Do you correct someone when..

[bankside]

I think this is probably pretty straightforward. When I was calling it Spokane instead of Spokann, someone just said "It's pronounced 'Spokann,' actually."

Probably no one has ever corrected her out of an overblown fear that she is touchy about her accent, or maybe because they think she can't physically pronounce the word properly.

I dunno. I don't see it's a big deal either way.

 

[SonOfSlobone]

What could be more rude?

 

[GiacomoPisani]

well at least she was corrected politely,i have been corrected by making fun of me so many times,if not ask my partner,hahahaha i always tell him to fuck off.
but i wouldn't feel insulted if a gringo tries to correct me in a nice way,i actually feel like... oh how nice!! coz i know i have a horrible accent and i don't pronounce the words correctly but i'm sort of lazy too so i give a damn about it.who cares? everybody knows that i'm italian so they gotta deal with it.however,i do which i had a better accent,of course,but hopefully my major is not public oriented so that's why i no longer care about pronouncing the words correctly.i also have a lot of problems with grammar but i have no desire to improve it coz i don't wanna complicate my life learning new english grammar,i feel too saturated with a lot of crap that i've learned.
i wouldn't feel offended if someone who speaks english better than me tries to correct my accent or my grammatical mistakes,i take it as a nice gesture and i appreciate that.

the funny thing is that when i go to a job interview that's when i really try to sound flawless,and i after i get the job,my english goes down the toilet again .how weird!!!

 

[voyager1994]

That depends - yes if I know the person well enough and that person is comfortable with me. Otherwise, generally NO.

 

[Swellegant]

What could be more rude?

Punch her in the face and scream, "Say it right, you fucking bitch!" That would be a lot more rude.

Correcting the pronunciation of a word would depend a great deal on the context: if I felt the correction would be received in the spirit in which it was given, then I correct away; if I have even the slightest suspicion that the person would be offended, I keep it to myself.

In your specific case, I would have corrected her (very gently) and softened the blow with a nugget of trivia: did you know that Arkansas is the only state in the Union with the pronunciation of its name codified in its Constitution? After all, she might have been testing you to see what you'd do. I mean, is this a job where they want you to follow orders blindly, or is it one where they want you to have a spine?

 

[syoBsUtsuJ]

Much like having a booger on one's nose or food between their teeth, I'll try to discretely tell said person. I know that I'd rather be corrected or told immediately as soon as possible over going on for hours (days, months, or years per incorrect enunciation) ignorant of the fact.

In example: my first semester of university, I was working on a speech that I'd shared with the class per requisite, but not even the professor corrected my assertion of "I've beared witness to _______." It was only my mother listening to it on the phone that corrected me; it's supposed to be, "I've BORN witness to ... " Gawd bless retired English professors that almost demand to be called, "Dr." lol

 

[PKMO]

Someone once corrected me on a word that can be pronounced in different ways. That was irritating.

 

[pat grimshaw]

Who decides the 'correct' pronounciation of a word from another language?

 

[jackoroe]

I feel really badly for anyone trying to learn English. Because it's an amalgamation of a bunch of other languages, it's a real mess to master.

If it's someone who speaks English as a second language, I'll try and help them if they really murder a particular word. Just do it in a constructive way, and they generally appreciate it.

 

[unloadonme]

I wouldn't correct an American because they mangle English so badly that it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

 

[pat grimshaw]

I wouldn't correct an American because they mangle English so badly .....)

how amusing!

 

[Jerry2000]

I would correct only if it would make a difference or perhaps get them lost.

For example with a word like "Arkansas" it would depend entirely on whether they were talking about the river or the state.

The rivers are called "Ar - kansas" and "little Ar - Kansas."

The state is of course "ar can saw."

 

[pat grimshaw]

…The rivers are called "Ar - kansas" and "little Ar - Kansas."
…The state is of course "ar can saw."

Oh Jerry, in that case visitors should be told. Visitors would be unlikely to know about such arcane usage

 

[Musik2400]

I correct them icely. i figure its nicer to do that than let them go around saying the word wrong and possibly have poeple laugh at them.

Except with my boyfriend.

 

[GiacomoPisani]

all my friends and my partner speak english perfectly without and accent and they ask me why after i 've been living in the usa for so long i still have an accent.they think that getting rid of an accent is as easy as cleaning my ass.no sweethearts is not that easy!!!!!
English is a very difficult language to pronounce specially for spanish and italian speaking people.when i speak spanish and say short sentences not having complicated conjugations people think that i'm latino.so spanish is very easy for me and i don't have to stress myself to pronounce just one word,so english is always a headache because the sounds are awful to make.so i gave up trying to pronounce english words correctly a long time ago.

 

[ozguy]

.... I think it sounds ludicrous and pompous and silly when non-Australians (North Americans in particular) try to say "Kens" instead of "Cairns."

The place is called Cairns. Say it the way you would in your ordinary speaking voice, and don't go all "Australian" in the middle of the sentence just for one word just because that's how they say it. It sounds ridiculous.

CaiRns.

Huh???? But we do say "Cairns", mate! Or does it sound like "Kens" to non-Australian ears? Sometimes you'll hear Aussies (mainly eastern staters) say "Cans" rather than "Cairns", but never "Kens"!

The pronunciation of Melbourne is another interesting one. Americans say MelbORne; whereas we Aussies never emphasise the "OR" bit .... it's just Melb'n to us.

 

[castoono]

I am correcting myself of correcting people. I'm giving up actually.

 

[wundersteve]

No, I don't correct someone's pronunciations, and if someone does that to me, I get very irritated and will thereafter continue to use the same word with the same pronunciation repeatedly.

Unless of course it is their name, which is a different matter. I try to say and spell people's names correctly.

 

[bankside]

Huh???? But we do say "Cairns", mate! Or does it sound like "Kens" to non-Australian ears? Sometimes you'll hear Aussies (mainly eastern staters) say "Cans" rather than "Cairns", but never "Kens"!

The pronunciation of Melbourne is another interesting one. Americans say MelbORne; whereas we Aussies never emphasise the "OR" bit .... it's just Melb'n to us.

Yeah, it sounds a lot like "kens" to us actually. Mostly it sounds like Australians don't bother with the "r," much like the Brits. But the vowels are different to how we'd use them too.

for instance, if one Canadian wanted to get another Canadian to say "Australia" the way it sounds when you say it, we'd probably spell it "Austrile-ya." Your "a" is close enough to our "i" to merge when we listen.

Which looks like madness to you, and probably wouldn't even sound the way you say it, but it is close enough that we'd know we're putting on an Aussie accent.

 

[chrisrobin]

I wouldn't correct an American because they mangle English so badly that it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

I remember the line from "My Fair Lady" where Prof. Higgins says regarding English, "In America they haven't used it for years."
One of my usual snot-nosed remarks when seeing an American being interviewed on American television, "they should have used subtitles!"