79 Common Mispronunciations - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep. 21)

What words are you mispronouncing? After you watch this list of 79 common mispronunciations, you might just find out. John Green covers words that are commonly mispronounced by English speakers.
The List Show is a weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John Green discusses 79 of the most commonly mispronounced words in English.
Mental Floss Video on Twitter: / mf_video
Select Images and Footage provided by Shutterstock: www.shutterstock.com
Artist acknowledgements for this episode:
----
Website: www.mentalfloss...
Twitter: / mental_floss
Facebook: / mentalflossmagazine

[@MentalFloss]

This Friday, 4/24/20 LIVE @ 7PM EST catch "Tub Trivia", the new quiz show from Mental Floss. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qIPdd2VqabKXpdU

[@AB-rm5lc]

it's Levi-O-sa, not levio-sa!

[@95Caris]

The most important of them all

[@ZomBeeNature]

Oh my gosh, no wonder I can't get it to work!

[@mybraineatseverything7404]

I have that on a t-shirt!

[@dianeridley9804]

You forgot Brougham, and that old people loved that 70s cologne, Canoe (not like the fishing boat) ? Additional mentions: febyooary: foilage, for all intensive purposes, prostrate , Valentimes;

[@evabailey3860]

You're going to take someone's eye out!

[@RestfulSilent]

That pronunciation of Gangnam is actually wrong. Vowels only have one phonetic value in Korean, so you would pronounce the A's like "ah".

[@EamonBurke]

+feens I don't know how people keep getting that one wrong. HE SAYS GANGNAM STYLE OVER AND OVER EVERY CHORUS. We all heard that song hundreds of times.

[@jet-stream2994]

+feens was gonna say exactly this. i almost puked when he said that

[@RestfulSilent]

+Egg Centric well the phonetic pronunciation of it is gang-nam. the word has two character blocks and in korean each character block is one syllable.

[@criskity]

+Egg Centric The "nam" in "Gangnam" and "Vietnam" is the same word, meaning "south". Both are borrowed from Middle Chinese.

[@RestfulSilent]

+CNVideos Gangnam meaning "south of the river", and Vietnam meaning "southern china" if I'm not mistaken.

[@HB-ey2dk]

What about expresso?? Hate that, there's no x in espresso!!

[@mybraineatseverything7404]

YES! Or "ax." You don't "ax" a question unless you're eliminating it...

[@rowynnecrowley1689]

Hate that SOOOOO much! Hate it more when it's said by a barista.

[@emilchandran546]

ุ exactly I hate when people say “ex presso” it’s “espresso”

[@MrJacobThrall]

Coming from Italian though, it's cognate with the meaning of other "express" type words in English which are pronounced with an "x". Things forced through under pressure are expressed. Things done quickly are express. Single servings are expressly for one person. Some foreign words are used in translation, some are lifted straight from the source with - more or less - their original pronunciation. It can sometimes sound very gauche to anglicise, but it can sometimes sound very pretentious to use a more authentic pronunciation, and the difference can be down to little more than fashion and whim. The more anglophone "expresso" was an accepted form - at least in British English - for a while, but that's now largely been dropped. There is a history of its being correct - in as much as anything in language ever is "correct"! - in living memory though. So while I do say "espresso", I can see why "expresso" gets used.

[@BenjaminGatzke]

Not with that attitude

[@NDtee]

I'm pretty sure you got about 50% of these wrong. Mauve is pronounced "Mohve" like Taupe is pronounced Tope and Haute is like Oat. They're French words.

[@thecliffwall4636]

But it's how to pronounce the English words, not the original counterparts.

[@dtrez09]

it's a blurry line when the word is borrowed and not changed at all. Are you saying an English word or are you saying a French word in an English sentence? You could do either and be correct right?

[@GoddessFourWinds]

Fortunately, those of us who know better do know those words have a long "o" sound. I'm from the area near Terre Haute, Indiana...where everyone says "hoat." And anyone who knows anything about fashion knows haute couture. Some people go out of their way to make sure they're saying words properly. Others, not so much. There's a town in New Mexico named Des Moines...and it's pronounced with the "s" on the end of the word Moines. It drove me crazy when I first moved to the area.

[@pastaboats]

also, he uses the example of Harry Potter, in which he corrects the pronunciation of the name Hermione, but said voldemort wrong, which is supposed to be French for, 'death flight,' or, 'flight of death,' so since it is French, you do not pronounce the t. it's völ-duh-more.

[@katharina...]

You lost all credibility when you mispronounced Jake Gyllenhaal's name.

[@shalindra]

+Katharina Thank you. It's Yee-luhnn-hawl right?

[@kourtneycrumpet]

+Shalindra Senalankadhikara I'm so glad someone else noticed this too

[@mylesmedynski7340]

Jill-En-Hawl

[@dianaoster]

@@shalindra that's always how I pronounce it after I learned the correct pronunciation on Conan! Lol

[@TheNewsDepot]

But you forgot the most important one! It's Levi-OH-sah, not Levi-oh-SAH!

[@ZaneVesper]

Chad C. I love you

[@teddyl7006]

+Chad C. I kept wondering why the spell worked in the later movies when they were pronouncing it wrong.

[@animeman1000]

He pronounced Gangnam wrong. Sorry John Green. PSY pronounces it correct over 20 times in the song yet no one ever knows how to pronounce it correctly.

[@GaryBunker]

That's so frustrating! How do people hear 강남 Style and then say, "oh, that Korean must have really meant to pronounce it 갱남?"

