And what about words like child and wire? How many syllables are they? Both are technically single syllable words, but many people pronounce them as two syllables. The vowel sound in child is a diphthong, whereas wire contains a triphthong. In either case it’s easy to slip a schwa in at the end. Purists may object to this “sloppy” pronunciation, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is common.

Sorry Calvin, it looks like you’re wrong about this one, but keep counting those syllables! One these days you’re bound to win yourself a no-prize!