English is weird. Do you have a word that bothers you or a question about the inconsistency of English?

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Spotlight Admin 1 month ago

I thought this might be a fun discussion...

This was borne out of a conniption my youngest had about some words of which she wasn't sure of the correct pronunciation. The original was "respite", but after learning the ways it's pronounced, she went on to rant about "niche". (https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/ helped with both.)

What are the English oddities or pet peeves that plague you?

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I. Graham Smith Author 3 weeks ago

I've definitely heard people where English is not their first language complain about the inconsistencies in the rules... but aside from the rules, it seems to me that many of the issues are simply local dialect.

The one that I encounter most frequently is "Appalachian."
Growing up in the west, it was Appa-LAY-shun.

In the east where the term originated (from the Apalachee indians) it is Appa-LATCH-un.
I moved to the region some time ago and the people here are very insistent on this.

Though it wasn't how I was taught, I do feel like the locals have more of a right (especially historically) to win the debate over this pronunciation.

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