You may think you’re pretty good at knowing how to say most words, but every once in a while, many of us learn we’ve been saying something incorrectly for years. And it turns out, a lot of the words people stumble over are actually food-related.
The Writing Tips Institute has created a list of the 10 most commonly Googled pronunciations and half of them involve food. Topping the list? “Acai” - the trendy “health” fruit that’s frequently used in smoothies and bowls. Many mistakenly call it “ah-kai,” but it’s actually said “ah-sigh-EE.”
- “Gyro” - The second most-searched food term is the name of the meaty pita sandwich that people say at least four different ways: “zhir-o,” “yee-ro,” “jai-ro,” and “hee-ro.” According to Merriam-Webster, this Greek specialty should be pronounced either “zhir-o,” or “yee-ro.”
- “Charcuterie” - The third most mispronounced food is this popular party staple, a board loaded with meats, cheeses, crackers, olives and fruit. Merriam-Webster tells us that the right way to say it is “shar-koo-te-ree,” in case you didn’t know.
- “Gnocchi” - Number four goes to these Italian dumplings made with potatoes, which our friends at Merriam-Webster say is pronounced “nyo-kee.”
- “Worcestershire” - The last food-related term on the list is admittedly a tricky one. According to the experts at Merriam-Webster, both acceptable pronunciations only contain three syllables: “wuh-stah-sheer” and “wu-stah-shah.” And most of us that don’t have a British accent go with “wuh-stah-sheer.”
- In case you’re interested, the other five non-food-related words on the list of most commonly Googled pronunciations are: nguyen [[win]], omicron [[AH-muh-kraan]], gif, kyiv [[keev]] and dogecoin [[dohj coin]].
Source: The Takeout