Do you pronounce these two words exactly the way they are spelled, or do you pronounce them colloquially, the way that many people pronounce them: marshmallow and wheelbarrow?
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Perhaps not in or around New York, or perhaps not anywhere on the East Coast, but with people from or in many other parts of the US, if you listen very closely, they never pronounce those two words using the -mallow and -barrow endings. It’s more of -barrel and -mellow.
I came upon this realization as a child when in elementary school. I was probably in the first or second grade, it’s been so long that I can’t remember for sure. I had to write the word marshmallow and it came back as wrong on my spelling test of 10 words. It was quite unusual for me to misspell a word, so I didn’t understand why or how I had it incorrect. Subconsciously, what I realized was that I had never really paid attention to seeing the word written out, so that when I took the test, I was sounding it out and wrote it in like manner.
There are many other words that are spelled one way yet colloquially pronounced a different way that deviates very far from the spelling. I didn’t do it that way because I realized that what I was asking for in the question would not be easily understood, resulting in answers that I would have to disqualify, thereby causing a lot of fights and arguments. Grrrrrrr.
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Stu Spelling Bee 