A python is not just a rather dangerous looking animal. It also gave the name to a very powerful and popular programming language — Python. Having heard different people pronounce Python in different ways, I decided to look up its pronunciation. This is what I found. In British English, Python is pronounced as [ˈpaɪθən], whereas
Given the recent political developments in Europe, the word refugee is now used much more often by non-native speakers. Because most of them are not aware of the correct pronunciation, let me mention it here. The most obvious mistake is to stress the word on the first syllable. Instead, refugee is stressed on the last
German (and very likely other) speakers sometimes use the phrase at best incorrectly, and have no idea how big a blunder that is. The problem is that at best has the meaning of the best thing in a bad situation, and therefore has to be used with care. For example, I’m at best qualified for
While reading an article about BMW’s Harald Krũger, who apparently fainted on stage at the Frankfurt Auto show but is OK, I noticed that BMW cited “circulation problems” as the cause. The term is a translation of the German expression Kreislaufprobleme. However, circulation problems in English refer to a serious and often lethal condition caused
In today’s business-driven world, many people are using the word corporate, even in non-English speaking countries. Whether you are talking about corporate design, corporate identity or something else, let me inform you about the correct pronunciation of corporate. According to the OED, the correct pronunciation is either [ˈkɔːpərət] (British English) or [ˈkɔːrpərət] (American English). You
A while ago, while watching Downton Abbey, I noticed that the name Alfred can be tricky to pronounce for non-native speakers. In particular, I remembered where I had heard it being pronounced differently — on TV. I’m not afraid to admit that I used to quite enjoy watching the TV series Batman while growing up.
I have noticed that the word broad is quite often pronounced in the wrong way by nonnative speakers. Therefore, let me discuss the different correct and incorrect variants. Let us consider the correct pronunciation first. In BrE, we have [brɔːd], while in AmE it is [braːd] (listen here). Even though the OED gives the same
I find the incorrect pronunciation of the word parameter in English (and of Parameter in German) both annoying and fascinating. Remarkably, the mistake is made both by professionals who use it almost every day, and people who haven’t used the word parameter since they distanced themselves from mathematics after high school. The OED gives the
Are you an engineer? Even if not, you may want to find out about the correct pronunciation of the word engineer, because many people are not aware of it. The pronunciation is tricky because it differs from that of the word engine in terms of stress. While engine is usually pronounced correctly, namely as [ˈendʒɪn]
I recently came across a scientific paper in which the authors (who struggled with the English language quite a bit throughout the text) used “to testify” instead of “to test”. However, the meaning of these two verbs is very different. According to the OED, to testify means either 1. to make a statement that something