Words you pronounced wrong for a long time (or others do)

[ddubois]

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Rule of thumb: If you ever meet some black dude with this name, say "Da Boys." If you ever meet some French dude with this name, say "Doo Bwah."

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Speaking with a bit of authority on this subject, the S is silent even in the Americanzed version. Maybe because I grew up in Illinois and we don't say "Ill-i-noise". However, for reasons I cannot explain, I actually use both Doo Bwah and Da Boy with roughly the same frequency, so you might want to dismiss the opnion of someone who apparently can't decide how to pronounce their own name.