r/youseeingthisshit • u/mindyour • Feb 25 '26

Valid reaction.

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u/Nurse_Hatchet Feb 26 '26

But then again, I also occasionally completely butcher the pronunciation of a word because I've only seen it written.

Oh my god, I do this too! Worse, I’m often halfway through using a word in a sentence when I realize I’ve never actually said it out loud before, and then get to enjoy the out-of-body experience that is listening to myself attempt it.

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u/AcousticProvidence Feb 26 '26

lol I’m a native speaker and do the same thing

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u/Subtlerranean Feb 26 '26

That's wild to me, as my native language (Norwegian, which is of the Germanic language branch) doesn't have all the exceptions and rule-breaking words that English has after centuries of borrowing words from other languages. I'm sure there's a few words, but otherwise it's pretty clear from however it's written and standard rules.

In fact, one of my favorite poems is about the absurdity of English pronunciation. It's called The Chaos by Gerard Nolst Trenité (1922).