Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Confess Which Words They Mispronounced For The Longest Time

People Confess Which Words They Mispronounced For The Longest Time
Brett Jordan on Unsplash

As with any language, English has a wide variety of dialects.

Pronunciations in one region—even within a single country—can vary.

But then there are those creative pronunciations that are just wrong—no matter the region or country.


Redditor nichtwarum asked:

"Which word have you proudly mispronounced for the longest time?"

Like Water?

"My husband pronounces condescending as 'condensending' and it drives me crazy."

"I've told him how it's pronounced a couple of times, but he still keeps saying it."

"I feel like I'm being condescending if I keep correcting him..."

- truryufhvcgdtre

Oh myyy...

"Armadildo."

- Back2Bach

"Armored dildo."

- blamethepunx

"I pronounce it this way the first time just to make the person question what I said. Then I say 'armadillo, what did you think I said?'."

"The follow up has yet to not be extremely satisfying. I hold those precious moments of embarrassed confusion and kinky realization in memory for when I really need a laugh."

- Fallacy_Spotted


Giphy

Saucy

"Worcestershire."

"This word is physically painful attempting to say."

- Microscopiccheese

"I heard someone call it 'wash your sister' sauce, and I haven’t attempted any other pronunciation since."

- BoofingPalcohol

Chickens?

"Military coup."

"Pronounced it as 'coop' several times during a national debate competition, then got corrected in the middle of the debate by the judge."

"Opposing team laughed at me lol, but we still won."

- Substantial-Chef-198

Giphy

Don't get us started on gif.

"Meme, pronouncing it me-me."

- batangtaft

"Had a manager who called any gif or anything sent to the group chat a 'me-me'."

"Loved him, best boss I’ve ever had, and I didn’t have it in me to correct him."

- geoffissiffoeg

Just say weiner dog.

"Dachshund."

"Always thought it was dash-hound until college. Not sure how I missed that lesson in german class."

- sonicaxura

"We had Dachshunds (Jake and Elwood). All the time, people would come up and say 'oh I love dash-hounds' and we would 'yes Dax-unds are great'."

"We would go back and forth discussing dash-hounds and dax-unds as if both sides were not pronouncing it differently."

- stuck_in_traffic

Giphy

Week...

"I used to say the phrase 'Play it by year' but in reality it was 'Play it by ear' which makes a lot more sense."

- Garden_of_Pillows

No, Vyvyan.

"For years, my family has pronounced those things you use to look at far-off objects as 'binoc-a-lears'."

"That's all very well as a family joke, but when you actually say the word out in public by mistake, it's excruciating."

"It has to be said in a whiney voice as per Ade Edmondson in The Young Ones, when he wants to know why he can't use some 'real binoc-a-lears'."

- Rsoles

Giphy

And potpourri?

"Sachet, I always said it satch-it."

"Even now I feel like I'm just saying sashay and the world is trying to trick me."

- Pale-Procedure895

Rhymes with Pampers.

"For my whole life I thought diaper had an M in it, diamper."

"I still call it a diamper."

"Side note, was playing a party steam game you play with your phones and I realized I'd been wrong forever when my answer 'diamper' got made fun of horrendously..."

- feistiestmango

Giphy

Apt error

"It took me way too long to realize it’s Alzheimer’s and not Old Timers."

- feistiestmango

Hooked on phonics

"Horse doovers [for hors d'oeuvres]. Yes I am an animal."

- txarbuilder

"I'm only slightly more sophisticated than you, I knew it was fancy and called them oars-du-vores."

- zandyman

Giphy

Actually...

"I pronounced 'quinoa' as 'kin-oh-ah' for the longest time...in public."

- atltop5150

"If it makes you feel any better, in South America, where quinoa mostly comes from, we pronounce it like you used to!"

"The emphasis is on the O, as in ki-nO-ah."

- whiskercheeks

Giphy

Here's the T

"Often. I didn't know you should actually pronounce the 't'."

"I said offen for an awfully long time, well I was taught that way, I still mispronounce it very often."

