We all know it's to-MAY-toe here and to-MAH-toe to our cousins across the pond. But not everyone knows it's EAR-rock, not EYE-rack. So, how about al-Qaeda? It is an Arabic word meaning "the base" and is pronounced alka-EYE-da. According to Nail Al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C., there is an extra vowel after the Qa that doesn't exist in English. In a pinch you could say al-KY-da, but not al-KAY-da.
Now that I've cleared that up, are there people out there who irritate you by pronouncing certain words incorrectly? You know, like our beloved Presi- dent's nu-KU-ler instead of nu-KLEE-er.
We all know it's to-MAY-toe here and to-MAH-toe to our cousins across the pond. But not everyone knows it's EAR-rock, not EYE-rack. So, how about al-Qaeda? It is an Arabic word meaning "the base" and is pronounced alka-EYE-da. According to Nail Al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington D.C., there is an extra vowel after the Qa that doesn't exist in English. In a pinch you could say al-KY-da, but not al-KAY-da.
Now that I've cleared that up, are there people out there who irritate you by pronouncing certain words incorrectly? You know, like our beloved Presi- dent's nu-KU-ler instead of nu-KLEE-er.