2021’s most mispronounced words have been revealed – with words like “cheugy”, “Eilish” and “Omicron” making the list.
The language experts at Preply have compiled a list of other words that typically tend to get mispronounced. So, let’s see if you know your espresso from your expresso or clothes from your close…
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Almond
Forget the sultanas and raisins, this dried fruit is the most mispronounced of them all! Many people are unaware of the fact that the ‘l’ in almond is actually silent, and so the word should be pronounced as ‘aa-mund’. Guess this is something to remember when you’re asking for plant-based milk with your Starbucks order!
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Police
Hear that? It’s the sound of the pronunciation police! Despite the spelling, the correct pronunciation for police is actually ‘puh-leece’ and not ‘poh-leece’.
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Accessory
Justice for your favourite handbag! When it comes to items of clothing, ‘accessory’ is a commonly mispronounced word – with many pronouncing it as ‘as-ses-sory’. Rather, the correct pronunciation is ‘access-ory’.
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Hierarchy
This one requires all the syllables to be vocalised. Commonly, the word ‘hierarchy’ tends to get pronounced as high-archy, but the actual pronunciation is “higher-archy”.
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Quinoa
Quinoa gets the top stop for being the most misunderstood wholegrain. This food often gets pronounced as ‘kee-noah’, which is simply incorrect. Rather, the correct pronunciation is ‘keen-wah’. Remember this before you ask a shop assistant where the healthy grains are!
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Arctic
There is a common misconception that the ‘c’ in the word arctic is silent, but truth be told it isn’t! So, instead of ‘ar-tic’, the correct pronunciation is actually ‘arc-tic’.
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Schedule
When it comes to the pronunciation of ‘schedule’, a lot of people don’t know there are actually two ways of pronouncing this word. According to US English, the correct pronunciation is ‘sked-jule’ and according to British English, it is actually ‘shed-yool’. Mind-blowing!
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Espresso
So, it may be the case that you’ve been pronouncing your favourite coffee wrong all this time! Although it sounds just how it’s spelt, many people tend to pronounce espresso as ‘expresso’. If a barista hasn’t already commented on your pronunciation, at least now you know!
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Specifically
Weirdly enough, the word specifically tends to get mispronounced as ‘pacifically’. Maybe it’s because of the overpowering sound of the ‘p’, but don’t forget to stick an ‘S’ in front of it!
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Probably
Likewise, ‘probably’ tends to get shortened to two syllables instead of three, with the common pronunciation in the UK being ‘prob-ly’. News alert: it’s actually ‘pro-bab-ly’.
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Clothes
Contrary to popular belief, there isn’t a silent ‘th’ in clothes. However, in everybody’s defence, the ‘th’ in this word exudes a very soft sound, so it’s quite easy to get overlooked.
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Liable
Finally, in the interest of the law, you definitely want to pronounce ‘liable’ right. This is because liable (pronounced ‘li-able’) means being legally obligated, whereas libel (pronounced ‘li-bel’) relates to a defamatory statement.
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