Sunday, September 16, 2007

Transposed proununciations

Which of the following is correct (one for each pair):
larnyx/larynx
pharnyx/pharynx
chaise lounge/chaise longue
rophynol/rohypnol

Each of the words in the above pairs is pronounced differently. And in each case, the second word is the correct spelling (and thus pronunciation).

Larynx is correctly pronounced "lare-inks", whereas the incorrect version (larnyx) is "lare-nix". I wouldn't go to any doctor who calls it a "lare-nix".

Chaise longue: chaise is French for chair, and longue is French for...long. And in English, it is properly pronounced "shaze long".

Rohypnol is the infamous date rape drug that is often mispronounced as rophynol. It is this dyslexic pronunciation that (most likely) gave rise to its nickname, "roofie".

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