The top 25 most mispronounced words have been revealed, including quinoa, parliament - and even ‘pronunciation’ itself.
A poll of 2,000 adults found 17% pronounce quinoa as ‘kin-oh-ah’ rather than ‘keen-wah’. And more than one in 10 (12%) have mistakenly pronounced espresso as 'ex-press-oh' instead of 'es-press-oh'.
Other commonly used words which are often confused, and have multiple varieties of pronunciation, include GIF, cache and zoology. Jewellery, sherbet and mischievous also made the top 25 list.
READ MORE: I went to one of Liverpool’s biggest Chinese supermarkets - and it was better than Asda and Tesco
And 44 % of adults have had someone tell them they were getting a word wrong when saying it out loud - with a quarter corrected at least once a week. The research was commissioned by leading car manufacturer Hyundai, as it has teamed up with Seong-Jae a.k.a. Korean Billy, to embrace a change to the pronunciation of the brand name in the UK from the anglicised ‘Hy-un-dai’ to the global articulation ‘Hyun-day’.
The research also revealed 38 per cent sometimes use words and phrases they don’t properly understand. But half of Brits admit every word they think about sounds right in their minds initially until it is said out loud. While a quarter say it can be difficult to understand every word or phrase in existence.
In addition, 47% will research the correct pronunciation online via a search engine like Google and 29% say they often pick up the English Dictionary to see if the phrasing is correct. But according to OnePoll data, 42% will sometimes choose to mispronounce words, if it means making others laugh or to enable them to stick to what they know.
Tech brands, location spots and people’s names are also among the things people are not fussed in mispronouncing out loud.
Discover, learn, grow. We are Curiously. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Ashley Andrew, managing director at Hyundai Motor UK, said: “Having updated our brand’s pronunciation locally, we wanted to explore pronunciation as a topic more broadly and get people talking about those words that we can potentially struggle with in everyday life, such as quinoa and espresso.
“Teaming up with Seong-Jae, a.k.a Korean Billy marks a new era for Hyundai; a young, innovative and a progressive brand, that injects a little humour and personality to people’s lives. We hope everyone enjoys the partnership as much as we have."
Top 25 words Brits have mispronounced
1. Quinoa (Ki-no-ah)
2. Probably (Probly)
3. Espresso (Ex-spres-so)
4. Affidavit (Affidavid)
5. GIF (JIF)
6. Meme (Meh – Meh)
7. Tenterhooks (Tenderhooks)
8. Cache (Cash-ay)
9. Coup de grace (Coo-de-GRAH)
10. Zoology (Zu-ol-oh-gee)
11. Parliament (Parlament)
12. Foyer (Foy-ay)
13. Mischievous (Mis-chee-vee-ous)
14. Antarctic (Ant-ar-tic)
15. Arctic (Ar-tic)
16. Library (Lie-berry)
17. Mange tout (Manj-eh-towt)
18. February (Feb-er-erry)
19. Jewellery (Joo-luh-ree)
20. Sherbet (Sher-bert)
21. Prescription (Perscription)
22. Almond (Aal-mund)
23. Moot (Mute)
24. Coupe (C-oo-p)
25. Triathlon (Tri-ath-a-lon)
READ NEXT:
Sacked worker banned from every B&Q for life after final customer announcement
Liverpool club 'forever indebted' to customers as it is saved from closure
Primark shopper finds £16 curling wand dupe that looks just like £70 Beauty Works version
We tried B&M's £1.25 dupe of KSI and Logan Paul's Prime drink
