pi_woman wrote:
The big question is whether they're mispronouncing the word, or honestly think you're mispronouncing the word "artistic" because they've never seen the different word "autistic."
We've got a manager at work who always mispronounces the word "moot" like "mute". He's the kind of person whose language skills never developed fully, so he tries to compensate by using big words (often incorrectly). It makes me want to shove a dictionary in his face and say "See? It's moot, not mute!".
No, I am pretty sure they mean to say Autistic and say Artistic instead. And it is rare that I am the first to bring it up. But I have had people tell me, "my child or relative or friend is Artistic" (meaning autistic), and by the context of what they were saying I knew for sure they weren't talking about art. But I hear it so much that I think it is a local thing. But if they tell me that I then will mention to them I am also. Usually they are surprised to hear it but I just tell them that if they get to know me closely they'll see it!
Sometimes I would like to tell people like your manager that they should just stick to the words they know. I know a couple of people who do that and it really makes them look ridiculous. I would rather tell people that I have problems with speech sometimes and even occasionally with comprehension than try to act like I know more than I do and use words that don't make any sense. That's just silly.