[@animeman1000]

I know right? I don't get it.

[@DluxMVee]

Oh, I'm so so glad somebody else said something about this.

[@AndromedaPeace]

Gary Bunker yeah, not sure how that one got through.

[@COEXISTential]

animeman1000 And now you're going to spell it phonetically, right?

[@bigbaddave1095]

"Mauve" comes from the French. The correct pronunciation, therefore, has a long O sound. ˈmōv

[@bigbaddave1095]

@Tedge77 Sommer What a constructive comment. It warms my heart to see individuals who devote their time to thoughtful and scholarly discourse. Bravo.

[@bigbaddave1095]

@Tedge77 Sommer I'd agree with you in the context of an everyday conversation. I wouldn't correct someone's pronunciation of this word in everyday conversation. John's pronunciation is an accepted American colloquialism and I'm not one to challenge it in normal speech. But he's posting a video to more than a million subscribers and saying that a colloquialism is the "correct" pronunciation. This seems like the proper place to be able to discuss and debate this sort of thing, not pompously but as a matter of fact and etymology.

[@bigbaddave1095]

@Tedge77 Sommer It actually was :)

[@bigbaddave1095]

@Tedge77 Sommer In a world with so much division and where misunderstandings so often lead to bitterness and vitriol, it's nice to have been able to actually have a conversation and resolve an issue with civility. Thank you for that. I hope you stay safe and well too!

[@austinshoupe3003]

I know I'm late, but half the english language comes from french. Doesn't change the fact english has its own pronunciation.

[@KaitlynChey]

I'm so glad I got confirmation on the "anyway" thing. I've always said "anyway" simply because "anyways" doesn't make sense to me. People constantly try to correct me. Now I know I'm right. Thanks!

[@shanegepilano7071]

kaitlyn lawson I always say "anyways". Now I know it's not a word lol

[@Sillykat420]

+kaitlyn lawson Yeah, anyways isn't a word.

[@jayu7054]

anyways...

[@丫o]

@jayu7054 So anyway…

[@dadoctah]

Other guy: "It's not hampster, it's hamster. There is no P in hamster!" Me: "Maybe you're not squeezing them hard enough."

[@rowynnecrowley1689]

You're my new favorite person.

[@flinkostememniakgrant1266]

Try pronouncing hamster without the p it is a very subtle difference. Why is there a b in subtle anyway...hmmmm

[@RED40HOURS]

@@flinkostememniakgrant1266 a alot of (if not all) silent letters are due to _history_ Back when english was still a new language, words like knight, knee, and knife would have their Ks pronounced (Kuh-naet, Kuh-nee, Kuh-naef). But as time goes by, people felt these Ks were really hard to pronounce so they just dropped the K when speaking but kept the K in writing

[@a.4.lan8]

2:21 It’s spelled “Gotye” not “Goyte”

[@jimsmint]

appalling innit!

[@captainspongeboy]

Alan Cano yeah. That hurt

[@landonitron]

did he seriously forget to mention sherbet only has ONE r in it not two? I hate when people say "sherbert"

[@jimbobaroobud]

Poor Ernie. 😢

[@downbntout]

That's a sure bet

[@happyfacefries]

Sherbert

[@bigbaddave1095]

How about that "Nuptials" has only one U and is not pronounced "Nuptuals" LOL

[@solaris9426]

Also, espresso is the coffee. Expresso is the ostrich from Donkey Kong Country.

[@hattrickk15]

"Pwned" is actually meant to be pronounced "owned" Replacing an "O" with a "P" is a common typo so eventually the typo became the official spelling of "owned" in the gaming community.

[@weirdunclebob]

I don't disagree but I've always thought that "POONED" sounds so much better! lol

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

I thought it was derived from Poe as in Poe's Law. Could have sworn I read that somewhere.

[@elizabethmiller565]

Fun fact - seeing as you brought him up in the video, the 't' at the end of Voldemort is silent (according to J K Rowling). It is from the french 'vol de mort' meaning 'flight of death'. I may have misused the word 'fun'...

[@AmbrosiaDreamWeaver]

+Betty Miller Funny how they still pronounce the 't' in the movies. That said, the way they say 'Hermione' in the movies is still not how Hermione herself explained the pronunciation of her name to Krum in GOF Book 4, Chapter titled "The Yule Ball". "Her-my-OWE-Nee" or roughly that. Fact is she specifically put emphasis on the 'o' part of her name, implying that that part was to receive syllabic emphasis, not the 'i' part, which they do in the movies, which is why everyone thinks it's supposed to be pronounced, which is why despite the numerous times I have pointed that chapter out, everyone still thinks I'm wrong. But then they allow both Voldemort and Hermione's names to be mispronounced in the movies. Ok. Even though it must be terribly annoying to Miss Rowling, it seems she needs to post a video with her actual pronunciations to explain, because it's terribly annoying to me.

[@marieclairelebel]

I was coming to the comment section precisely to say that :)

[@erickaufman6840]

I read the first few books pronouncing it "her-me-own," with a silent "e," and still found myself doing so by the time I got to the last book. It's funny how first impressions carry so much weight when it comes to the pronunciation of characters' names in books! After mispronouncing a name one way in my head enough times, it's incredibly difficult for me to make the correction.

[@AmbrosiaDreamWeaver]

+eric kaufman Interesting: I said it Her-my-own... then when I got to the fourth book it came down to adding the e at the end.. :P

[@jakelancaster5889]

+Betty Miller He makes too many mistakes. And on a video attempting to correct pronun. mistakes?

