this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2025
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If English wasn't your first language, maybe if you learned English later in life, were there any words that you had a really hard time learning how to pronounce? Do you think that had to do with the sounds made in your first language?

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[–] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 47 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Colonel.

Less of how hard it is to actually pronounce, more like how hard it is to believe it's pronounced that way.

[–] Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 23 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Just wait till you try β€œLieutenant” in Britain or Canada.

[–] stray@pawb.social 6 points 4 days ago

You can find "leftenant" as a normal spelling in older texts. No one is sure why.

[–] Ftumch@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 4 days ago (1 children)

omg "rcester" words are so hard

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 4 days ago

It was spelled with an R in the past, and they tried to change it to an L (because that's how it "properly" should be according to its origins), but only the spelling stuck, probably due to everyone being illiterate anyway.