Status Updates From There is No Zoo in Zoology,...

bulimia byoo-LIM-ee-uh.

Do not say boo-LEE-mee-uh or buh-LEE-mee-uh. These are recent and now very common mispronunciations.
Bulimia came into the language in the fourteenth century, and until 1987 the only recognized pronunciation was byoo-LIM-ee-uh. In the last ten or fifteen years the word has leapt from medical manuals into the vernacular, and in response to widespread confusion over how it is pronounced,...

brooch BROHCH.

Properly, brooch should rhyme with coach. The pronunciation BROOCH, which rhymes with smooch, is usually listed but not preferred. Both pronunciations exist because, historically, brooch, an ornamental clasp, is the same word as broach (now usually used as a verb to mean to utter, introduce, or open for the first time), and most dictionaries still give the alternative spelling broach for brooch.

Brobdingnagian BROB-ding-NAG-ee-in.

Be sure to pronounce the second syllable like the word ding. It is often mispronounced DIG, probably because the word is often misspelled Brobdingnagian.
The word refers to the gigantic inhabitants of the imaginary land of Brobdingnagian in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, or to anyone or anything like them. It should be capitalized.

boudoir BOO-dwahr, not BUU-dwahr.

The first syllable (you-) rhymes with too. Most dictionaries prefer the stress on the first syllable, but stressing the second (boo-DWAHR) is also acceptable.

bouquet boo-KAY (boo- as in boot) or both-KAY (jobs- as in boat).

Older dictionaries prefer boo-KAY; some do not even list bot-KAY. However, since about the 1950s most dictionaries have preferred both-KAY, except when the word is use to mean an aroma, as "The [boo-KKAY] of this wine," Why such a distinction is necessary is beyond me. Maybe ti came about because the connoisseurs all stuck to boo-KAY after hoi poloi..

Bolivar boh-LEE-vahr.

I recommend this one pronunciation for both the monetary unit of Venezuela and the name of the nineteenth century South American liberator. It is a personal preference, based on the following assumptions:
1. There seems to me a general trend among educated speakers and the broadcast media to pronounce foreign names in the way they are pronounced in the language they come from.

blithe BLYTH (rhymes with writhe).

How do you pronounce the title of New Coward's play Blithe Spirit? Does the TH of blithe sound like the Thin then or in thin? You may have heard many speakers say BLYTH, with the TH of thin, but the correct pronunciation is BLYTH, with the TH of then. Here's why:
When a monosyllabic word ends in -the, the TH is usually sounded or "voiced, as in clothe, breathe, and soothe.

bestiality BES-chee-AL-i-tee, not BEES-chee-AL-i-tee. See bestial.

bestial BES-chuul or BEST-yuul. BES-tee-uul is British

Since the 1960s, dictionaries have given BEES-chuul as an alternative because many people had mistakenly begun to model their pronunciation of bestial after the word beast.
Dictionaries are too egalitarian to tell. you why they don't prefer BEES-chull, but for your protection I will: It is considered by careful speakers to be a truly beastly pronunciation.

bequeath be-KWEETH.

The TH should should like the TH in this and bathe, not like the TH in thin and path. Also, do not pronounce the first syllable like the verb be; because be- is unstressed the E is lightened so that the syllable sounds like the BI or BUH.

benignant buy-NIG-nant. do not say buh-NY-nant.

Benigh (buh-NYN) and benignant follow the pronunciation of malign (muh-LYN) and malignant (muh-LIG-nant).

beneficent buh-NEF-i-sent.

Be careful with the second syllable (-nef-). Do not say buh-NIF-i-sent.

behemoth bi-HEE-muth.

In the nineteenth century, this word was pronounced with the accent on the first syllable: BEE-huh-mawth or BEE-uh-muth. This is the preference of Worcester (1884) and Webster's International (1890), also known as "Old Webster." By the 1930's, however, the tide had turned, with the Century (1914), the OED (1928), and Webster 2 (1934) rallying behind bi-HEE-muth, and later dictionaries ...

basil BAZ-il. (BAZ- rhymes with has.)

BAZ-il is the preferred pronunciation for the herb, the name (BASIL), the sheepskin tanned with bark, and the ankle iron or fetter for a prisoner.
Webster 3 (1961) is the first of my sources to recognize variants, listing BAY-sil, BAS-il, and BAY-zil. Of these, the last is now most often given as an alternative, but only one source, Webster's New World Guide (1984), puts...

basal BAY-sal, not BAY-zal.

barbiturate bar-BICH-ur-it.

