Is poor pronunciation hereditary?

When I picked my son up from school the other day, he immediately started talking about how he had a very good vocabulary.

As an example, he said he's known what "curio" has meant since he was 7.

He was so excited that it took me awhile before I could quiz him on the definition of curio.

He said it's when you're in danger. He gave me another similar definition.

I puzzled over that response for a bit, then the light bulb came on. Between my bad hearing and his mispronunciation, I had heard an entirely different word.

"Do you mean 'peril?' " I asked.

Now he looked puzzled until I spelled it for him and confirmed we were finally on the same page.

I couldn't help laughing.

He is so my son. We've picked up a lot of words through reading, rather than hearing them spoken aloud. When it comes time to use them in conversation, we realize the words aren't actually pronounced the way that we've heard them in our head.

I let my son know that I wasn't mocking him, but rather, empathizing with him.

For instance, once, when I turned in a poem written in rhyming couplets, a professor informed me that "bade," as in "bade farewell," rhymes with "mad," rather than "made."

I started trying to come up with other words I've embarrassed myself with, like "conscience," "rapport" and "herb." My son looked at me like I was an idiot.

Then, yesterday morning, my son said to me that "bade" should rhyme with "made" because the silent e makes the vowel say its name.

He should be right, but apparently we're both wrong.

At least we got to bond over it.

(Oh, and he had no idea what a curio was, but he does now.)

Treena Shapiro is a busy reporter, and mom to a son and daughter. Read her blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.