Know the correct pronunciation of these 15 commonly mispronounced English words
There are quite a lot of mispronounced English words and here are some of them and the right pronunciation.
1. Margarine
/ˈmärj(ə)rən/
Noun: a butter substitute made from vegetable oils or animal fats
The letter ‘G’ is pronounced like ‘J’
2. Chimera
/kīˈmirə,kəˈmirə/
Noun: (in Greek mythology) a fire-breathing female monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail; a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve.
The “ch” sound is pronounced like “k” and “i” like “ie”
3. Subtle
/ˈsədl/
Adjective: so delicate or precise as to be difficult to analyze or describe; making use of clever and indirect methods to achieve something
It is pronounced with a silent “b”
4. Bury
/ˈberē/
Verb: put or hide under ground; completely cover; cause to disappear or become inconspicuous
It is pronounced like the word “berry”.
5. Itinerary
/īˈtinəˌrerē/
Noun: a planned route or journey
“I” is pronounced like “ie”
6. Indigent
/ˈindəjənt/
Adjective: poor, needy
It is not “in-dai-jent” but “in-di-jent”
7. Salmon
/ˈsamən/
Noun: a large edible fish that is a popular game fish, much prized for its pink flesh. Salmon mature in the sea but migrate to freshwater streams to spawn
It is pronounced with a silent “l”
8. Cupboard
/ˈkəbərd/
Noun: a cabinet or small recess with a door and typically shelves, used for storage
There is no “p” in the pronunciation of cupboard.
9. Epitome
/əˈpidəmē/
Noun: a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type
10. Pronunciation
/prəˌnənsēˈāSH(ə)n/
Noun: the way in which a word is pronounced
“cia” is pronounced “see-ay” not “say”
11. Meme
/mēm/
Noun: an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation; a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.
12. GIF
/ɡif,jif/
Noun: a lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images
There is an argument whether is is pronounced as “gif” with a hard “g” or “jif” but it has more sense that GIF be pronounced with a hard “g” because it stands for “Graphics Interchange Format”
13. Pseudonym
/ˈso͞odənim/
Noun: a fictitious name, especially one used by an author
It is pronounced with a silent “p”
14. Conch
/käNGk,känCH/
Noun: a tropical marine mollusk with a spiral shell that may bear long projections and have a flared lip
“ch” is pronounced like “k” but nowadays it is widely accepted that more people pronounced the “ch”
15. Açaí
/əˈsīˌē,ˌäsäˈē/
Noun: a South American palm tree producing small edible blackish-purple berries
READ ALSO: English Idiomatic Expressions: Examples & Meanings