Recent editions of Webster’s Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary have each had almost half a million words. While most of us use only a few hundred in everyday speech, we often encounter unfamiliar words, and even if we can figure out what they mean, we might not be sure how to pronounce them.
Of course we like to get things right, including pronunciation, and certainly don’t want to be perceived as ignorant or out of touch. (Here are 50 words people get wrong all the time.)
24/7 Tempo has compiled a list of America’s most mispronounced words of 2021. Most of them aren’t so much words as names that have been in the news, including some that might have been unknown one day and everywhere the next, and others that have become staples of pop culture, including musical acts and even a song. (Here are 30 words that didn’t exist 30 years ago.)
Among the musical acts are Billie Eilish, who has been a major star for a while now, and Måneskin, the Italian glam rock band that suddenly seems to be everywhere. There are also sports stars on the list. Giorgio Chiellini is an Italian footballer and Stefanos Tsitsipas is a Greek tennis player.
There are some words that were briefly in the news and that will probably soon be forgotten. For example, Ever Given was the name of the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March and has hardly been heard of since. The Scottish city of Glasgow got attention for hosting the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference. It hasn’t been in the news since then, although climate change unfortunately hasn’t gone away.
Unfortunately, our list also includes omicron, the latest variant of COVID-19, and we can’t wait for that to be forgotten.
Click here to see America’s most mispronounced words of 2021
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Cheugy
> Part of speech: Adjective
> Pronunciation CHOO-gee
[in-text-ad]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Chipotle
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation Chih-POHT-lay
24/7 Wall St.
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Dalgona
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation tal-goh-NAH
Source: Chris M / Courtesy of 24/7 Wall Street
Dogecoin
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation DOHJ-coin
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Eilish
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation EYE-lish
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Etherium
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation ih-THEE-ree-um
[in-text-ad]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Ever Given
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation Ev-er GI-ven
24/7 Wall St.
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Gina Coladangelo
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation JEE-nah co-lah-DAN-ge-lo
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Giorgio Chiellini
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation JYOR-jyo kyi-LEE-nee
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Glasgow
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation GLAHZ-go
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Keirin
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation KAY-reen
[in-text-ad]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Kelce
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation KELs
24/7 Wall St.
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Måneskin
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation MOH-ne-skin
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Omicron
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation AH-muh-kraan
[in-text-ad-2]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Shein
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation SHEE-in
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Stefanos Tsitsipas
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas
[in-text-ad]
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Wellerman
> Part of speech: Noun
> Pronunciation WELL-er-man
24/7 Wall St.
Source: 24/7 Wall Street
Yassify
> Part of speech: Adjective
> Pronunciation YEAH-sih-fai
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