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A Necessary History of the Oddest Letter: W

203 points · 109 comments · NaOH

  1. tndibona · · focus · HN ↗
    On another note - Indians often switch the w’s and v’s. I don’t know why. If you’re Indian - try pronouncing victory, whisky, and wonderful.
    1. left-struck · · focus · HN ↗
      I’ve always wondered what native English speakers get wrong in this way in various other languages. Anyone got any anecdotes?
      1. tndibona · · focus · HN ↗
        I’m not American, but I after living here - I’ve noticed a few. They sometimes say “axe” for “ask”. They fail to enunciate “respiratory” fully - they say “res-pah-tory”. Also, they fail to pronounce the f in fifth - like they say fith. Certain words like “squirrel” tend to get squished into “skwol” while I’m used to pronouncing it in two syllables. I’m trying to think of similar examples.

        Edit : I now realise that all of the above are incorrect examples in the context of what is being discussed. Pardon me!

        1. chuckadams · · focus · HN ↗
          "Nuke-yoo-ler. It's pronounced nuke-yoo-ler."

          Jimmy Carter pronounced it "Nook-ler". And he used to serve on a nookler submarine.

          1. tndibona · · focus · HN ↗
            Hah! I grew up pronouncing it “nyu-clear”. Two syllables.
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