The colonial legacy of the British Empire, and American dominance since the World wars, has ensured the position of English language as the lingua franca of tourism, business and international relations.
However, English is a peculiar language with its own set of oddities, especially regarding pronunciation.
For instance, have you ever wondered, why people around you would abruptly burst into laughter, or take offense at a seemingly innocuous statement about women (pronounced incorrectly as woo-men, and not wih-men), or go off on a tangent about Kendall Jenner when you’re asking the genre (pronounced incorrectly as jen-ner, and not zhon-ruh) of a TV series?
It’s due to the mispronunciation of the words, an innocent habit, which could land you in trouble or expose you to ridicule. Therefore, it’s time to rectify this mistake.
Let’s begin by learning how these 20 words that you use everyday are pronounced incorrectly:
- Library :
Incorrect: li-bar-y
Correct: li-brar-y
- Mischievous :
Incorrect: mis-Cee-vee-us
Correct: mis-che-vus
- Pronunciation:
Incorrect: pro-nown-see-ay-shun
Correct: pro-nun-see-ay-shun
4. Nuclear :
Incorrect: noo-kyu-lur
Correct: noo-klee-ur
- Picture :
Incorrect: pit-cher
Correct: pik-cher
- Peremptory :
Incorrect: pre-emp-tuh-ree
Correct: per-emp-tuh-ree
- Probably :
Incorrect: pra-lee or prob-lee
Correct: prob-a-blee
- Often :
Incorrect: oft-en
Correct: off-en
- Espresso :
Incorrect: ex-press-oh
Correct: ess-press-oh
- February :
Incorrect: feb-yoo-air-y
Correct: feb-roo-air-y
- Arctic :
Incorrect: ar-tic
Correct: arc-tic
- Gauge :
Incorrect: not gaug
Correct: gay-j
- Raspberry :
Incorrect: rasp-berry
Correct: Raz-ber-ee
- Salon :
Incorrect: suh-loon
Correct: sa-lon (LON rhyming with BON Jovi)
- Cocoa :
Incorrect: koh-koh-wa
Correct: koh-koh
- Dessert :
Incorrect: des-ert
Correct: dizz-urt
- Bury :
Incorrect: Beu-ri or Burr-ri
Correct: be-ri
- Pizza :
Incorrect: pi-za
Correct: peet-zuh
- Epitome :
Incorrect: ep-i-tome
Correct: ep-i-tummy
- Chauvinism :
Incorrect: chow-vi-ni-zum
Correct: shoh-vuh-niz-uh-m
