Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

teflon

/ˈtɛflɒn/ noun, adjective, proper noun

Forms Teflons

  1. noun Synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE.
  2. adjective (figuratively) Non-stick, slick.
  3. adjective (figuratively, of a person) Able to easily shrug off or deflect criticism or blame. “the teflon Prime Minister”
  4. proper noun A brand name of polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) products, latterly applied to other fluoropolymer products.
  5. noun Multiple film, resin, coatings, fabric and surface protectors made with PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) or fluoropolymer and surfactants not made with PTFE.
  6. noun Synonym of polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”).
  7. adjective (informal, of a person) Having an undamageable reputation (by analogy with nonstick Teflon surfaces). “a Teflon image”

Synonyms

polytetrafluoroethylene PTFE

Etymology

Genericization of trademark Teflon.

Trade name, 1940s. From the first letters of tetra- (“four”) + fluoro- (“fluorine”) + -on modeled after nylon etc. From the fluorine count of polytetrafluoroethylene.

Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “teflon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details