empire waistline.
Don't say "umpire waistline." This fashion style has little to do with baseball officiating.
Say ahm-PEER (French pronunication) waistline.
memento.
Don't say "MO-men-to." Here's a hint: Think "remember" or "reminisce." Don't think "moment," or it's all over. (And please don't go saying "reMOnisce" either.)
Say mem-MEN-toe.
Moscow.
Don't say "Mos-cow." There's no "cow" in Moscow.
Say Mos-coe.
Neanderthal.
Don't say "Nee-AN-der-thal." Lest you be thought one, the "h" in "thal" is silent (German pronunciation).
Say Nee-AN-der-tall.
nuclear.
Don't say "NUKE-you-lar." Thank you, Still President Bush, for this legacy.
Say NEW-clee-ar.
often.
Don't say"OFF-ten." Do you say the "t" in "listen" and "soften"? The "t" is silent.
Say OFF-en.
would have, should have
Don't say (or write) "would of, should of." These phrases don't exist.
Use "would have" or "should have."
Note: This is also flat wrong: "If I would have known...".
It's "If I had known...".
A correct use of "would have" is: "I would have called you, if you had let me know. But probably not, given your careless pronunciation."

3 comments:
Right on most counts, except the "t" in "listen" and "often". "Offen" and "lissen" sound crude to my ear.
Moscow is one of those interesting pronunciations.
Mirriam-webster pronounce it as mos-coh, while American Heritage has both mos-cow and mos-coh
The natives pronounce it as mos-kva where va is like the letter wow in persian language, but slightly different :)
Interesting! I'm sure I've never heard the native pronunciation, but now I want to. : ) Thanks, Saqib!
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