Episode Transcript

97. The Most Mispronounced Words in Tech – Part 2 | Transcript

Hey guys. It’s Hadar, and today is part two of the top ten words for tech professionals.

Let’s get started.

Data.

It is not ‘duh-ta’ ‘duh-ta’. The T here is actually a flap T which sounds like a D and the first sound is ‘ei’ as in dei-. Dei-duh. Dei-duh. You can also say daa-duh and then use the /aa/ as in father sound but still make sure it’s a flap T. Daa-duh. Big data. Database.

Silicon Valley.

Woo hoo! It’s not “seeleecon vallee”. ‘Si-li-kaan’ – primary stress on the first syllable si-li and then it’s the /aa/ as in father. Although there’s an O here, it’s actually an ah – kaan. Si-li-kaan. And then Valley. The first syllable is the /a/ as in cat, don’t swallow it. Valli Valli. Va-lee, Va-lee, Si-li-kaan Va-lee. It’s all about the rhythm. ta-da’-da tata. Si-li-kaan Va-lee. I’m heading to Silicon Valley.

Engineer.
Here the primary stress is on the last syllable. En-j’-NEER. It is not ENgineer. en- juh-juh – schwa. So there is no A. It is not n-j. En-j’-NEER, as in ‘here’, so it’s a high E, and then you relax it to an R or tense it. Engineer.

Product.
The primary stress is on the first syllable PRAA. There is no O, so it’s not PRO-duct but an open ‘ah’ sound – PRAA-d’-ct’. Think of it as The Devil Wears PRAA-da. The Devil Wears PRAA-d’ct. PRAA-d’-ct. And then the second syllable is reduced – d’ct.

User experience.
UX. User. YUW-z’r: you start with the word YUW and then you shift to the ZZZ sound. It’s not YUW-s’-r. YUW-‘z – bring the tongue up for the R. YUW-z’r experience. i, i as in ‘sit’. Ik-SPEE – high EE. That’s the primary stress so go higher in pitch. Ik-SPEE-ree-y’ns. y’ns, y’ns. It’s not ik-SPEE-ree-ens. There is no E sound here. Ik-SPEE-ree-y’ns. User experience. Say it as if it’s one word and connect everything together YUW-z’r ik-SPEE-ree-y’ns.

Third-party.
Third-party, it’s not fe’rd PAR-dee it’s not te’rd-party or te’rd-party. Th’rd PAR-dee. Th’rd – bring the tongue up for the th and pull it in immediately for the R. There is no vowel in the middle: th’r, th’rd. And then again, it’s another set phrase – th’rd PAR-dee. PAR: pop the P put a little H after PAR, the T becomes a D. PAR-dee. Third party.

Application.
It’s not pluh-KEI-sh’n. Application the primary stress here is the KEI syllable, ap-luh-KEI-sh’n but you want to emphasize a little bit the first syllable which is the secondary stress, here it’s the /a/ as in cat. So you gotta open your mouth, push your tongue forward and pull your lips to the sides – /a/ /ap/. Then it’s a schwa. Ap-luh-KEI – primary stress and another schwa, a reduced vowel – sh’n, sh’n. Ap-luh-KEI-sh’n. Application, App. App developer – application.

Interface.
The beginning is the word ‘inter’ like ‘internet’ or ‘international’. Now, when the T appears after an N it is often dropped. So you may say something like ‘inner’, ‘inner’, ‘innerface’ and then it’s just the word ‘face’ as in “look in her face”. Feis. IN-t’r-feis. Interface. It actually sounds like “in her face”.

‘Model’ versus ‘module’
It’s not mod-ul and mod-al, okay? Both words are close in meaning and pronunciation, but let’s talk about the pronunciation here. Model. The O is the /aa/ as in father – /maa/, and then it’s a D that shifts immediately to the L – MAA-dl. Make it a light D. MAA-dl, and a dark L: MAA-dl. The word ‘module’ starts with ‘maa’ as well but then it’s not a D it’s a ‘dj’ sound like in ‘general’. MAA-juwl. And then it’s the ‘u’ as in YUW. MAA-juwl. And then a dark L, you can have a little W there before. module. Model – module, not the same.

Security.
Security primary stress is on the second syllable s’k-YU-r’ -dee. Now you actually have two ways to say this word, I’m gonna teach you the easier way. And here you want to combine the Y and the R – Y’R – to connect them: s’k-Y’R-ud-dee. And then you reduce it to a schwa sound, a flap T so it sounds like a D, and an E sound at the end: R-uh-dee, R-uh-dee, R-uh-dee. S’k-Y’R-uh-dee. Secure, Y’R-uh, as in “your country”. Security.