Things people say ... vol. 3

Sometimes the time-worn phrase "You say 'po-tay-to,' I say 'po-tah-to' " makes sense. I mean, I can't THINK of a time when it's actually okay to pronounce something the way the dictionary defines as the "second-best" way to pronounce something, but you just go on with your bad self.

But there are MOST DEFINITELY times when we should all be able to agree that there is one way, my way the right way, to pronounce words. And we should go with it.

We have covered some of these here from time to time, and ohhh, have we laughed. Yes, we have laughed. We have had Internet Belly Chuckles over the posts and the Comments. (Pronouncing "Tuesday" as "Chuesday"? I DIED.)

So a few more have been rambling around in my head, and I thought I'd go ahead and share them with the masses.

- "Real-a-tor" instead of "real-tor" especially bothers my sister. It bothers me, too, almost as much as "ath-uh-lete." God created it with two syllables, and I'd love to keep it that way. And while I'm at it, "athletes" compete in "triathlons," not "triath-a-lons." God's honest truth.

- "Barbed wire" is the jagged material that keeps the horses in the fence. "Bob wire" is ... well, I'm not sure WHAT bob wire is. But it's not THAT.

- Lawyers practice law, which is the way I pronounce it. Apparently some people think lawyers practice "loy." To those people I say, call them "attorneys."

- Related: Poor Diane Sawyer has always mispronounced her last name. "Soy-yer"? I think not.

- I love me some design shows. I do not love me any designers who pronounce "accessory," "assessory." Anyone who says "assessory" should be banned from entering any Pier 1, Home Goods or Pottery Barn store on principle. I do see the irony of my grammar in the first two sentences.

- And lastly, I cannot RESIST giving you this one. The other night on The Bachelorette -- a show that I steadfastly refuse to admit I watch -- Vienna said, "Do you have a poly-a-graph test he can take?" It's not often that you even get to throw the word "polygraph" around, so when you do, baby, you'd better get it right.

Ooh! Ooh! I just thought of an exception to my hard-and-fast rule: I believe that Meredith Vieira and Donald Trump are the only two people on the planet who pronounce the "t" in the word "interview." I am more of an "innerview" gal myself. EVEN THOUGH THE DICTIONARY SAYS OTHERWISE.

Please, PLEASE don't let me down, Internet. I need to laugh! COMMENT AWAY. (And if you're new around here, go read the Comments on the other two related posts ... I guarantee you a good laugh.)