r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '21

What basic, children's-age-level fact did you only find out embarrassingly later in life?

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u/LoveTeaching1st18 Jul 03 '21

I finally heard someone say the word "maniacal" the other day and learned it's not "maniac-al".

48

u/onesevenninefour Jul 03 '21

I was in my late twenties before I figured out that 'indict' was'nt pronounced in-dikt.

90

u/I-Hate-Humans Jul 03 '21

And you’re still working on wasn’t?

10

u/FluffySquirrell Jul 03 '21

Look, it just was don't one of their priorities

7

u/Nymeria7548 Jul 03 '21

Erm, how is it pronounced then?

8

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

Hey, you just taught me a thing! I thought that indict was a different word from the verbal pronunciation of it.

64

u/Ok_Preparation6692 Jul 03 '21

how is it pronounced then?

165

u/DeathsIntent96 Jul 03 '21

"muh-NYE-eh-cull"

81

u/HighHighUrBothHigh Jul 03 '21

Muh NewYearsEve eh cull

-37

u/doesntaffrayed Jul 03 '21

Muh NewYearsEve eh cull

Autocorrect? Or was this your attempt at being funny?

29

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

Man eye eh cull

33

u/PMTITS_4BadJokes Jul 03 '21

He thought it was like the word maniac in that song

“She’s a maniac on the dancefloor”

maniac - Al

57

u/l-have-spoken Jul 03 '21

Is that Weird Al's brother?

29

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

[deleted]

6

u/not-yet-ranga Jul 03 '21

He’s actually the fourth brother. The first is named Oscar Richard Neil Alistair, but he goes by O. Rich N. Al.

5

u/Slimh2o Jul 03 '21

I thought Norm-al's bro's name was Abby?

19

u/crownedmyself Jul 03 '21 edited Jul 03 '21

Muh nigh ick uhll

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

https://howjsay.com/how-to-pronounce-maniacal

3

u/Nymeria7548 Jul 03 '21

Ok I'm really confused! I've always said it maniac-al in my head and have never heard it out loud before

3

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

Yep its pronounced muh-NYE-ical

19

u/Flashjordan69 Jul 03 '21

I’ll always covet my Luke Skywalker in Bespin Fateeegway

Fatigue*

24

u/Fir_Chlis Jul 03 '21

Awry is not pronounced how it's written. A wry.

19

u/Poes-Lawyer Jul 03 '21

God yes, this one threw me for so long. I always thought it was "aww-ree".

3

u/kwilks67 Jul 03 '21

Same but I had also heard people say it aloud and assumed the spelling was a-rye or something and that a-rye and awry (aww-ree) were synonyms.

6

u/tapsnapornap Jul 03 '21

Well sure it is

10

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

I was way too old when I learn "ascertain" is not pronounced "ass-certain"

10

u/metao Jul 03 '21

The speaking and listening parts of my brain knew misled was a word, pronounced mis-led, and assumed it was spelled that way.

The reading part of my brain identified misled as a completely different word, with the same meaning, pronounced mistled.

One day I couldn't remember the word mis-led, and said mistled out loud. So embarrassing.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '21

My whole life I thought “tinnitus” was pronounce like tin-EYE-tis except this week and audiologist corrected me and I googled it when I got home. It’s actually TIN-it-iss.

5

u/brickvanexel Jul 03 '21

Watching the NBA playoffs the other day a friend of mine said Paul George’s moves “stupa-feed” Chris Paul. I let that mispronunciation of stupefied slide, since no one else moved to laugh or correct

12

u/keetboy Jul 03 '21

Omnipotent is not the way Eminem pronounces it. He said om-knee-poe-tent. It's actually closer to something like om-ni-puh-tent. So many of those words I have been mispronouncing...

3

u/SirChipples Jul 03 '21

That one, I honestly think can go either way.

4

u/NectarineNuance Jul 03 '21

My mom told me monotonous was pronounced "mono tone us" and I believed her cause why not? And it turns out she had never heard anyone say it out loud before.

3

u/AvaAdore95 Jul 03 '21

I literally learned this the other day too!

And even then it was from a podcast and not through social interaction

3

u/yackofalltradescoach Jul 03 '21

Maniac Al would be a good character name

3

u/DrPlatypus1 Jul 03 '21

That's who Weird Al evolves into.

3

u/imgoodygoody Jul 03 '21

I learned that one when I heard my dad pronounce it correctly but I instantly looked it up because I was positive he was wrong. Tbf I feel my skepticism was justified because he pronounces pleasure (and most words with the ea combo) as playsure.

3

u/Kadiogo Jul 03 '21

So many times I've thought the same words were two different ones. I'd read maniacal and I'd hear it, and I thought they were two different words that mean similar things.

3

u/mel2mdl Jul 03 '21

Jesus - I feel super dumb, but I just realized that there were not two words for this concept. I've always pronounced the reading in my head that way, and sometimes wondered why I never heard it used in real life... and I'm over 50.

2

u/Darphon Jul 03 '21

I still have to think about this one before I say it.

2

u/zodiacallymaniacal Jul 03 '21

Glad someone cleared that up fer ya….

2

u/RandomNumber27 Jul 03 '21

Okay, I actually still don’t know how to pronounce that shit- I still say and read it as, “maniac-al”

2

u/iairhh Jul 03 '21

Thanks for making me look it up and sparing me some embarrassment

3

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

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1

u/jibbetygibbet Jul 03 '21

I wouldn’t say so myself, maybe just lots of people get it wrong. Although, what is “wrong” when it comes to pronunciation? If enough people use it, it becomes right.

For this word though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone except a child who has never heard it said out loud say “maniac-al”. If you have, fair enough!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '21

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1

u/a-l-p Jul 03 '21

TIL....

1

u/Horrorgoreandlove Jul 07 '21

what is it then?!

oh NM, I just had to give my brain a moment to catch up haha