26 Excruciating Mispronunciations That Drive Pedants Up The Wall

Hey, don't be such a pee-dant!

Disclaimer: This was written by a Brit, so some of these mispronunciations are relative.

1. "Pro-noun-ciation"

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An easy mistake to make, because you pronounce things. Still, "pronunciation" is pronounced "pro-nun-ciation".

2. "Ex-presso"

cheezburger.com

Doesn't matter how quickly you chug it, it's still just an "es-presso".

3. "Vice-ah versa"

Thinkstock

Look, it's just "vice versa". Save your vowels. You might need them later.

4. "Pacific" and "pacifically"

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Unless you're talking oceanically, the S in "specific" and "specifically" is not silent.

5. "Hyper-bowl"

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Hyperbole is pronounced "hy-per-bowl-ee" because it's about exaggeration – not, like, a really amazing bowl.

6. "Eppy-tome"

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Nope. "Epitome" is still pronounced "eh-pit-oh-mee". Next!

7. "Supposably"

NBC / hello.wordsolver.net

Look, we covered this in Friends. "Supposably" isn't a word; "supposedly" is a word, and is pronounced "sup-pose-ed-lee".

8. "For intensive purposes"

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What, pray, is an "intensive" purpose"? The phrase is "for all intents and purposes".

9. "Haitch"

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The argument "I pronounce it 'haitch' because it starts with H" only works if you also pronounce M "mem", N "nen", and R "rar". Which you don't, because you're not mental, so go ahead and start pronouncing H "aitch" like the rest of us.

10. "Nuke-you-lar"

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No, the U in "nuclear" doesn't go randomly for a walk down the word now and then. It's always pronounced "new-clear".

11. "Lie-ay-zon"

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Look, I know the spelling can be confusing, but "liaison" is pronounced "lee-a-zon". There is no lying involved, except for specialist liaisons.

12. "Com-dom"

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You'd have better luck with a "con-dom", to be quite frank.

13. "Ex-setra"

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Nope. "Et cetera" is pronounced "ett-sett-eh-ra" (and while we're here it's shortened to "etc", not "ect".)

14. "Ex-cape"

Disney / ruinedchildhood.com

In an emergency submarine situation you need to look for the "es-cape" hatch. Otherwise you're just referring to something that was formerly a cape.

15. "Lie-berry"

Getty Images/iStockphoto Alexandr Pakhnyushchyy

"Library" is pronounced "ly-brer-ee", although "lie-berries" do sound delicious.

16. "Cal-vurry"

Getty Images/iStockphoto Lee Walters

This can get confusing, because Calvary was a Biblical location near to Jerusalem. However, when you send in the cavalry (or any mounted soldiers, really), it's pronounced "cav-al-ree". FYI.

17. "A-crosst"

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Sorry, but there is no T at the end of "across".

18. "Nothink"

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Nor is there a K at the end of "nothing".

19. "Ass-ter-ick"

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"Asterisk" is pronounced "ass-ter-isk" (and not "Ass-ter-ix", that was a comic book character).

20. "Fuss-trated"

THOIP

No, no, no. You pronounce the first R in "frustrated". And, whatever happens, you NEVER replace it with an L.

21. "Hamp-ster"

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"Hamster" should be pronounced "ham-ster" at all times. Even if you keep your hamster in a hamper. Which you probably shouldn't.

22. "Bay-nal"

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No, "banal" is not "anal" with a B in front. It's pronounced "ba-nahl".

23. "Peng-wing"

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If Benedict Cumberbatch can learn that "penguin" should be pronounced "pen-gwin", so can you!

24. "Gif"

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In 2013 Steve White, the inventor of the gif, announced that it was actually pronounced "jif", but instead of changing the way people say it, it just means that we all refer to gifs as "gifs-jifs-whatever", which isn't helpful.

25. "Pee-dant"

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Anyone who pronounced "pedant" as "pee-dant" is just trolling us.

26. "Levi-oh-sar"

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Aaaaand we're out.