But for the record people, Realtor is pronounced "Real Tor" or "Real Ter". Just two syllables.
There is no "a" or "i" or "uh" between the L and T.
It is not pronounced "Real-a-tor", "Real-uh-ter" or "Real-i-tar".
It is not pronounced "Real-a-tor", "Real-uh-ter" or "Real-i-tar".
Try to get it right and I promise not to visit the doc-a-tor
or say ath-uh-leet for athlete.
or say ath-uh-leet for athlete.
5 comments:
Found you on Twitter. The Doc-a-tor cracks me up. We had a pronunciation session in our introduction to the association of Real-i-tors :) in our local area. Imagine 20 Realtors (all grown adults) pronouncing Real Tor... fun times.
That drives me inasane.
Yes I think that and misuse of the word "literally" are my two biggest verbal annoyances. Those two are also the ones I hear most abused on TV news. I'd like to find out where the "real-ahh-tor" thing started, build a time machine, go back in time, and slap some sense into that person. GRRR!
Pronouncing the word as "real-uh-tor" doesn't come from any trendy or slang usage, it has to do with the mechanics of your mouth when saying the word. To annunciate the letter "L" you press your tongue against the roof of your mouth and release as you vibrate your vocal cords. When you release the tongue it creates the "uh" sound. If you say the word "real" by itself, and annunciate correctly, it should be heard as "real-uh" with "uh" being somewhat muted. When you add the "tor" at the end, the transition between annunciating the "L" and "T" is filled by the muted "uh" sound.
There is another way to annunciate "L" without using the tongue and this way makes it easier to say "real-tor" correctly, however it doesn't follow typical English language mechanics. Hence, why many people struggle to pronounce it correctly without practicing.
I get what Anonymous was saying about "real" coming out "real-uh" when you say it, but only if you keep making sound as you lower your tonue. If you don't, it's just "real" and then silence, and then you lower your tongue. I have no problem saying real-tore, because my tongue is up for the L sound and then comes straight forward for the T sound. No need to say uh in between. My tongue is in the same spot to say L as it is to say T. I just break for the briefest unnoticable moment between syllables.
Other pet peeves of mine include nuke-you-ler, Feb-you-ary, and idear.
I have a friend who says relator and every time she does, I passively say realtor in the next sentence, then she corrects me by saying relator again and so on. It should be funny but it's not.
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