By anon - 25/09/2014 05:48 - United States - Germantown

Today, I have learned a lot of "big" words from reading so much, but can actually only pronounce about half of them correctly. FML
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Top comments

ActionFearo 39

I wish there was some device to pronounce words for us, maybe an online source of some mysterious origin, Idk. Guess we're out of luck for now.

109 4
christiee 10

I think anyone who teaches themselves new words by reading shouldn't be embarrassed by other people's reactions because they can't pronounce them correctly. At least those people are going out there and teaching themselves something new, and heightening your knowledge isn't something anyone should be making fun of.

51 2

Comments

NiceGuysDoWin 21

Without bragging, my vocabulary is larger than about 80% of the US population, but my wife's vocab puts mine to shame. She is a linguist, a copy editor, and a walking dictionary. She also has this same problem. She's constantly using words that she knows their proper definition, and uses them in their proper context, but is completely unfamiliar with their proper pronunciation. About once a week she will use a random word and I'll have to guess if it's a word I don't know, or if it's something I do know and she's just mispronouncing it.

26 3
martin8337 35

Just talk plain English, that way most everyone can understand what you are saying.

0 26
laden_swallow09 34

Unfortunately, most people simply aren't worth any conversation other than superficial small talk. People like OP want to broaden their horizons instead of staying complacent with the bare minimum.

10 1
Brandi_Faith 33

These words are plain English, they're just bigger than some other words.

7 0
Nyx7 24

So in other words dumb yourself down for the masses, brilliant :D

5 1
xrudeboyrock 29

that's great for you. I understand it must be frustrating and you feel silly if you mispronounce a word you've only read and not heard, but hey, you're self-taught, how many people can say that?

4 3
jennakat01 7

I don't see this as a FML. When I was in 7th grade, I thought "facade" was pronounced with a short "a" and a "k-like" c. And the ending was like aid. When I actually used the word, not only did all of my classmates not know what EITHER version meant, but my teacher had no idea what word I was trying to say. Little me didn't give a shit, even if some would have been embarrassed. Just be happy you're enhancing your vocabulary. Your interpretation shouldn't be too off so they should be able to tell, or just ask ya. Go reading!

1 0
jackycat 17

All I thought of was the How I Met Your Mother episode where Ted pronounces chameleon wrong in front of his all his students. I'm sorry OP for my giggles.

3 4
ArkNon 6

I've had the same problem! But now I've learned to look them up online for pronunciation.

1 1
stewpididiot 11

Hmm... When I was a kid we had these things called 'DICTIONARY'S.. If you looked up a word, you could find out how to spell it correctly, pronounce it properly, & what it actually meant.

0 10
Mojo0608 26

Dictionary: [dik-shuh-ner-ee] noun, plural: dictionaries

5 0
Sagan928 7

Look at the bright side, you already know how to pronounce half of them! Only half to go!

0 1
Merridew 8

Imagine how hard it is for foreigners (I coudn't even spell the word "foreigners" correctly :( )

1 1
sydstoomuch 19

This is probably the lamest fml I've read in a while. You should be fine as long as you can communicate coherently.

0 0