History Main / PsmithPsyndrome

'''Mrs. O'Dell:''' No, you said "Catherine" with a "C". I could tell. Hold on -- I'll be right back.\\

* ''TeenTitans'' villain Psi-Mon (pronounced Simon), who has psychic powers, natch.

* The ''LegendsOfLaconia'' character Cassiopoeia insists on the nickname "Cassi", without the "e". HypocriticalHumor because her [[OurVampiresAreDifferent brother]] Ferdinand is irritated when she calls him "Ferdy".

* Anne with an E from ''{{Anne of Green Gables}}'', who always corrects anyone who makes the mistake of pronouncing it "Ann". Of course, they're ''pronounced the same way'', so...

** And as for punctuation, while the marks themselves are not audible, they change the intonation of nearby words.
*** But not apostrophes, which is what the comic involves (friend's vs friends vs friends'). They all sound the same.

-->--'''Alan Davies''', ''{{QI}}''

!!Examples:

[[AC:{{Anime}}]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

* The Psmiths in ''BuckGodotZapGunForHire'' spell their name(s) this way not only as a possible ShoutOut to Wodehouse, but to indicate their telepathically-linked HiveMind status (the Greek letter Psi is parapsych shorthand for PsychicPowers).
* This trope is infamously well-loved by manga creators. Because Japanese names can be drastically different despite using the same kanji, characters are often seen stating that they use a rare reading. It's a level up on reading Smith as either "smith" or "smythe". On the other side of this trope, in which the same name can be written with sometimes wildly differing kanji, even characters in manga not known for breaking the fourth wall can express an unusual writing of their name in speech bubbles, so it comes across as if other characters can actually read what they're describing.
* TeenTitans villain Psi-Mon (pronounced Simon) who has psychic powers, natch.

--> "Hello, this is Thompson, with a P, as in psychology."

[[AC:FanFic]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* It happens occasionally in PiersAnthony's {{Xanth}} series.
* {{Robert Asprin}}'s MythAdventures has neophyte magician Skeeve as the protagonist, with a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demon]] from the dimension Perv as a mentor. There are few ways to get under Aahz's skin faster than referring to him as Oz the Pervert.

* ThursdayNext character Jack Schitt once mentioned that he can tell when it's being mispronou... misspe... let's go with ''audibly misspelt''. This happens frequently, his name being as [[MeaningfulName appropriate]] as it is.
* Anne with an E from ''AnneOfGreenGables'', who always corrects anyone who makes the mistake of pronouncing it 'Ann'. Of course, they're ''pronounced the same way'', so...

** Pteppic from ''Discworld/{{Pyramids}}'' (a reference to the {{Ancient Egypt}}ian Ptolemaic Dynasty (after Ptolemy)). Going from this, some readers refer to Pratchett as "Pterry."

**** Ptraci, on the other hand, determinedly hangs on to her accent, invoking RuleOfSexy.
*** This is rather irritatingly averted in the audiobook, where usually-reliable narrator Nigel Planer pronounces it Pa-Teppic and Pa-Traci, despite the jokes about othe3rs pronouncing that way and being wrong. He also hits the D in Djelibeybi, ruining the pun.

** During the initiation in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Moist thinks to himself that it's amazing that he can hear the capital letters in "Let him don the Boots!", but this is only one of many occasions in Discworld novels where someone audibly pronounces capital letters or punctuation (for example, quotation marks or ''italics'' for the ''particularly unhinged'').

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* Done on ''WillAndGrace'': "It's '''Filip''' with an F. You said '''Philip''', with a Ph."

-->'''Jeff''': Well how do you spell it?
-->'''Achmed''': Uh...A...C...Phlegm...
** 'Course, technically he's just being a bit anal about a common mistake in RealLife - the sound in question isn't a phoneme in English so we generally pronounce it either ah-med or ak-med. That kind of subtle phonetic distinction in foreign words is probably where the trope comes from in the first place.
*** Its more common in the UK, with a reasonable number of people familiar with the correct pronunciation of "Loch". One character in IainBanks's novel ''The Crow Road'' is put out by the fact that after decades of apparent inability to pronounce the guttural 'ch' sound in Scottish names, the western television and radio media suddenly demonstrate that they're quite capable of doing so in Arabic names.

-->'''Dorothy''': Anyway, Mr. Puh-feiffer... about the puh-funeral--about the funeral...

