15 English Words French Canadian People Always Get Wrong
Last week, while writing a story about the city of Longeuil I couldn't help but smile when I heard how some of my Anglophone co-workers were pronouncing it. So we went on a quest to find more words English people are forced to attempt to pronounce on daily basis.
Words likeCirque du Soleil which end up sounding like (sirk doo so lay).
After we posted this article we got an overwhelming response from people claiming the opposite was also true.
15 French Canadian Words English People Always Get Wrong
Luckily, both my parents are super French, so I heard most of these words growing up. In fact, I'd like to thank them both for providing me with so much material.
These are the English expressions that Francophone people simply can't pronounce properly.
Happy Hour
This is a classic problem a lot of French Canadians struggle with. The hard and silent "H" sound. They always seem to pronounce the silent "H" and skip over the hard "H". So this ends up sounding like: "Appy HHHour."
What's even funnier is how my parents (And tons of other French Canadians) always add "H" where it doesn't belong: "Look into my heyes."
Squirrel
While anglophones get this word over with as quickly as possible (In only 1 syllable, like: Swirl), French people prolong their own suffering by dragging this one out which sound more like: "Square-Ol."
Thorough
If you want to screw over a french person, just throw in any word that had the same letter pronounced 2 different ways. What should be pronounced "Thur-Owe" sounds more like "Tho-row".
Thousandths
As if the the "TH" sounds wasn't difficult enough, this word packs 2 of them. And even if you get through the first one, the second one is booby-trapped with an "N", a "D" and nice "S" at the end just to fuck you over. I know some English people who can't say this one right either, so don't feel too bad.
Hedgehog
Here we encounter the same problem as "Happy Hour". Because the letter H just doesn't give a fuck about your rules. You'll hear "Edge-Hog" and "Hedge-Og" but never "Hedge-Hog".
South
This one I learned from my dad. Every time we'd take a road trip and we encountered the word South on a road sign, he'd say something that sounded closer to "Souts". Same problem when it came to the word "mouth".
Thriller
If it wasn't for Michael Jackson I never would have noticed this one, but growing up I remember hearing adults everywhere, including radio hosts calling the album: Triller.
Saint Adolphe d'Howard
I heard this on TV and I died laughing because most of the population there is French, and yet they're stuck with a name that has no French equivalent.
Jewelry
This word is just cruel. Because it is a "Jewel" but a lot of English people say "Jool". So the word "Jewelry" ends up sounding like "Joolery". How can we expect French people to say it right if we can't even agree on how to say it ourselves?
Angry/Hungry
I put this one as 2 words because as a kid I just never knew if my parents were saying "Angry" or "Hungry". It's a good thing someone out there invented the word "Hangry". Problem solved.
Third
This one sucks because, let's say you have an awesome regal sounding name like: Reginald Cumberbatch The Third. You will forever be known as "The Turd".
Horror/ Mirror / Error / Rural
Nothing describes the struggle better than this conversation between 2 of my french friends
Let's just say these words are quite the mouthful.
