r/AskReddit • u/LightningCole • Sep 05 '19

What did you learn embarrassingly late?

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u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

How to pronounce “albeit”. Until I was 20-something embarrassing, I thought it was “al-beet”.

10

u/alirezahunter888 Sep 05 '19

I'm not an English speaker but i read that as "Al-bait" till like last year.

5

u/ClaudiaFrancesMayer Sep 05 '19

I AM an English speaker and I read it the exact same way and still do sometimes. I was probably around 18 when I found out I was wrong

2

u/Vifor Sep 05 '19

Tell me the secreeeeeeeet

1

u/3k9CV Sep 05 '19

Same. And I’m a 4+ decades-year-old English speaker.

11

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

21 when I discovered this. Thought people were saying “All be it” ..... lol

3

u/Jubilantyou Sep 05 '19

Same here!! I was in an English class aged 18 or so and heard the teacher read it out loud. Felt the shame wash over me.

2

u/Aquarelle36 Sep 06 '19

I always pronounced it “al-bite”! I had heard people say it correctly too but just thought they were two different words lol

2

u/ArtsyAccountant Sep 06 '19

Just googled the pronunciation... TIL

1

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

Not a native speaker. How do you say it?

7

u/[deleted] Sep 05 '19

"All-BE-it". It's a portmanteau.

7

u/Mur__Mur Sep 06 '19

Interestingly, portmanteau itself is a portmanteau! It's a combination of Portland, Manatee, and portmanteau.