UK’s Most Commonly Mispronounced Names and Words in 2018

If you’ve ever questioned the way you pronounce words, this might be of value to you. A survey done by the British Institute for Verbatim Reporters (BIVR) has discovered the words and names that frequently get mispronounced throughout the year. Previously, we told you about 12 HARDEST Words of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Contest 2018. This time around, the Typical Student team learned the some of 2018's most commonly mispronounced names and words:

• Geraint Thomas (ger-aint, with the "ain" to rhyme with "wine"), BBC Sports Personality of the Year won the Tour De France in July 2018.
• Coorie (COO-rie), the cosy lifestyle trend from Scotland, will make you forget about hygge. Saoirse Ronan (SIR-shuh ROE-nun), an Irish-American actress who won her latest Oscar nomination for Lady Bird
• Ypres (EE-pruh) is the Belgian city that was in the center of attention for commemorations for the end of World War One
• Jamal Khashoggi (ja-MALL ka-SHOG-gi) is a journalist who was killed in Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul

How Did They Learn The Most Mispronounced Words?

The list of words was collected via the language learning app Babbel. Miriam Plieninger, Babbel’s director of didactics, says words often get mispronounced because they’re not originally English. So, people pronounce them the way they would do that in their mother tongue. Mr. Plieninger comments: "If you understand what the other person meant, it's usually fine. As long as you get your message across, it's all good."