Many speakers fail to articulate the R in the last syllable of this word. Be careful to say barbiturate. Do not say bar-BICH-oo-it.
Barbiturate came into the language in the 1920s. There were two original pronunciations: bar-buh-TYOOR-it, with the accent on the third syllable to make it analogous with its source, barbituric (bar-buh-TYOOR-ik), the adjective pertaining to the acid of...

banal BAY-nal. Also Buh-NAL.

this is a word of many pronunciations, each of which has its outspoken and intractable proponents. Though it may pain some to hear it, let the record show that BAY-nal is the one preferred by the overwhelming g number of authorities of the last century. Advocates for BAY-nal include Worcester (1884); The OED (1928); Webster 2 (1934); Webster 3 (1961); three Funk & Wagnall dictionaries...

balm BAHM Do not pronounce the L.

This word is pronounced like bomb. See calm.

balk BAWK. Do not say BAWLK.

The L is silent, as in talk and walk,

bade BAD. Do not say BAYD.

This word should rhyme with sad, not with aid.
Bade is the past tense and past participle of the verb to bid. Some dictionaries now recognize the spelling pronunciation BAYD, but not one preferred it. See forbade.

bacchus BAK-us, not BAH-kus. See bacchanal.

bacchanal bak-uh-NAL or BAK-uh-nuul.

Until the 1960s, dictionaries recorded only one pronunciation for this word: BAK-uh-nuul (BAK- like back -nuul rhyming with full). Since then variants have proliferated, of which the most frequently recorded are bak-uh-NAL (-NAL rhyming with pal) and bah-uh-NAHL (with the A in bah- and -NAHL like the a in father). Both shift the accent from the first to the third syllable.

auxiliary awg-AIL-yuh-ree. Do not say awe-ZIL-uh-ree.

Be sure to articulate the Y sound in the third syllable.
The mispronunciation awg-ZIL-uh-ree is so common that it is now given as a variant in most current dictionaries. However, auxiliary is one of a number of words that many people have singled out as a way of judging how well you speak. If you say awg-ZIL-uh-ree you may be criticized for it, but no one ...

atmospheric at-muhs-FER-ik. Regionally, at-muhs-FAIR-ik.

the peer-in atmospheric should be pronounced like fer- in ferry, not like the word fear. It may help to remember that spheric is alway pronounced like the word ferric (FER-ik) which means of or containing iron.
Do not say at-mos-FEER-ik. The word has so often been mispronounced this way that a few current sources now prefer this pronunciation.

athlete ATH-leet.

Do not say ATH-uh-leet. This is a very common error, especially among athletes themselves, as well as among sportscasters, who should know better. Don't pick ump their bad habit. There is no vowel between the H and the L in this word, and no justification for adding a syllable to it.

assembly uh-SEM-blee, not uh-SEM-buh-lee, which adds an extra syllable to the word.

assuage uh-SWAYJ, not uh-SWAYZH, uh-SWAHZH, or uh-SWAHJ.

This is the story of how a decade or two of neglect can ruing what has been established for centuries. Assuage has been in the language for seven hundred years, and since dictionaries began giving pronunciation there has been only one way to say the word: uh=-SwayJ. In the last three years, however, two dictionaries have recognized the variant pronunciations..

assembly uh-SEM-blee, not uh-SEM-buh-lee, which adds an extra syllable to the word.

asbestos as-BES-tos or AZ-BES-tos.

The last syllable (-tos) is the one to watch out for in this word. Asbestos is often mispronounced as-BES-tohs or az-BES-tohs. The last syllable should rhyme with us or kiss, not with dose (Thoug rarely used, the alternative spelling asbestus, with a final -tus instead of -tos, better indicates the proper pronunciation of the word.)

argot AHR-goh or AHR-gut.

Argot, which came into English in 1860 from French, by derivation refers specifically to the secret language of beggars, tramps or thieves. In this century it has come to be used more generally to mean jargon, specialized vocabulary.
The pronunciation AHR-goh is closer to the French, and AHR-gut is anglicized—more English. Once about 1900, most dictionaries have given both, with...