[@SiraSpirit]

"...but this mispronunciation is so common, and you will seem SO pedantic if you correct anyone, that you just shouldn't." Amen. Sometimes we have to pick our battles.

[@emily.g.929]

I thought that a dresser or chest of drawers was actually Chester Drawers until I was 18 😂😂😂

[@toosiyabrandt8676]

HI ANd I actually thought an elephant was a TACHYDERM!!! LOL!

[@zachmdful]

"If you know anything about the German language, trying to get the sexism out of it is like getting the white out of rice."

[@hanngallifrey8314]

that isn't even correct to start with...rice is tan or brown. white rice has to be bleached.

[@zachmdful]

Just shut the fuck up... I thought it was kinda funny. Don't judge me i'm wird Haha.. The puns.

[@onoshedidnt10203]

zachmdful *cough cough* weird*

[@zachmdful]

live_laugh_l0ve16 Was making another joke. You obviously don't get it.

[@joshmclendon3718]

zachmdful I doubt anyone got it.

[@darthdavid2275]

Lol so many many people say "ima axe you a question" it gets soooo annoying

[@nataliacarmody7024]

+David Charette Sometimes when people are saying that, they aren't speaking English, they are speaking African American Vernacular English [AAVE].

[@iloveprivacy8167]

+David Charette If it was good enough for Chaucer, it's good enough for me! (The "axe" pronunciation goes back even further, to Old English.)

[@Jaclyn_Lizzi]

+Natalia Carmody *not speaking Standard American English They are, in fact, still speaking English XD

[@nataliacarmody7024]

Yes, Jaclyn Lizzi, you're correct. Was thinking that but didn't type it.

[@evanpena2018]

Let me mullet over

[@samueljudd7887]

No. "Gangnam Style" is pronounced "Gahng-nahm style." Not "Gayng-num." 아이씨, 미국인!

[@midnightramenattack9716]

I cringed at that... XD

[@CharlesWetzel]

+Samuel Judd 모든 미국인 말고, 그냥 이 비디오를 만든 미국인.

[@samueljudd7887]

진, 진실

[@midnightramenattack9716]

+CharlesWetzel ㅇㅈ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@CosmicAcrobat]

Gayman Style

[@CC57985]

Edinburgh isn't pronounced "Edinborough", it's pronounced "Edinbrer". (And for future reference, it's "Buckingum not bucking-ham")

[@maxwellbrown7073]

And lanci-shur and york-shur, wuster, rother-um, eelie etc

[@Ben-ni9zv]

edinbrer??? its pronounced edin-bruh

[@lindenpeters2601]

That's an accent thing. Brits don't say "uh" at the end of words, they say "er". If you say "er" with an English accent you'll know what I mean.

[@MixD9]

No, the correct pronounciation is Edin-bruh, or Edin-burra if you're feeling extravagant. What you say about Brits is only true for some English accents, and since Edinburgh isn't in England, those accents are irrelevant. Edinburgh is in Scotland, and the native Scottish pronunciation is Edin-bruh.

[@bouncebackbetter4104]

the crown!! "Edinbrer"

[@RikSowden]

There is something glorious about John talking about how words should be properly pronounced (since mispronouncing things is his thing!)

[@timesiick]

"Its creps, not crepes." IT IS A FRENCH WORD AND IN THE FRENCH LANGUAGE IT IS PRONOUNCED CREPE. YOU CANNOT SAY CREP. IT IS NOT A WORD.

[@lampje5185]

Me all this video

[@MartyMusic777]

A few of these words do technically have dual pronunciation, depending on which type of English you're using (ie British versus American). However, a majority of the words which were selected are indeed commonly mispronounced. That said, if you are one of those people who does mispronounce words often, take heart - as words' pronunciation changes over time, it will change from being unacceptable to either/or, and will eventually become more common than the old pronunciation ever was. Hell, that's linguistics in a nutshell.

[@jubelivion182]

Lovely comment.

[@howverycliche98]

As a speaker of British English I was a tad angry until I read your comment! 😡🤣

[@YmonAsterZ]

It's Mental Floss not Menopause.

[@robertnewell5057]

Exactly. This crops up all over his vids. Hilarious and extremely irritating at the same time, but in a vid on mispronunciations? For goodness sake!

[@SomeCallMeWeird]

I'm going to respectfully refuse half of these.

[@RFC3514]

Always funny to see americans telling other americans they're mispronouncing foreign words (which they are), and "correcting" them by suggesting... an equally wrong (or, in a couple of cases here, significantly _wronger_) pronunciation. Either go for the actual pronunciation of the word, in its original language, or accept that your fellow americans' mispronunciation is as legitimate as yours.

[@theincompetentgamer6288]

"wronger" I lol'd

[@EpicRAWRRR]

Were there any of those words in particular you are referring to?

[@RFC3514]

EpicRAWRRR Nearly all the foreign ones. Scroll down the comments (or type them into a voice synth designed for their original language, or ask anyone who speaks the languages in question, etc.). It's fine to pronounce them differently from the original language (as long as the people you're talking to understand what you're saying). It's not so fine to pronounce them differently and then make a pedantic video telling other people that _their_ mispronunciation is "wrong" while yours is somehow "right".

