AUDIO: YOU’RE PRONOUNCING THESE WORDS WRONG
According to an analysis done by Dictionary.com, here are the top 30 words Americans struggle to pronounce:
1. affidavit [af-i-dey-vit]
2. almond [ah-muh nd, am-uh nd]
3. beget [bih-get]
4. cache [kash]
5. caramel [kar-uh-muh l, -mel, kahr-muh l]
6. coupon [koo-pon, kyoo-]
7. croissant [French krwah-sahn; English kruh-sahnt]
8. epitome [ih-pit-uh-mee]
9. espresso [e-spres-oh]
10. et cetera [et set-er-uh, se-truh]
11. façade [fuh-sahd, fa-]
12. fiery [fahyuh r-ee, fahy-uh-ree]
13. genre [zhahn-ruh; French zhahn-ruh]
14. haute [oht]
15. hyperbole [hahy-pur-buh-lee]
16. lambaste [lam-beyst, -bast]
17. mauve [mohv]
18. mischievous [mis-chuh-vuh s]
19. niche [nich]
20. peony [pee-uh-nee]
21. prerogative [pri-rog-uh-tiv, puh-rog-]
22. quinoa [keen-wah, kee-noh-uh]
23. reservoir [rez-er-vwahr, -vwawr, -vawr, rez-uh-]
24. salmon [sam-uh n]
25. sherbet [shur-bit]
26. turmeric [tur-mer-ik]
27. verbiage [vur-bee-ij]
28. Weimaraner [vahy-muh-rah-ner, wahy-, wahy-muh-rey-]
29. whet [hwet, wet]
30. Worcestershire [woo s-ter-sheer, -sher]
* Are the phonetic spellings the right way, or the way we’ve been doing it wrong?
* Not that it matters. I’m not going to change my approach anyway.
* I just say words the way Siri says them and let her take the fall.
* Sorry, but if you don’t know how to pronounce “fiery,” you need to repeat second grade.
* Unless we’re talking about the celebrity chef with the white hair that sticks up.
* Look, language evolves. If enough of us do it wrong it becomes right.
* This isn’t a big problem. Just go to an online dictionary and play the sample.
* Relax, we’re moving away from words anyways.
CLIP: Our “Vantal Adverbage” parody spot.
