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
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
GiphyDon'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
GiphyWeek...
"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
GiphyAnd 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
GiphyApt 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
GiphyActually...
"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
GiphyHere'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
GiphyHorrifying
"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
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 GIFGiphyIsn'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.