[@jacobjim5822]

RFC3514 one type them in to a voice synth that is the fucking dumbest this I've ever heard they pronounce shit completely fucked no matter what language and 2 allot of ppl from other country's don't pronounce there shit correctly either so that not a good way either for e.g no English person pronounces every English word correctly so what makes you think ppl from other country's would pronounce all there correctly but hay he probabibly is pronouncing them wrong I'll give you that :p

[@RFC3514]

jacob jim Considering you can't even spell properly, I seriously doubt that was "the fucking dumbest shit you've ever heard", as you put it. Most commercial voice synths these days are quite good, by the way, as anyone can easily check. For example: www.acapela-group.com/

[@iBolt07]

Most of these aren't really "mispronounced" so much as chalking it up to regional dialects.

[@sodazman]

Wrong. It's Jake YEEEEE-LEAN-HAALLLEEEE.

[@fugaification]

+sodazman I got the reference

[@sodazman]

+fugaification Awesome haha!

[@MarceloCostaoficial]

I saw that video of jake doing this, but was he joking or was been serious?

[@sarochiel]

Marcelo Costa Technically, that is the proper pronunciation of his surname. 😊

[@sunitarani6980]

sodazman nsvd

[@KrystalLake]

Using the correct pronouciations of some words in America means that either most people won't understand it, or they think you're trying to show off. It's easier to just say it incorrectly than have to explain yourself. If it's a foreign loan word or uncommon name, that's understandable. But butchering everyday words is a clear marker of being uneducated. When I hear a native Englsh speaker say 'eX-specially' or 'supposeBly,' I immediately lose respect for them.

[@BTiffney71]

'Mauve' (number 43) was not right, the 'wrong' pronounciation was the right one... in french 'au' sounds like 'o' (same thing with 'eau' (water) or like in 'chapeau' (hat) , it's my first language..

[@beckf1858]

BTiffney71 Yes! Thank you!!! It is "mohv" according to Dictionary.com.

[@Backsbfans]

Yes. That's exactly what I Thought.

[@srhvideo]

+BTiffney71 I've always pronounced Mauve in the "wrong" way according to the video but it is Scottish not French which could be why the way in the video could be correct

[@catgrin]

You're right. "Mauve" has a French etymology, from their word for "mallow". (The plane used to make the dye.) The word "mauve" should sound like "taupe". You wouldn't pronounce it to sound like "off".

[@Amyduckie]

The second pronunciation of 'mauve' is the way Australians and Brits pronounce it.

[@yoonjoonso]

Your mispronunciation of Gangnam completely destroyed the credibility of any of your videos. I really hope you do some kind of research before you confidently spout nonsense.

[@Jokr162003]

This, I just stopped watching after Gangnam.

[@jupiterrocks24]

Really, all credibility ruined by the name of a viral K-Pop sensation? A little harsh, if you ask me.

[@mandapannts]

Well, he's an English speaker who probably has no experience speaking Korean or reading Hangul, and he's reading a script. I took lessons for a year in Korea and I'm sure I still mispronounce basic words. Koreans learning English can have similar pronunciation struggles. However, it also drove me crazy when I heard it! XD For the record: It's pronounced more like... "Kahng-nam"

[@yoonjoonso]

All I'm looking for is a simple apology (or even just an annotation mentioning the error) to restore the credibility of this channel

[@jupiterrocks24]

yoonjoonso Yeah, I mean, they do usually do that...

[@KyleRichoux]

"A man who sits while peeing" I lol'd about the fact that German has a word for that.

[@elizabethknight4240]

Very fun! However, there are a number of examples in this video which I would not label as mispronunciations. The correct way to pronounce a word varies depending on the version of the language which you speak, for example, 'jewellery' (along with the pronunciation associated with this spelling) which was stated in this video as being an example of mispronunciation (and spelling I think), is actually the correct pronunciation and spelling for British English and even Australian English.

[@anthonydyer6344]

How did he not include “mispronunciation”?! So often pronounced as mispronOUnciation. Does my head in 😱

[@BenZoe9]

"And those of you who don't know who I'm talking about... Congratulations." Haha xD

[@MrJacobThrall]

Gotye has a long "o". Sort of like "Goat-i-yay", or thereabouts. It's a stylised spelling of the French "Gautier": his family are Belgian and his given name is "Wouter" (the Flemish equivalent of Walter), but his stage name is essentially the French version of the same name (French being the other main language of Belgium). He was known as Wally growing up though, because he lived in Australia.

[@panic_emoji3741]

The sheer number of times I've heard specifically pronounced pacifically, like the ocean, is frightening...

[@CranberryHollow]

You mispronounced the French words crêpe and mauve. The pronunciations you claimed to be incorrect were actually correct. If you are going to make yourself an authority, you should know what you are talking about.

[@jeremyswalley8625]

MEOW!!!

[@scarletfluerr]

Funny, he didn't mention Celtic which he misuses all the time.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

How does someone mispronounce "Celtic"?

[@scarletfluerr]

By using the "s" sound like the sports team, lord knows where they got it from.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

scarletfluerr Who the bloody hell pronounces "Celtic" with an "s" sound? Are you serious? People have that much disregard for the very obvious etymology of the word!?

[@SomeDudeOnline]

Damian Freeman How is it obvious? According to this person www.digitalmedievalist.com/opinionated-celtic-faqs/keltic-or-seltic/ the word Celt didn't even originate in the language of the people it describes. However, even if it did originate in the language of the people it describes (Irish and Welsh right?) how would the proper pronunciation of the word be obvious to anyone who doesn't speak the language?

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

SomeDudeOnline A lot of denonyms don't describe the people they're for - look at the Japanese. It's nothing to do with what they call themselves or their country. And I say obvious because one can do a veyr quick search to find it derives from French and Latin, and both use a K sounds, not an S sound. Even in ancient Greek it was with a K- sound.

