Even if you consider yourself someone with a good vocabulary, there are a number of words that can seem impossible to get right. You’ve likely heard them said a number of different ways, and you might be confused as to which pronunciation is correct.
Luckily, thanks to some helpful YouTube videos, you can now figure out how to correctly say a number of hard-to-say words in just a few seconds. Here’s how to say these 10 commonly mispronounced words the right way. Maybe there have been some that you’ve been saying wrong this whole time, and you didn’t even know it!
For the full article and links to the audio files of the pronunciations, find this story at Simplemost.com.
1. Mischievous
Most of us usually add that extra syllable to the word describing someone full of mischief, but this word is actually pronounced “MIS-chiv-us,” not “mis-CHEEV-ee-us.”
2. Puree
Unfortunately, the word describing a creamy substance made from a fruit or vegetable doesn’t rhyme with “wee” or “glee,” as fun as that would be to say.
3. Gyro
The Greek dish is easy to enjoy, but not so simple to pronounce. You may have heard it pronounced a number of ways, but the correct way to pronounce the international food is “yee-ro.”
4. Niche
You’ve probably heard your fair share of both “nich” that rhymes with “hitch” or “neesh” that rhymes with “leash,” so which one is it? Unlike some other mispronunciations on this list, you can probably get away with either pronunciation of niche, but the latter—which comes from the original French pronunciation—is technically the winner.
5. Endive
This delicious salad ingredient can be a pain in the butt to say. To make matters worse, there are actually two different ways to pronounce the word depending on what you are describing. “En-Dive” is the curly lettuce:
6. GIF
If you spend any time on the internet, you’ve likely been involved in the debate about how to pronounce “GIF,” a type of image format that has grown popular in the last few years. Some people still would argue otherwise, but the proper way to say “GIF” sounds like “jiff.”
7. LaCroix
This trendy sparking drink has taken the country by storm, but it’s not exactly clear how you pronounce its name. The seltzer water isn’t pronounced “La-CWAH” as one might think. Instead, it’s said “La-CROY.”
8. Sherbet
We’re not sure why everyone adds that extra “r” in there, but sherbet is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled: “shur-bit.”
9. Nuptial
This word related to wedding ceremonies is actually only two syllables, not three.
10. Acai
You might have felt awkward ordering something with this wonder berry if you weren’t quite sure how to say it (and hey, we don’t blame you), but we’ve got you covered so you can order your breakfast in peace.
