44 Hilariously Absurd Mispronunciations People Shared In This Online Thread

Language can be weird sometimes. You usually find that out when learning a foreign language. Suddenly there are different sounds and a different-looking alphabet. You have to bend your tongue in ways you didn't even think was possible. Not to mention that words aren't spelled the way they're written.

So it's no wonder people make mistakes in pronunciation. One Redditor had an idea to ask people what's the most memorable incorrect pronunciation they've heard. And the people delivered – from "penglings" to "Cog Nack" and "poll-em" instead of "poem." Scroll down and find the most hilarious entries to the mispronunciation thread below!

#1

My wife still says "Rhino-saurus" every time she tries to pronounce "Rhinoceros."

To be fair, her way is better.

Image credits: Unlucky_Escape_6348

#2

Worcestershire sauce. He said 'wash your sister ' sauce and I about died laughing

Image credits: Tennispro5691

#3

Someone who thought the word "vicariously" was bi-curiously. "You're going on vacation with your friends? Wow! I'm gonna live bi-curiously through you!"

Image credits: markoyolo

#4

I work in the legislative/policy field, and my boss pronounces statutes "statue-ettes." It's wild.

Image credits: __mitski

#5

Had a friend that pronounced the b in "subtle." Was annoying as f**k.

Image credits: LoadingScreenWTF

#6

Pah-harmacist. I think about that woman a lot lol

Image credits: avocadofajita

#7

Ooohhh ooohh the "penglings" by Benedict Cumberbatch

Image credits: devil_vomit2_0_0_5

#8

It’s Christmas time, which means lots of chocolate ads. Friend of mine informed us that his favorite chocolates where the “feral ranchers.”

Image credits: Batmans_9th_Ab

#9

Girl in college:

Word -- "Annihilate"

Her pronunciation --- Annie - Hilly -Ate

Image credits: freshlikeuhhhhh

#10

When I worked at Subway, I asked a customer what kind of dressing he wanted, and he said, "do you know, uh, chipotle?"

Which he butchered so badly I heard it as "do you know a cheap hotel?" So I told him, "yeah, down on 39th Street" and we were both thoroughly confused.

Image credits: Karaethon22

#11

Extracurricular as "Extra Kickler". The bad part about it is that it was one of my high school teachers. We even starting calling him The Midnight Kickler what kickles at midnight.

Image credits: nvaughan81

#12

"It's ponunced nukular!"

Image credits: Trumpassassin777

#13

We had a training at work, taught by an outside organization. The lady was talking about the Irish potato famine. Except she kept calling it the potato phantom. She did this at least five times

Image credits: duchessofcheezit

#14

At a Chinese Restaurant and my coworker asked for General Toes. I still laugh about it to this day.

Image credits: crumad

#15

My old boss.

Escaped goat : scapegoat
Interpretate : interpret
Pacifically : specifically

Every. F*****g. Time. In front of some clever people before he would introduce me to carry on with the presentation...

Image credits: GabberZZ

#16

Ex girlfriend pronounced rhododendron as RaDonDaDron

Image credits: allisonmaybe

#17

Working in web development, there was *one* person on my team who consistently mispronounced the word "cache". Drove me nuts.

It's one syllable, folks, not two! "Cash", not "cash-ay"!

Image credits: CaptainTime5556

#18

My high school girlfriend travelled with me to visit my family in SoCal after graduation.

We were playing Trivial Pursuit and it was her turn to read the question.

The question was something like "which south american king ruled with a chihuahua?"

Only she pronounced it as "cha-whoo-a-whoo-a".

It took a good 30 seconds to understand what she word she was trying to pronounce. And a good 30 minutes for my entire family to stop laughing. We still joke about it to this day.

Image credits: ksozay

#19

Lingerie. She pronounced it lin-jeer-ee and argued with me over the pronunciation until Google stepped in with the correct answer lol

Image credits: 1127_and_Im_tired

#20

It was a brunch time first date at a restaurant fancier than I’m usually comfortable with. Was looking to get a little buzz to take the edge off. I pointed to the mimosa carafe that was on the menu and asked if she would like to share one. We were in agreement that it looked wonderful so when the server came over, I confidently declared that we would like the mimosa care-a-fay. The server laughed. My date laughed. I was mega embarrassed.

We dated for about a year and a half after this incident and she would occasionally ask if I’d like a care a fay of whatever liquid was in close proximity.

TLDR: Carafe is pronounced more like giraffe. Definitely don’t say care a fay on a first date or ever.

Image credits: XcoolbreezeX

#21

Coworker was saying stigmata instead of stigma. Multiple times. Also claimed to have a photographic memory. Irony.

Image credits: umbzapt

#22

Facade.

Worked for a guy that was an "intellectually overconfident" type, to put it in the most civil way I know how lol.

He kept using the word and had obviously never heard of it until he read it somewhere. Kept pronouncing it "fake-aid". He would go on rants about "fake" people and use this to describe their personalities. It was really cringe inducing.

Eventually the stars aligned and we were together on a business trip, I saw a building under construction. "That place is going to have a really beautiful facade", I said (it genuinely did) and there was no response but about a month later I overheard him using the word and saying it correctly. So whatever.

