We all have those words we get stuck on from time to time, but what about those words that we have always said a certain way, until someone out of the blue corrects us? It can be a bit embarrassing to be caught out mispronouncing a word, but it’s always good to know if you’ve been wondering!
Here’s 10 of the most common:
Mischievous
How you may be pronouncing it: mis-CHEE-vee-ous.
How it’s actually pronounced: MIS-chə-vous.
“Mischievous” is three syllables, not four.
Often
How you may be pronouncing it: OF-ten.
How it’s actually pronounced: OFF-en.
Yep, it’s pronounced without the ‘t’, just like the way we pronounce “soften”.
Vertebrae
How you may be pronouncing it: ver-teh-BRAY
How it’s actually pronounced: ver-teh-BREE
And all this time….
Espresso
How you may be pronouncing it: EX-presso
How it’s actually pronounced: ES-presso
There’s no ‘x’ in espresso.
Prerogative
How you may be pronouncing it: PUR-rog-uh-tiv.
How it’s actually pronounced: PRE-rog-uh-tiv.
Nope, the first ‘r’ is not silent.
Bruschetta
How you may be pronouncing it: Broo-SHETT-a.
How it’s actually pronounced: Broo-SKETT-a.
In Italian, that’s a hard “CH”.
Uranus
How you may be pronouncing it: ur-AYNUS
How it’s actually pronounced: ur-UHN-us
We’ve been saying this wrong for years!
Connoisseur
How you may be pronouncing it: con-ess-YUR
How it’s actually pronounced: con-ess-ER
Tricky French words always seem to get us.
Nuclear
How you may be pronouncing it: nook-yu-lur
How it’s actually pronounced: noo-CLEE-ah
Prescription
How you may be pronouncing it: PUR-scription
How it’s actually pronounced: PRUH-scription
Again, the ‘r’ is not silent.
We got a few of these wrong, did you? Will you change your pronunciation?