[@Grace-mz6gx]

And Macaron and Macaroon! People are always like "This macaron is amazing!" and I'm like, "How would you know, you're eating a coconut cookie.

[@goktimusprime]

We pronounce 'mauve' as "mouv" outside of North America.

[@Verminskyi]

+Goktimus Prime This one really annoyed me. He tells explicitly tells people not to pronounce it in the correct manner!

[@drinkme9116]

Well he's American so he isn't going to tell every single country how to pronounce words correctly.

[@nataliacarmody7024]

+Goktimus Prime All of these pronunciations are from American English. So he's right.

[@trudepaladin5803]

+Goktimus Prime yes and in Australia, crepe rhymes with cape and forte is pronounced fortay, if it's a personal talent, but fort if it's an added strength.

[@manmanthirtysix5117]

+Goktimus Prime I pronounce mauve as pur-pull

[@KSS5]

Umm...you should have had a Korean guest pronounce Gangnam for you.

[@Pinkskull69420]

Should have had*

[@KSS5]

PinkskullTheNinja thanks will edit that now :-)

[@ooglefluffg857]

As a car person, I have to add that "Porsche" is pronounced "por-sha", not "porsh." Drives me nuts lol.

[@petersmythe6462]

Fun fact: An "ng" sound involves an unrestricted flow of air through ones nose. An "sssssssssssss" sound involves and unrestricted flow of air through the mouth. A soft "jjjjjjjjjj" sound like you might imagine in something French involves an unrestricted flow of air through the mouth. As does a "fffffffffffffff" sound. And a "shhhhh" sound. And a "thhh" sound when produced with a lisp. "Mmmm" and "nnnnn" involve unrestricted airflow through the nose, as does the sound produced when attempting to simultaneously make those two sounds. "Llllll" and "zzzzz" also involve unrestricted airflow through the mouth, as does "rrrrrrr" and the sound made by attempting to imitate a monitor lizard or a hissing cat (sort of a continuous "hhhhh", NOT a "huuuu"). These aren't normally considered vowel sounds. I guess it is easier to say "A, E, I, O, U, and sometimes Y" than it is to say "A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y and S and SH and sometimes J and F and sometimes TH and M and N and MNMNMN L and Z and R and sometimes H"

[@coinrush1]

Where is the fun? D:

[@NatandGeorge]

but these are all modified from a pure vowel form by use of the tongue.

[@McRaylie]

No, you're wrong, only vowels have unristricted air flow, when you pronounce s you actually use your tonge to cause tubulence, which is not unristricted

[@losoyaknoso]

Wow, its rare to see someone try so hard yet fail so spectacularly. Thank you for this, made my day hahah.

[@mediatapwater]

Ur Gangnam pronunciation is SO wrong.

[@randalalansmith9883]

How did ancient cities get mixed up in this?

[@maiquipa7]

You forgot February. Mispronunciation of that drives me up a wall. LOL

[@jeangambell8603]

'but if you know the German language you know trying to get the sexism out of it is like trying to get white out of rice' 😂😂😂😂

[@beneichinger9566]

your use of schadenfreude is incorrect, you are confusing ignorance for misfortune.

[@nosuchthing8]

ben eichinger hah! Good call.

[@hello.pickle]

also ESPRESSO not EXpresso!

[@mooniejohnson]

As David Mitchell shoots her...

[@solaris9426]

Unless you're referring to the ostrich from Donkey Kong Country, in which case it would be Expresso.

[@LibertyLikes]

Book readers on Audible (*who's job it is to pronounce things!*) say EX CETERA. It bothers me more than it should.

[@Li.Siyuan]

No. It SHOULD bother you.

[@JRLB38]

This would bother me enough to request a refund.

[@ianbolton9650]

Whose job, please, not who’s job.

[@brendabucklew8847]

"Liberry"...the bane of my existence. I correct everyone on that one.

[@toniisaacson6282]

In Oz - lie-bree

[@brendabucklew8847]

I accept that!

[@marctelfer6159]

"Your face is reeeed like a strawbrary"

[@beadyslay]

It's easier actually to "remove" white from rice. There's black rice, red rice, brown rice, and even purple rice. White rice is the result of polishing rice. Thus, in order to have rice that isn't white, just don't polish it. In conclusion, the analogy is wrong.

[@Kawamura2]

Now that's pedantic.

[@beadyslay]

***** I can't tell if that's a complement or not ^^;;;

[@demongelchienne6153]

It's funny cause the thing going through my mind the whole video was "ITS LE-VE-O-SA NOT LE-VE-O-SAAAAA"

[@danaastraquillo4018]

YOU FORGOT ESPRESSO. S-PRESS-SO not EXPRESSO

[@mindtrait0r879]

I'm still gonna say x

[@丫o]

@mindtrait0r879 you should probably add the “presso” at the end, or no one other than you will have a clue as to what you’re talking about. :)

[@mindtrait0r879]

@@丫o no

[@丫o]

@@mindtrait0r879 k

[@erikk6604]

Can't believe he didn't mention "bruschetta"; crucial omission!

