An avoidable 'mizzunderstanding'.
By 41Combedale
@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
Greece
November 8, 2015 7:03am CST
When I was at junior school I was an avid reader and as a result of this I often encountered words that were new to me. One of these was a word that I pronounced 'mizzled'. It was a word I had never heard anyone else say. I didn't know exactly what it meant to be mizzled and I did not bother to look it up in the dictionary to find out.
Then one day the penny dropped, I can't remember when, only how stupid I felt when I realised that the word I pronounced as 'mizzled' should have been pronounced as two words 'mis led.' The past tense of 'mislead'. Had I looked in the dictionary I would have learned its true meaning and the way to properly pronounce it. Unfortunately it was only later that I learned the value of a dictionary.
7 people like this
9 responses
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
10 Nov 15
I also read a lot as a child and I remember coming across the word 'picturesque'. In my world in wartime England and for a few years afterwards, nothing was picturesque. It was several years before I heard it pronounced and by then I was used to pronouncing it (in my head) as pictures-cue
1 person likes this
@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
11 Nov 15
When a word disappears from the vocabulary that depicts something pretty and quaint then that is a sad state of affairs. I lived 5 miles south of London and nothing was picturesque there either. Actually it still isn't!
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64346)
• United Kingdom
11 Nov 15
@41CombedaleRoad Btw - are you Terri Lane?
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@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
12 Nov 15
@jaboUK Yes I am but I took this name years ago when I was first on MyLot and couldn't change it. Well spotted, CHLady didn't!
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@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
11 Nov 15
I'm not alone in that then and actually I'm not surprised because ours was a perfectly logical way to pronounce the word.
1 person likes this
@WorDazza (15826)
• Manchester, England
11 Nov 15
@41CombedaleRoad I would completely agree with that.
@epiffanie (11327)
• Australia
9 Nov 15
Coming from a non-English speaking country, I experienced a lot of embarrassing moments speaking and mis pronouncing English words.. And yes dictionary is my best friend 
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
8 Nov 15
bless yer heart. i've worn out the pages 'f more dictionaries 'n i care to mention throughout the years. whene'er i'd be readin', it'd be sittin' by my side jest waitin' fer me to get stumped :)
1 person likes this
@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
11 Nov 15
Your vocabulary must have benefited a lot from this habit.
1 person likes this
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
16 Nov 15
@41CombedaleRoad it did. folks didn't seem to 'ppreciate it much, 'ccused me 'f 'talkin' down to 'em' so i jest use big 'n fancy words fer word games these days.
@ria1606roy (2797)
• Kolkata, India
8 Nov 15
It's an interesting revelation after a long time I must say . I also pronounced a lot of words wrong, among which one is "pronounciation". Dictionary and online Wikipedia finally helped me correct that.
. I also pronounced a lot of words wrong, among which one is "pronounciation". Dictionary and online Wikipedia finally helped me correct that.1 person likes this
@41CombedaleRoad (5966)
• Greece
8 Nov 15
I can understand your confusion with 'pronounce' which is a verb and 'pronunciation' which is a noun.
@ria1606roy (2797)
• Kolkata, India
8 Nov 15
@41CombedaleRoad yes exactly. I used to say the noun like the verb....so it took me some time to realize I was using it wrong.
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
10 Nov 15
This reminds me of my days in the Catholic seminary; I wanted to become a priest. I had a classmate who was a bookworm. He even tried to memorize all words (English) and their meanings in the dictionary. 
