Someone else must have introduced “Liza” and me. Liza is my coworker. We met years ago and were acquaintances that became close friends. Until recently I always called her Liza. That’s Liza with an i like “eye” in the middle. Lie-zuh!

Liza is from the Caribbean, but her name seems pretty American. At least I think it is. Is Liza Minelli American? So you’d think it would be pronounced the standard way.

Over time I began to pick up on instances where I’d hear someone refer to Liza as “Leeza.” At first I thought they must be mistaken. I don’t normally correct people’s pronunciations, at least overtly. If I think a word is mispronounced, I’ll just continue talking and pronounce it my way, the right way. Of course, I’m prone to mispronunciations, too, and actually often assume the other person knows how to say a word better than I do.