Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The best ones are thoughts that many people can relate to and they find something funny or interesting in regular stuff.

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There's probably a word I've been pronouncing wrong my whole life that I don't know about (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Just based on how often I notice someone mispronounce a word without realizing it (or have done so myself and realized it later). Statistically I'm probably still doing it with some word.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 9 months ago (3 children)

A "niche" is not a "nitch"

[–] [email protected] 17 points 9 months ago (3 children)

You're a bit too late for trying to complain about that one.

The latter has been the dominant American pronunciation of the word for so long that it now appears as the primary pronunciation guide in American dictionaries.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 9 months ago

Both Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster agree that "nitch" was the correct pronunciation in both British and American English until very recently. You already linked Merriam-Webster, so here's O.E.D:

N.E.D. (1907) gives only the pronunciation (nitʃ) /nɪtʃ/ and the pronunciation /niːʃ/ is apparently not recorded before this date. H. Michaelis & D. Jones Phonetic Dict. Eng. Lang. (1913), and all editions of D. Jones Eng. Pronouncing Dict. up to and including the fourteenth edition (1977) give /nɪtʃ/ as the typical pronunciation and /niːʃ/ as an alternative pronunciation. The fifteenth edition (1991) gives /niːʃ/ in British English and /nɪtʃ/ in U.S. English.

(N.E.D is the original name of the O.E.D. "/nɪtʃ/" is pronounced "nitch" and /niːʃ/ is pronounced "neesh".)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I hope cache isn't pronounced like cachet (rhymes with sashay) rather than cash.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Australians pronounce is as kaysh which Ive always used, and I was horribly annoyed by Americans pronouncing it cash.

I was even more annoyed when I learned that cash is the “correct” way to pronounce it!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Get used to it, my Australian friend

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

It varies by region at least in the US based on a few years of doing service desk work. Listening to YouTubers, it seems a bit all over the place as well.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

It likely correlates with French influence in the South, seeing as it is a French word.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Some of the the Louisana folks would often say ka-SHAY in a wonderful Cajun accent.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

They're exactly the ones who should know better...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Well, crap. Guess I'll eat a nice quitch to chear myself up

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

You mean a quickie?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

As long as it's not scrambled, I suppose

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Fun fact i lost a regional spelling bee because of those exact words. I should have asked for usage example but I was like 11 and terrified

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Or a niece, Eric Matthews.