Looking Back on Mispronounced Names and Words
2024-12-12
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1Vice President Kamala Harris and pop singer Chappell Roan were among the year's most talked-about people.
2Their names were also among those people said incorrectly, or mispronounced.
3In early December, the language-learning company Babbel and The Captioning Group released a list of words that people in the U.S. struggled with the most in 2024.
4The list also provides a look back at the year's most discussed subjects and people, from pop culture to politics.
5Esteban Touma is a linguistic and cultural expert at Babbel.
6He said, "It's a nice way to kind of look back into the year and see everything that has happened."
7Chappell Roan became famous this year and is nominated for six Grammy awards.
8But people still do not know how to say her name correctly.
9The list says her name is pronounced CHAP-uhl ROHN, not SHA-pel ROW-an.
10During Harris' campaign for president this year, two of her young relatives spoke at the Democratic National Convention to teach the crowd how to say her first name, pronounced COM-a-la.
11Also making the list was U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose last name still causes some problems.
12During his 2020 presidential run, his campaign made shirts with the pronunciation "Boot-Edge-Edge" to help.
13Other words on the list include:
14- Dutch Kooikerhondje, pronounced COY-ker-HUND-che, is a breed of dog that became known this year.
15That is because Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Shohei Ohtani has a Kooikerhondje called Decoy that appeared with him at an opening game.
16- The name of the actress Zendaya is often mispronounced as zen-DIE-uh, but it should be zen-DAY-a.
17- Online fast-fashion business Shein is SHE-in, not SHEEN.
18- Newly discovered exoplanet Speculoos-3b is pronounced SPEK-yuh-lohss three bee.
19- Phryge, the mascot of the Paris Olympics, is pronounced FREE-je.
20- Semaglutide, the drug in weight-loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, is pronounced sem-ah-GLOO-tide, not SEE-mah-gloo-tide.
21- The last name of Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who starred in "Saltburn," is pronounced key-OH-gin.
22Nancy Niedzielski is chair of the linguistics department at Rice University in Houston.
23She points out that most of the words on the list are not English, so it is not surprising that they would be mispronounced in the U.S.
24The key to pronouncing them correctly, she said, would probably just be hearing them spoken.
25Touma, a native Spanish speaker, said if you cannot pronounce a word, it is important to just keep trying.
26"One of the problems we have is our mouths are not trained to do those sounds that come from different languages," he said.
27Touma admitted even he struggles with some words, including Harris' first name.
28Even though he knows the correct pronunciation, he said, it is hard to get it right in a conversation.
29As Roan's music gained popularity, it was an interesting cultural moment to watch as people learned to pronounce her first and last name, he said.
30"The way we create understanding with each other is just trying to do these things," Touma said.
31I'm Jill Robbins.
1Vice President Kamala Harris and pop singer Chappell Roan were among the year's most talked-about people. Their names were also among those people said incorrectly, or mispronounced. 2In early December, the language-learning company Babbel and The Captioning Group released a list of words that people in the U.S. struggled with the most in 2024. The list also provides a look back at the year's most discussed subjects and people, from pop culture to politics. 3Esteban Touma is a linguistic and cultural expert at Babbel. He said, "It's a nice way to kind of look back into the year and see everything that has happened." 4Chappell Roan became famous this year and is nominated for six Grammy awards. But people still do not know how to say her name correctly. The list says her name is pronounced CHAP-uhl ROHN, not SHA-pel ROW-an. 5Help with pronouncing names 6During Harris' campaign for president this year, two of her young relatives spoke at the Democratic National Convention to teach the crowd how to say her first name, pronounced COM-a-la. 7Also making the list was U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose last name still causes some problems. During his 2020 presidential run, his campaign made shirts with the pronunciation "Boot-Edge-Edge" to help. 8Other words on the list include: 9- Dutch Kooikerhondje, pronounced COY-ker-HUND-che, is a breed of dog that became known this year. That is because Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player Shohei Ohtani has a Kooikerhondje called Decoy that appeared with him at an opening game. 10- The name of the actress Zendaya is often mispronounced as zen-DIE-uh, but it should be zen-DAY-a. 11- Online fast-fashion business Shein is SHE-in, not SHEEN. 12- Newly discovered exoplanet Speculoos-3b is pronounced SPEK-yuh-lohss three bee. 13- Phryge, the mascot of the Paris Olympics, is pronounced FREE-je. 14- Semaglutide, the drug in weight-loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, is pronounced sem-ah-GLOO-tide, not SEE-mah-gloo-tide. 15- The last name of Irish actor Barry Keoghan, who starred in "Saltburn," is pronounced key-OH-gin. 16Nancy Niedzielski is chair of the linguistics department at Rice University in Houston. She points out that most of the words on the list are not English, so it is not surprising that they would be mispronounced in the U.S. The key to pronouncing them correctly, she said, would probably just be hearing them spoken. 17Touma, a native Spanish speaker, said if you cannot pronounce a word, it is important to just keep trying. "One of the problems we have is our mouths are not trained to do those sounds that come from different languages," he said. 18Touma admitted even he struggles with some words, including Harris' first name. Even though he knows the correct pronunciation, he said, it is hard to get it right in a conversation. 19As Roan's music gained popularity, it was an interesting cultural moment to watch as people learned to pronounce her first and last name, he said. 20"The way we create understanding with each other is just trying to do these things," Touma said. 21I'm Jill Robbins. 22Jamie Stengle reported this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. 23____________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25nominate - v. to formally choose (someone) as a candidate for a job, position, office, or award 26fashion - n. a popular way of dressing during a particular time or among a particular group of people 27mascot - n. a person, animal, or object used as a symbol to represent a group (such as a sports team) and to bring good luck 28What do you think of this story? Write to us in the Comments Section.