- raemi134

Zapped

"Champagne. In honour of Zapp Brannigan."

- TomCBC

"Good old sham-pag-nee."

- That_Cosmic_Chealien

"I started doing this with guacamole for the same reason, but have done it so often that I forget to un-butcher it when not with my friends…"

"I have embarrassed myself a couple times at restaurants haha."

- El_Frencho

Giphy

Horrifying

"Macabre."

"I pronounced it ‘mah-cuh-bee’ forever like an idiot."

"I thought it was one of two ways to pronounce it, depending on the sentence. I was wrong."

- snarlyelder

Café

"I did say Expresso for far too long."

- chica771

GIF by Royal Cup Coffee & TeaGiphy

A bit of mischief

"I used to say 'mischievious' instead of 'mischievous' (misCHivəs)."

- kikiiie

"The incorrect pronunciation of that one is so common that it’s almost become an acceptable alternate pronunciation, in my opinion."

- ToBeReadOutLoud

Chop, chop

"I don’t know but when I was a kid, 'helicopters' were 'hopter-copters'."

- ApollosOwl

"I called them 'helichopters'."

- yoiliketopramen

upside down spinning GIFGiphy

Isn't it ironic?

"Ironically 'mispronunciation'."

"I used to say 'mis-pro-NOUN-ciation'."

- AerobaticDiamond

So, do you or someone you know have any words you proudly mispronounce?

Share them in the comments.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Jesse Watters discussing Stephen Miller
Fox News

Jesse Watters' Fox News Cohosts Call Out His 'Creepy' Rant About 'High-Value Man' Stephen Miller

Fox News personality Jesse Watters weirded out his own co-hosts after he claimed that New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez secretly wants to sleep with White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller after she "short-shamed" him.

In an Instagram livestream earlier this week, Ocasio-Cortez said “one of the best ways that you can dismantle a movement of insecure men is by making fun of them." She called Miller "a clown" and suggested he—the architect of President Donald Trump's immigration policies—takes out his anger on others because he's "like, 4 feet 10 inches."

Keep ReadingShow less
A person cooking with a mis en place
person slicing green vegetable in front of round ceramic plates with assorted sliced vegetables during daytime

Chefs Break Down The Best Cooking 'Hacks' Everyone Should Know

While some people find cooking soothing and therapeutic, others might break into hives at the very thought of it.

Mainly owing to the fact that they don't always find the journey quite worth the payoff of a perfectly cooked roast chicken, or a spongy and creamy cake.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Screenshot of Donald Trump
Mario Tama/Getty Images; @atrupar/X

Gavin Newsom Hilariously Trolls Trump For Struggling To Stay Awake During Antifa Roundtable

California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked President Donald Trump for appearing to fall asleep during a White House roundtable about Antifa, which the administration recently designated a "domestic terror organization" even though it's not an organization at all.

Antifa is a loose network of anti-fascist activists with no central structure, no funding, no membership roster, and no offices or leadership hierarchy for prosecutors to target.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @timleesblee's TikTok video
@timleesblee/TikTok

Remote Worker Speaks Out After Job Uses 'Dystopian' Software To Track His Productivity

There are a few vital truths to every office-based job. First, there are going to be "busy work" moments, from meetings to admin tasks to minor side-quest-style projects that add to the company in some small way but otherwise feel like a waste of time.

Second, as human beings, we all need breaks to restore our mental focus, so a person who occasionally scrolls through their personal email, sends a few texts to a friend, or even scrolls Instagram for a few minutes, will likely be more productive than those who attempt to lock in and do nothing but their job throughout their entire shift.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot from @skylr.m's TikTok video
@skylr.m/TikTok

Texas Mechanic Speaks Out After Noticing How The Price Of Services Skyrocketed Within The Past Year

A mechanic in Texas turned heads with his observations about how dramatically prices have gone up in the past year.

TikToker @skylr.m from San Antonio, Texas, admitted that he doesn't know anything "about politics" but felt the price jumps he's been witnessing in real time are "pretty crazy."

Keep ReadingShow less