Six words people pronounce incorrectly
- 3 years ago
A recent study has identified some words that are commonly mispronounced’ and some of the ‘most irritating’.
In a study of 2000 participants by Perspectus Global, 35 per cent said that using ‘pacifically’ instead of specifically’ was the most annoying verbal error.
‘Expresso’ and ‘espresso’, ‘nucular’ and ‘nuclear’ and ‘Artic’ and ‘Arctic’ were all deemed some of the most annoying. Sixty-one per cent said they found it irritating when people mispronounced words. But only 35 per cent said they would correct a friend and 65 per cent would be too embarrassed. Twenty-five per cent said they had argued with friends, colleagues, or family members over the correct pronunciation. Just 10 per cent of people said they would be happy to correct a stranger.
Dr Alex Baratta, a senior linguistics lecturer at Manchester University, said: “In some cases, a word may change its pronunciation, or end up with two existing pronunciations, based on what might have started out as an error.
In a study of 2000 participants by Perspectus Global, 35 per cent said that using ‘pacifically’ instead of specifically’ was the most annoying verbal error.
‘Expresso’ and ‘espresso’, ‘nucular’ and ‘nuclear’ and ‘Artic’ and ‘Arctic’ were all deemed some of the most annoying. Sixty-one per cent said they found it irritating when people mispronounced words. But only 35 per cent said they would correct a friend and 65 per cent would be too embarrassed. Twenty-five per cent said they had argued with friends, colleagues, or family members over the correct pronunciation. Just 10 per cent of people said they would be happy to correct a stranger.
Dr Alex Baratta, a senior linguistics lecturer at Manchester University, said: “In some cases, a word may change its pronunciation, or end up with two existing pronunciations, based on what might have started out as an error.