[@TerenceClark]

My issue with these is under what authority? English dictionaries are careful to note in their initial pages that they are an observation of the language as it is used, not the final arbiter of correctness within English. It's why entries change or are added in each edition because the language changed and the dictionary is keeping up. By that token, I'd argue that any widely used and broadly understood pronunciation can be 'correct' to the extent the word 'correct' has meaning in this case. Speaking it per the dictionary pronunciation helps to sound cultured in formal speech situations, but you are more speaking 'textbook English' than 'correct English'. In fact, 'incorrect' pronunciations are generally only enforced once we, as a speaking population, decide to do so. Such as ask/aks where both were so widely accepted and uncontroversial that Chaucer used them both interchangeably in his writing (as did everyone else of his time), but aks is now considered horrifyingly incorrect by those who care. Why? Just 'cause. Seriously. That's the only reason. We just decided it was wrong at some point in roughly the 1600's and have been badgering people about it ever since. That said, names? Those have correct pronunciations. You pronounce them the way the person wishes them to be pronounced.

[@VariousIndulgences]

Some of these are true like colonel and Versailles but most are very subjective I mean people have different dialects so they're gonna say things differently. The way a Canadian guy says Lava isn't really wrong it's just different than how I say it. Really if you can gather the meaning it doesn't really matter.

[@blacksheep9772]

Same with how we (Australians) pronounce certain words too. 😊

[@k8lynmae]

He’s talking about the ORIGINAL pronunciations

[@taylorsessions4143]

But... Carmel cannot be said caramel. No exceptions

[@matthewwheatley]

@@k8lynmae Well by that note, its not "paahsta", no Italian would say it like that.

[@丫o]

The video was never about effective or common communication, but rather correct pronunciation.

[@TheFamily4000]

I am not a native speaker but I still found those mispronunciations a little bit, silly? I mean, I thought most of the words in the last half of the video are pretty easy to say and pronounce.

[@ScotMauldin]

If you are learning the correct pronunciation as part of learning a second language then yes, learning the correct pronunciation is easy. I think the point of the video was for native English speakers to learn to speak correctly. America is such a vast melting pot of cultures that it is common to grow up hearing a word being mispronounced so that is the way you pronounce the word. You never thought to question "maybe I'm not pronouncing this word correctly"

[@pbbeachbum09]

You would be amazed at how many southern americans can't say the word Specific. It comes out Pacific with so many of them.

[@breannamay8800]

It's "jewellery" in the UK and Canada. Only Americans say and spell "jewelry".

[@randiwiggins7038]

Gangnam is actually pronounced with deep A's (thung gongnom but more A-y) if you take it directly out of the Korean language. 'Gaengnam' is technically not correct.

[@AnkhInfinitus]

This should be obvious to anyone who saw and listened to the video.

[@randiwiggins7038]

Didn't he pronounce it with a 'gayngnam' pronunciation though?

[@TheKeleja]

Randi Wiggins nope its a "ah" sound in Korean.

[@usamamuhammad2356]

It is pronounced "gahng-nahm" not "gaengnam" how john pronounced it in the video. Koreans who live in korea pronounce it as "gahng-nahm"

[@randiwiggins7038]

Usama Muhammad That's what I'm trying to say! >

[@xSmythosx]

Just a quick one, Tokyo and Kyoto are both two syllables. To-kyo and Kyo-to

[@MusicsInMySoul977]

DENTAL HYGENIST, not as John refers to it in one of the latest podcasts, dental hygentist. there is not two t's.

[@TheHortond]

"hygienist"

[@dennissweet2733]

+Emily C there ARE not two t's

[@TheCinnamondemon]

+Emily C what a fail on emilys part, lmao

[@MusicsInMySoul977]

I'm a novelist.

[@JakeLovesSteak]

There *are not

[@EJwhiskers]

Since we're being pedantic, jewellery does have three syllables in other parts of the world. It also has more letters though so there's that.

[@flinkostememniakgrant1266]

It's jewelry. That's three syllables

[@ghoultooth]

flinkostememniak grant It’s also jewellery...

[@NathanMcClintock]

Once again murica lazies up a word!

[@helbent4]

"Anyways" is a Canadianism and fine in that context. But I am puzzled how Americans mean to say "route" (a pathway) but instead say "rout" (a disastrous and catastrophic retreat).It's not pronounced like "rowt" but "root". Sing it with me: "Get your kicks on Route 66".

[@AustinChester]

I actually slapped someone for mispronouncing Les Miserables

[@Rubyisgrowing]

Can we please talk about "I could care less"- I see this so much on American TV shows, us Brits say "couldn't care less"- it makes more sense

[@thomasnordman7138]

You are correct. "Couldn't care less" is the correct way of saying you don't care, to say "Could care less" would mean you do care. Americans are just always trying to make everything more efficient for themselves, though one of the side-effects of this is that the meaning is often lost.

[@thomasnordman7138]

+Adam Defibaugh. I completely agree that the correct way to say it is with "couldn't", I was just trying to give insight as to why American often say "Could". I am though surprised that you have never heard "I could care less" in that context, it is quite common in Ohio at least.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

I too detest Americans who say "could care less". As David Mitchell put it (paraphrasing), if you "could care less", then you offer absolutely no meaning as to how much or little you DO care, because you could possibly care less than you do right now, whereas if you say you couldn't care less, you are stating that you care as little as is possible, in that you cannot care any less than you already do.

[@thomasnordman7138]

+Damian Freeman In America it is understood that "I could care less" means that you care little. Though you are correct that without prior understanding of American terminology the phrase is not representing how mich you care.

[@happyfacefries]

John: Like trying to get white out of rice. Rice-a-Roni: Am I a joke to you?

