (I can't remember the exact time it was, so I'll use an example) 15 o'clock 43 mean? There is no 15 o'clock!" (It was on a speeding ticket my uncle had gotten, lol.

[RingTailedLemur]

That surprises me, I was taught the 24hour clock in primary school and it is used widely here (my cable TV guide, for example).