[[AC:NewspaperComics]]
* ''{{Foxtrot}}'' has an example of this when Paige babysits a child:
-->'''Paige:''' Hi there! You must be little Katherine!\\
'''Mrs. O'Dell:''' Um, it's 'Katherine', with a 'K'.\\
'''Paige:''' That's what I said.\\
'''Mrs. O'Dell:''' No, you said 'Catherine' with a 'C'. I could tell. Hold on - I'll be right back.\\
'''Paige:''' Hi, there! You must be the little girl who's going to need massive therapy in twelve years!

[[AC:VideoGames]]

* ''KingdomOfLoathing'' provides the usual lampshade hanging:
--> The Slime extends a pseudopod and pstrangles you
** Not to mention the gnomish awaregness of the silent 'g'.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* Used in in a sketch on ''Punch!'' where Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz's relationship is said to have been broken up due to her frustration about everyone calling her Penélope Cruise.
--> Penélope: No, not "Cruise" ''"Cruz"''!
** However, the letter Z is in fact pronounced differently in Spanish (like "s" in Latin America and parts of southern Spain, like "th" in the rest of Spain). Whether or not this is an example of this trope, if the difference between languages is considered, is debateable. The Spanish "r" is nothing like the English "r" either; it's trilled like in most (all?) Scottish accents.

[[AC:WebOriginal]]
* In [[WhateleyUniverse Whateley Academy]], Fey's name is often misspelled by others as F-A-Y. The reader can tell that a character doesn't know the proper spelling by looking at how it's written in their dialogue. For some reason, though, characters that are aware of the correct spelling seem to know instinctively when it's being misspelled, despite "Fay" and "Fey" sounding exactly the same when spoken.

[[AC:{{Webcomics}}]]
* Comes up a few times in ''TheOrderOfTheStick'', with Xykon knowing when someone pronounces his name with a Z instead of an X (likely a TakeThat to the many varied and bizarre mis-spellings that show up on the forums). One of the bonus strips in the compilation books also played with this, as a creature refers to finding a dragon 'horde' instead of hoard, and after being corrected confusedly asks "I mean, technically I said that out loud, so how did you know that I..."

* Used by Glock from TheWotch.
-->Glock: No, it's D.O.L.L.Y. All caps, with periods.
-->Robin: Oh, okay. Wait...

[[AC:RealLife]]
* The "h" in [[TheWho Pete Townshend]]'s name is silent, but many people don't know that.

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[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

[[AC:{{WebOriginal}}]]

* The villain Gouda from ''GhostInTheShellStandAlloneComplex 2nd Gig'' manages to exemplify a Japanese take on Psmith Syndrome. In his first appearance, he points out to Aramaki that most people read his name wrong and that it's Gouda Kazundo, not Hitori.

* The villain Gouda from ''Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig'' manages to exemplify a Japanese take on Psmith Syndrome. In his first appearance, he points out to Aramaki that most people read his name wrong and that it's Gouda Kazundo, not Hitori.

* The villain Gouda from ''Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig'' manages to exemplify a Japanese take on Psmith Syndrome. In his first appearance, he points out to Aramaki how so few people ever manage to pronounce his name properly, with emphasis on a particular syllable.
** Actually, if you listen to the original Japanese conversation you'll know it's the reading of his first name Gouda Kazundo (not Hitori) corrects.

* The trope namer's {{parodied}] in ''KingdomOfLoathing'':

** However, the letter Z is in fact pronounced differently in Spanish (like "s" in Latin America and parts of southern Spain, like "th" in the rest of Spain). Whether or not this is an example of this trope, if the difference between languages is considered, is debateable. The Spanish "r" is nothing like the American English "r" either; it's trilled like in most (all?) Scottish accents.

** During the initiation in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', Moist thinks to himself that it's amazing that he can hear the capital letters in "Let him don the Boots!", but this is only one of many occasions in Discworld novels where someone audibly pronounces capital letters or punctuation (for example, quotation marks).

** 'Course, technically he's just being a bit anal about a common mistake in RealLife - the sound in question isn't a phoneme in English so we generally pronounce it either ah-med or ak-med. That kind of subtle phonetic distinction in foreign words is probably where the trope comes from in the first place.

''"I didn't spell it like that when I said it!"''
->--'''Alan Davies''', ''{{QI}}''