[@thetruepipster2706]

Disappointed how he didn't say Melbourne as one. To Australians, saying it melb-ourne instead of melb-in is like nails on a chalkboard,

[@anierrn6935]

+The True Pipster I had no idea you pronounce it like this! Let me tell you, it sounds way better as "melb-in". I guess I learned something new today!

[@OkenAndMosh]

Half of these are wrong due to him being American.

[@Molue_]

They aren't wrong just because he's American. From what you're saying I have to assume you're British, if so just because you're British doesn't mean your pronunciations are correct and it most definitely doesn't mean you guys invented the fucking language (That's assuming that a natural language can be "invented"), like species, languages evolve, develop, and change, especially in isolation from the stock group, so inevitably pronunciations will change and even vowel sounds will. Ever heard of the Great Vowel Shift? Native speakers of Middle English would think that Modern Brits are butchering their language.

[@OkenAndMosh]

Molue Most American pronunciations we hear today are because Americans are actually mispronouncing our language e.g. Leicester is supposed to be pronounced "less-ter" not "Lay-chester"

[@OkenAndMosh]

Josue Rodriguez Are you being sarcastic?

[@benbentley16]

lets all just agree British tend to be right more than Americans and move on

[@nathanmm7454]

Josue Rodriguez because we have an I in aluminium

[@devilishdaph7261]

He said maybe wrong. I'm French. Also he got crepe wrong.

[@frankalbe8996]

And how do you say exocet, as in the missile (Miss-sigh-ull)? 😊

[@pandythedandy]

After taking a linguistics class on the sounds of English and the validity of regional pronunciations, this is painful to watch. Like I'm all for playful "car-mul is the right way" talk, but explicitly saying some of these are wrong is, wait for it, wrong. Yes, some of these pronunciations are just people never looking at the spelling & pronouncing what they hear (bystander -> by standard) or having only ever read and not spoken/heard the word, but a lot of these are special to certain regions/accents. Like I'm not gonna get on a UK/Received Pronunciation derivative for pronouncing bath like bahth 1. because the US merges the two TRAP and BATH lexical sets while RP separates them and 2. because it's still regional. I'm not gonna get on a t-voicing (t -> d) dialect speaker because it's just second nature. Language evolves, y'all.

[@pr4420]

A lot of people seem to pronounce specific as "pacific" which I find hilarious.

[@KyuuteAnimeGrill]

Be a bit more pacific please

[@TheSme0149]

I have a terrible habit of responding literally to this particular solecism. Someone asks me to "be more pacific," and I say something like "okay, keep calm; deep breaths, soothing thoughts" and so forth. I'm being a royal jerk when I do that, I know, but I enjoy having them realize (after a while) that "pacific" means "pacific": characterized by, creating, or seeking to bring about peace, calm, etc.

[@TheOwnTempo]

In the UK it is spelt jewellery and I therefore use three syllables, jew-ler-ree

[@Veghead25]

That is wrong and it's "spelled", not "spelt."

[@TheOwnTempo]

Nope. Jewellery. And spelt. Ignorant foreigner :)

[@Veghead25]

Felix Engarde I did look up spelt, and apparently it is a British word, so I'll give you that. But if you pronounce jewel with 2 syllables, then jewellery would be 4.

[@danieljackson6009]

It's good to know you picked out PACIFIC wirds ;) xx

[@TherealRNOwwfpooh]

SPECIFIC.

[@danieljackson6009]

omg really.

[@PDeRop]

Loved how one of the actors in "Shawshanks redemption" pronounced "Alexandre Dumas" as Dumb ass.. probably an old one, but very new to me. :)

[@erinidum]

One of my biggest pet peeves is people who say libary instead of library.

[@deniceperson1398]

Thank you! I was hoping it would be included. 3 of my professors last term said "libary" and I cringed each time. :(

[@raindancer6111]

Don't get me started on laboratory.

[@jijijhik]

Makes a video about mispronounciations. Then pronounces Voldemort "Voldemortttt" (it's a French word, the 't' is silent). And that's not the only thing. The number of foreign words that were mispronounced in this vid is astonishing XD

[@dansanger5340]

Cumpf-ter-bull is an acceptable pronunciation of comfortable. Merriam-Webster has it listed first. It doesn't make sense, but it is what it is.

[@clumbus894]

It makes sense, it's how people say it.

[@pascallandry4348]

I figured out why vowels were such doing breathing exercises. I was elated when I checked out phonics that my presumption was correct. Now I know why y is only a vowel some of the time, and I would like to thank you for that. Not many people happen to enjoy this kind of knowledge. This video was refreshing, thanks again.

[@colinmiddleton5405]

Ok, my pet peeve. When you walk through the front door, you're usually walking into the foyer. French word pronounced foy-ay. Foy-er is not a word. Merci.

[@edward8597]

"Foy-ay" isn't the French pronunciation, though. That's "fwa-yay".

[@colinmiddleton5405]

@@edward8597 depends on how you hold your tongue. Anything is better than foy-er!

[@edward8597]

@@colinmiddleton5405 I find it difficult to pronounce any words at all when I'm holding my tongue.

[@sophykitten2212]

The dictionary disagrees. Words migrate and evolve, and English stole "foyer" a long time ago.

[@TheSqualle34]

I was always told guacamole started with a 'wok' sound instead of the g sound.

[@SPRPhilly]

I can't believe you didn't include ex-cape for escape. That one drives me crazy!!!

[@DanThePropMan]

Yeah, some people put Xs into everything.

[@AugustHawk]

And "ask a question"......not "axe a question."

