The most mispronounced words in the English language

Even for native English speakers, the pronunciation of words can be difficult, and at times a point of public contention.

But whether you struggle to fathom the way modern millennial phrases are said, simply disagree how different Australian states say certain words or lampoon politicians that can't pronounce phrases in their policies correctly, we've all struggled from time to time.

Senior Editor of the Macquarie Dictionary Victoria Morgan, has been at the helm of Aussie's struggle to say words correctly for the past 17 years.

"Honestly, even I say things wrong at times," Morgan tells 9Honey.

"But I find the most common mispronunciations come from words we read often, but rarely say."

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Morgan explained words like 'hyperbole' and 'epitome' are common words we struggle sounding out, despite reading them frequently.

"One thing I find is that when we read these words, even after we learn how they're properly said, we still think of them in the incorrect pronunciation," she says.

Throughout time, Morgan reveals words do regularly take on different pronunciations, which Macquarie Dictionary describes as a "non standard English" form.

"There's always resistance when pronunciation shifts," Morgan shares.

"Some people just won't accept a new example."

Dictionary.com revealed in 2020 food-based words were among the most difficult to pronounce, with 'almond', 'caramel', 'quinoa', salmon' and 'turmeric' topping the list.

Seems all our quarantine cooking hasn't salvaged the English language.

Modern phrases like 'GIF' (pronounced JIF for anyone who isn't a millennial) and 'meme' (pronounced meeem) were in the top 20 mispronounced words on English language website Fluentu.

The longest word in the English language, 'antidisestablishmentarianism' also ranked in the list, which is understandable as a tongue twister, considering it spans 28 letters and 13 syllables. And it's pretty much never used in everyday discourse.

Even Nemo struggled to describe his own home, with 'anemone' regularly misspoken in and outside the Pixar classic film.

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According to Merriam-Webster, 'mischievous' was a sore spot of contention, and has been mispronounced since the 16th century.

"We often hear people describing children as 'mis-chee-vee-us'" Morgan explains.

In 2015, a widely popular thread on Reddit listed thousands of words users struggled to express in conversation.

The viral post claimed 'rural' and 'refrigerator' were some of the hardest words to say, while Hermione Granger's favourite spell 'leviosa' received 1,100 votes claiming it was difficult.

I mean seriously, it's pronounced leviOsa, not leviosA.

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch famously struggled to pronounce 'penguin', contrary to fellow actor and narrator of the film March of the Penguins Morgan Freeman's skill.

Former prime minister Julia Gillard was lampooned when she pronounced hyperbole as 'hyper-bowl' rather than 'hi-per-boll-ee' and US President Donald Trump has mispronounced enough words to create an entire new dictionary.

When it comes to interstate pronunciations of words, Morgan explains Victorians and Queenslanders do have a tendency to say certain phrases differently.

"We've found the pronunciation of 'rascals' differs quite a bit between states," she said.

"Victorians and Queenslanders emphasise the start of the phrase more."

In 2020 with coronavirus keeping us all socially-distanced and forcing many of our conversations onto Zoom, who knows what we'll be mispronouncing next.