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  "description": "On knowledge gaps and bookworm pronunciation syndrome",
  "path": "/bookworm-pronunciation-syndrome/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-09T05:00:20.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.autodidacts.io",
  "tags": [
    "blissfully-politically-ignorant",
    "the British news agency",
    "a German baron",
    "This is exacerbated by_ [_my tendency to chunk/pattern match words_",
    "International Phonetic Alphabet",
    "3Blue1Brown",
    "this one",
    "100DaysToOffload",
    "View more posts in this series."
  ],
  "textContent": "When I was a kid, and my older siblings were working their way through the Royal Conservatory of Music curriculum, I thought notated music was called “sheep music”. [1]\n\nI was reminded of this fact last night, when I was reading Thackeray, and realized that for twenty-odd years I have been hearing “wedding banns” as “wedding _bands”._ [2]\n\nThe cause of both of these silly mistakes is the same: I’d never read the word, I’d only heard it spoken.\n\nThe opposite problem, pronouncing book-learned words wrong, causes me even more frequent and severe embarrassment.\n\nHow is a blissfully-politically-ignorant twenty-something to know that **Reuters** is pronounced “ROY-tərz” not “ROO-tərz”, because the British news agency was founded by a German baron? By saying “ _according to ROOTERS […]”_ , and getting corrected by someone who watches the news, that’s how.\n\n(I was relieved to learn that well-respected generalists, such as Gwern Branwen, have the same problem.)\n\nEven though I’ve been a member of the Tildeverse for 12 years, and type tildes countless times per day, I was recently corrected when I pronounced it “til-DEE”. Crestfallen, I looked it up, and Merriam-Webster agreed that the correct pronunciation was til-DEH. (Wikipedia lists both, which was comforting: my pronunciation wasn’t wrong, per se; just unpopular.)\n\n_ This is exacerbated by_ [_my tendency to chunk/pattern match words_ _rather than sounding them out. For many years, I inserted extra letters, so “Balsamic” vinegar became “Balsalamic” vinegar. It sounded similar enough that nobody corrected me. ]_\n\nThere is further confusion because people often try to “correct me” to the American pronunciation. (I pronounce data “DAH-ta”, which is common in Canada, Ireland, and Scotland, but most people pronounce it “DAY-ta”, so I have to chameleon sometimes.)\n\n**There isn’t enough overlap between what I read and what I hear people talk about.** I often have been reading about something for years, and writing about it, giving me time to think I know how to pronounce the word. Eventually, it comes up in casual conversation with someone who knows the word, and often it turns out I’m wrong. (Unfortunately, me excitedly telling my friends about things I read on the internet doesn’t help.)\n\nIt’s the old _my Venn diagram looks like John Lennon’s glasses_ problem.\n\nSolutions time!\n\nThe obvious answers:\n\n  1. **To address bookworm pronunciation syndrome** : use the dictionary audio pronunciation guide, or IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet).\n  2. **To address sheep music syndrome** : Look up new words I that learn orally.\n\n\n\nThese are fairly bad answers. The problem isn’t that I _can’t figure out_ how to pronounce things. It’s that I _don’t know when I don’t know_ how to pronounce a word. It would be way too cumbersome to have to verify the pronunciation of every word I learn.\n\nA slightly better plan:\n\n  1. Make a point of using words I learned from books and essays in conversation, to give people a chance to correct me. And maybe even record podcasts of me garburating the English language, to increase the chances of being corrected.\n  2. Make a point of consuming at least _some_ technical and scientific content via audio and video (ick) rather than reading, so that I can cross-reference pronunciations. As it is, I don’t really listen to podcasts, and other than Khan Academy, rarely listen to lectures. Maybe binging on some 3Blue1Brown would help.\n  3. Work through a deck of IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) Anki flashcards (this one is the best I’ve found), so that I can get the full benefit from dictionary definitions when I use them.\n\n\n\nIf you have found a better solution to bookworm pronunciation syndrome, send me an email, or let me know in the comments.\n\n* * *\n\n  1. I thought this was strange and funny, but the world is pretty strange and funny, so this particular strangeness didn’t seem remarkable. ↩︎\n\n  2. … which _sort_ of makes sense, since there are various traditions of binding the bride and groom’s hands together? Also, I was thrown off the scent by the fact that wedding rings are sometimes called wedding bands. ↩︎\n\n\n\n\n****Note:**** this post is part of #100DaysToOffload, a challenge to publish 100 posts in 365 days. These posts are generally shorter and less polished than our normal posts; expect typos and unfiltered thoughts! View more posts in this series.\n\n\n",
  "title": "Sheep Music & Wedding Bands",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-09T06:06:15.816Z"
}