[@Psych.o.delica]

Or espresso instead of exspresso :P

[@takeaim420]

I love that “pinnacle” came at EXACTLY the half mark of the video. Well done. 3:20

[@Clurky77]

강남 is romanized as Gangnam because thats how its pronounced. The "a" in korean never really changes and is pronounced as the "a" in father. If it was gengnam style is would be spelled 갱남. However there is more to the mistake in pronunciation than just the a, but also the "g". In korean the g is a mixture of "g" and "k". If it was pronounced like a pure english g it would be spelled 깡남, but sjnce its not the sound of the first g is somewhere in between g and k.

[@navinavi99507]

100% agreed. Also PSY in korean is really Sa-ee (사이)

[@丫o]

@NAVIisFAT999 Then PSY should’ve spelled it Sa-ee rather than as he did.

[@Glenno1982]

Gotye is pronunced correctly, but spelled incorrectly on the screen.

[@ccityplanner1217]

1:45 | Canadian guy is wrong on lava but correct on pasta. The first a in lava is a long vowel in the original Latin, so should be a long vowel in English, however pasta should have no long vowels in English because it has no long vowels in the original Italian. 1:50 | It's Offícial, not Ófficial.

[@GeneralNickles]

I'm totally gonna starting "life is full of injustice and weasleys" in casual conversation.

[@LaraSchilling]

As an Australian, I pronounce a lot of things rather differently to you Yanks! Most Yanks pronounce my name like [Jim] Lehrer. It's Lah-Rah, there's no Es in my name! Go easy on your Rs too! :P

[@kingstar10101]

I beg to differ. In the US the most common pronunciation of Lara sounds like Lore-Ah. Second most popular is Lah-Rah. I've never heard Leh-Rer.

[@LaraSchilling]

Or Leh-rah, with a hard A on the front. Accents are just weird. And never call me Laura :P

[@kalliste01]

I usually say 'anyways' when I'm rolling my eyes and hoping to move on from something stupid. Also I didn't know forte, pronounced fort was a thing. I don't think I can stop that and have people know what I'm talking about ("why is your fort eating chocolate? You have a fort?")

[@tekalema173]

hi

[@Pinkskull69420]

"Heighth" Not sure how this wasn't on the list.

[@wahinesurfergirl]

There is no such word as "heighth". It's pronounced HEIGHT, as in a vertical measurement of an object. Get your vocabulary right!

[@Pinkskull69420]

Wahine Surfer Girl I-I know.... That's why I said it.... Do you know what this video is about?

[@bippidyboppidyboop7364]

Gyro is my personal favorite... "May I have a GUY-RO, please" "...Uh do u mean YEAR-O?"

[@bandaddie]

döner kebap

[@tellmo5]

Good sir, I'm sure you've been told many times before this comment; but it's not "Gangnam style" with the long a.... it's "gangnam style" as in: "guh" "gullible" "ah" "appalling" "ng" "long" "n" "napalm" "ah" "appalling" "m" "mother"... so... "gahngnahm"... please, for the love of all that is holy... fix this....

[@ZekkouAkuma]

Needs more proper Korean pronunciation!

[@Artificial-Insanity]

Disagree on "larvae". The correct latin way to say it is most probably "lar-vay".

[@TakesTwoToTango]

Actually "ae" is pronounced like the a in "barn", but stretched out.

[@Artificial-Insanity]

The more I look into this, the more it seems to me that nobody agrees on how it's pronounced. I learnt to say it as "way" in school, but it seems that other academics teach different ones. Eh, guess we'll never know.

[@rynabuns]

NONONONONO!!! 'ae' in Latin has an 'ee' sound, end of bloody debate.

[@petrifyer45]

Ryan Lau That's Latin. English comes from Old Norse.

[@rynabuns]

Yes, and larvæ is Latin. So what if English comes from Old Norse? Encyclopædia: you don't say encyclopaydia, you say encyclopeedia. Pædophile: you don't say paydophile, you say peedophile.

[@oliviagoeldner531]

Actually jake gyllenhaal's last name is pronounced like yeelenhall

[@bastian_5975]

Well, pronunciation is governed by how people actually talk. Therefore any widely accepted pronunciation is correct. Like TECHNICALLY words like knife, knight, knuckle, etc actually are pronounced ck-nuckle ck-nife, etc, it's just we dropped them because they are a mouthful, so like with wikipedia and forte the correct pronunciation is wikipedia and forte, not we-key-pedia and fort

[@ichigoangel75]

It's not G-ay-ngnam Style, it's G-ah-ngnam Style. Korean very rarely uses long vowel sounds.

[@AnkhInfinitus]

You're 100% wrong on caramel. It's car-mul.

[@The-Underbaker]

I'm guessing you're American? I've only ever heard people from the U.S. say it the way you've suggested. It's Ca-ra-mel.

[@AnkhInfinitus]

Takerlives Nope, it's car-mul.

[@AnkhInfinitus]

***** It rolls off mine quite nicely, but to each their own. If you said it your way, I would know what you're talking about.

[@The-Underbaker]

***** Feel free to mispronounce it.

[@The-Underbaker]

***** Canadian-English is generally closer to British-English so that's understandable.

[@bhami]

I call BS. I've never in my life heard anyone say "weekeepeedia". It's WICK -ee -peedia, dude.

[@elybnraul2126]

bhami And some people like me pronounce it WICK-i-peediya.

[@rosadelia4169]

Unless you're actually English or australian. ..different versions of English. Also as an Italian the italian words you mispronounced

[@brokensymmetry1874]

Or canadian!