Mispronouncing words happens to all of us. Even for the most diction and grammar literate, words can come out scrambled. But in the English language, some words are commonly mispronounced more than others—somehow becoming commonplace in our everyday language.
Mispronouncing words or phrases irks many people, and in a popular online forum, member @Wonderful-Economy762 posed this question about mispronounced words: "What is one word that people wrongly pronounce that makes your brain just wanna jump a cliff?" And its fellow members did not hold back.
Everyone has that one word that drives them nuts
That's not how you say that!Photo credit: Canva
Many shared their feelings about how it feels when they hear people mispronouncing them:
"My rage bubbled up faster than expected reading this," one wrote.
Another added, "Oh man, nails on a chalkboard. I instantly make unfair assumptions about the person who says this."
And another quipped, "Does it count if I do it on purpose to be obnoxious sometimes?"
These are 40 words that are commonly mispronounced that received a passionate mention–with many pointing out how to properly pronounce them.
40 mispronounced words people just can’t stand
"Supposably. When a grown adult says 'Supposably' to mean 'supposedly', they sound like a petulant infant who just threw their broccoli off of their high chair onto the ground." —@s7o0a0p
"Lie-berry." —@DixonHerbox
"Exspecially." —@iamhere-2
"eXpresso." —@Turbulent_Gene7017
"On accident. (You don’t say you did something on accident. You did something by accident." —@Throwaway7219017, @_incredigirl_
"'I could care less.' It's "I couldn't care less" which means you could NOT care less which means you DON'T CARE LOL." —@EmergencyPharmacy53
"Real-la-tor instead of real-tor." —@jajabibi67
"When people say Valentine’s Day as 'Valentimes day' 😭." —@Glittering_Pea5599
"Nuclear pronounced as 'New-queue-lur. Drives me bonkers!" —@Maleficent-Yam-5196
"Could of / should of / etc." —@Traditional_Goal6971
"Eggcetera." —@ufficient_Space8484
"Across. People here say 'acrost'. And I know it’s now accepted but it throws me when I hear people say 'axin' instead of 'asking'." —@UtahUtopia
"Irregardless." —@fineline3061
"For all INTENTS AND purposes." —@Doc308
"Mischievous. Miss-Chev-Us. But EVERYONE says Miss-Chee—VEE-us. I said it wrong for decades too." —@fleshvessel
"Amblance instead of Ambulance." —@katmcflame
"Pellow. Melk. Fustrated." —@KimboSliceChestHair
"Punkin instead of pumpkin." —@Geester43
"Italian. It's not Eyetalian." —@hairyairyolas
"Hot take…When did we start pronouncing the 'T' in 'often?' I was taught in school it was silent :)" —@SilentConstant2114
"Pacifically instead of specifically." —@PepsiMaxHoe
"Pitcher for picture." —@shnarfmaster3000
"'FentaNAHL'. It’s fentanyl." —@daveindo
"I’m going to expose my middle-class here but it’s KEE-NWAH, not KIH-NOAH. And it’s ‘Champing at the bit’, not ‘chomping’." —@creator_chronicles
"Where people say 'seen' instead of 'saw'. 'I seen this car coming down the street...' My brain melts every time." —@Direct_Disaster9299
"Kindygarten, kiddygarden." —@NeverDidLearn
'Take for granite' u sound so dumb. Its GRANTED people." —@silly_creation650
"'Oh look! A strawbrery!'" —@WafflesTalbot
"'verbiage' as 'verb-uj'." —@valentinakontrabida
"Anyways. There is no 'S' in this." —@Zealousideal-Cook104
"Writing 'ect.' instead of 'etc.' and pronouncing it wrongly - 'eccetera' instead of 'et cetera'." —@KiwiFruit404
"Foyer. It's Foy-yay, not Foy-yer." —@hoosiergirl1962
Why? Why would you say it like that?!Photo credit: Canva
"There so many. Here are but a few. 'Burfday'. It’s birthday, damn it! 'Alls I know'. I want to rip my ears off. 'Ax' instead of 'ask'." —@mbc072558
"Poinsettia, people say it as pointsetta, it has irked me for years." —@dararie
"When people say 'pitcher' for 'picture'." —@Desperate_Holiday_78
Did your language pet peeve make the list?
Whether you're team "expresso" or ready to throw your coffee over "supposably", these everyday slip-ups clearly strike a nerve. Language is always evolving, but that doesn’t mean we have to suffer through "irregardless". What would you add?
This article originally appeared earlier this year.