Image credits: IAMENKIDU

#23

20 years ago my wife and I were behind a woman at Target at the register. She began arguing with the cashier over the price for an item, and after a few rounds back and forth loudly proclaimed, *"I ain't no mathematic, but I ain't no stupid neither!"*

We still use that whenever the "math don't math" on something.

I was, for reference, a mathematics major.

Image credits: Uncle_Baconn

#24

Friend pronounced "meme" as "memmay"

Image credits: Capital_Cockroach611

#25

Co-worker got charged with DUI. He was writing down the facts to show his lawyer and he asked me "How do you spell so-vi-it-e?"

He was saying sobriety but with a V instead of a B. I told him I thought it was S-O-B-R-I-E-T-Y. He told me that was wrong "cuz there is no v in it."

I told him there wasn't a V in sobriety and he said, "Then why is it pronounced so-vi-it-tree? See there is a v in it." I gave up and told him he was right and I had no idea how to spell the word.

Image credits: Empereor_Norton

#26

A fifth grade teacher I was assisting in the lab had a student that didn’t know what a word meant. She said, “ what does co man deer mean?” She meant commandeer. I gave the correct pronunciation and definition to the student. This was a teacher who looked down on me as an aide. Another point for Floriduh

Image credits: just1cheekymonkey

#27

My Dad had an employee who pronounced “favorite” as “Fray-ver-it.” Every damn time!

Image credits: Dizzy_Job_7695

#28

When reading an award at a US Army ceremony, the Personell clerk was reading "He is a fine outstanding soldier all his peers should seek to emulate", he pronounced it "eliminate"

Image credits: DMark69

#29

A former neighbour was talking about a movie she saw and it was called Malice - pronounced 'mah lice'.

I really miss her though.

Image credits: gunnergrrl

#30

I've got a friend who pronounces "flamingo" as fallamingo... I thought she was messing around cos I often mispronounce words for fun... but no, she's serious...

Image credits: thatpeevesme

#31

My Mom back in the 70s used to pronounce a "resume" for work a resume(re-zoom) as in resuming work. It made sense to her.

Image credits: blindfox001

#32

Whenever my mother-in-law has difficulty breathing (she has asthma) she’ll say, “I can’t get air into my bronicles.”

First, it’s “bronchioles.” Second, no one says that anyway. Just say “lungs.”

My wife is a nurse and I have a minor in biology and we joke about our bronicles all the time.

Image credits: Actually_Im_a_Broom

#33

My ex-husband lived in a small town with no ethnic restaurants. He also went to college in a small town with no ethnic restaurants. So, we start dating and I take him to Mexican restaurant. He’s obviously very outside his bubble and keeps asking me questions about the menu. No big deal.

So, the waitress comes over to take our order and he orders a QUASA-DILL-A. The server and I just stare at him and then start laughing. I felt so badly for laughing but, I couldn’t help myself. I gently corrected him and he started laughing too. It became a running joke and is still one to this day…24 years later.

Image credits: bookworm1421

#34

A proctor at my son's middle school academic team meet, said "hyper-bowl," for hyperbole. He is 34 and it's never been forgotten.

Image credits: MarchionessofMayhem

#35

Knew someone that pronounced "stoic" like it rhymed with "oink".

My dad was the king of mispronunciation. The ones I remember are "galaxy" like "gal-AX-y", "avenger" like "AV-eng-er" and "lava" with a short a like "magma"

Image credits: guarks

#36

Guy walked into a liquor store looking for a wine for his wife "yes it has extra vaganza in it." The clerk kept being confused until the guy found it. Extravaganza!

Image credits: shrodingerspepper

#37

Nicotine. Knee-Co-Tie-N.

Image credits: goothesquid

#38

I worked in a breast health clinic and the scheduler would call people and confirm their "mammyograms."
She was also the kind of person to say "pacifically" in place of specifically.

Image credits: LuxValentino

#39

working as a server people used to pronounce chipotle in a myriad of wrong ways, but usually just “chip-olt” or “chip-ottle”.

one day a guy came in, looked me in the eye, and said “i’ll have the **chipeetle** burger please”

Image credits: Alex_Plalex

#40

Oh my poor younger brother.


One night out for a fancy dinner he decided the filet mignon was what he wanted to have. With a straight face he ordered the FLAMING YONG. Even the waiter struggled to stifle his laughter.


We still tease him about it to this day over a decade later.

Image credits: Ragedmeeks

#41

My son said he had to do a poll-em for school. It was poem

In Kansas city Missouri there is a street names belfontaine, but if you ask for directions it is pronounced bell-fountain

Image credits: JoseAstray

#42

Playing Taboo, you know the game where you have to give hints to a key word but there are words you are not allowed to use to describe it. This guy who nobody knew well at all was bombing and getting frustrated like we were all so stupid. I forget his clues but we surmised it was about drinking and alcohol. And time runs out. He goes "Ugh. Cog Nack!"

Image credits: MissionCreeper

#43

I was in a miss teen type of pageant & during the panel I was asked, “if you were handed a red crown what would you draw?”
I had to ask the moderator to repeat the question & with a chuckle, I asked for clarification on if she meant a red “crown” or did she actually mean a red crayon. None of the judges were happy with me smugly correcting the moderator.

Image credits: TrashWeird968

#44

An old colleague once claimed she was ‘unindated’ with work. Now i have to say ‘inundated’ ten times in my head before out loud because that has ruined me for life.

Image credits: redhead_instead

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