What do sfogliatelle, primeval, dachshund and staphylococcal have in common? They are all difficult to pronounce.
A recent study from Unscramblerer.com found the most mispronounced words in the U.S. based on frequent internet searches for proper pronunciations — and a lot of them are food-related, such as mayonnaise, kefir and thyme.
Researchers found the words mispronounced most often across the U.S. are also food-related, with gyro, Worcestershire sauce and acai making the top three.
In Utah, the most commonly mispronounced word is Qatar — but the Beehive State is not alone in this. Qatar is the fourth-most mispronounced word in the U.S. and is also the most mispronounced word in Colorado and Maine.
Also on the list are hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (the fear of pronouncing long words), bibimbap (a Korean dish), derecho (a type of wind storm) and paczki (a Polish doughnut).
Several tricky-to-pronounce names also made the list, including Sza (an American singer-songwriter), Jhostynxon Garcia (an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox), Aoife (a popular Irish name) and Jhoan Duran (a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies).
“Exposure to new words through media, music, pop culture and social platforms drives curiosity. People often look up pronunciations if there is a gap between how a word or name is spelled and how it sounds,” a spokesperson for Unscramblerer.com said in a statement on the research.
English spelling and pronunciation line up roughly 75% of the time, the researchers noted, and more than 60% of English speakers admit they frequently mispronounce at lease one common word.
“English language is particularly irregular in this regard (’Colonel’ and ‘Wednesday’ defy phonetic expectations),” the statement continued.
“Correct pronunciation is closely tied to perceived intelligence and competence. The desire for correct pronunciation is a mix of avoiding social embarrassment and simple curiosity. There are over 40 regional accents across America. No wonder people are searching for how to pronounce words.”
Researchers analyzed search data from Google Trends taken from between Jan. 1 and Oct. 27 to uncover the most commonly mispronounced words in the U.S. They also used the marketing platform Ahrefs to gather the number of searches related to word pronunciation, such as “How do you pronounce” and “How to pronounce.”
They added up 110 search variations for word pronunciation, revealing which words are most commonly mispronounced in every U.S. state.
America’s most mispronounced words by state
Here are the most commonly mispronounced words in every U.S. state, according to recent research from Unscramblerer.com.
- Alabama: Worcestershire sauce (WUSS-ter-sheer)
- Alaska: Saoirse (SUR-sha)
- Arizona: Aoife (EE-fah)
- Arkansas: Laufey (LOW-fay)
- California: Kali Uchis (KAH-lee OO-chees)
- Colorado: Qatar (KAH-tar)
- Connecticut: Sfogliatelle (sfo-LYA-tel)
- Delaware: Mauve (MOHV)
- Florida: Staphylococcal (STAFF-uh-loh-KOK-ul)
- Georgia: Sza (SIZ-uh)
- Hawaii: Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (HIP-oh-pot-oh-MON-stroh-ses-kwip-uh-dal-ee-oh-FOH-bee-uh)
- Idaho: Kefir (KEE-fer)
- Illinois: Yuengling (YING-ling)
- Indiana: Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Iowa: Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
- Kansas: Louvre (LOOV)
- Kentucky: Chamomile (KAM-uh-meel)
- Louisiana: Oaxaca (wah-HAH-kah)
- Maine: Qatar (KAH-tar)
- Maryland: Omniscient (OM-NISH-unt)
- Massachusetts: Jhostynxon Garcia (JOS-tin-son gar-SEE-uh)
- Michigan: Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Minnesota: Thyme (TIME)
- Mississippi: Chinoiserie (SHIN-wah-zuh-ree)
- Missouri: Aurelia (aw-REEL-yuh)
- Montana: Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
- Nebraska: Bolognese (boh-luh-NAYZ)
- Nevada: Macabre (muh-KAHB)
- New Hampshire: Gyro (YEE-roh)
- New Jersey: Primeval (pry-MEE-vul)
- New Mexico: Gif (JIF)
- New York: Tzatziki (tsat-SEE-kee)
- North Carolina: Raleigh (RAW-lee)
- North Dakota: Worcestershire sauce (WUSS-ter-sheer)
- Ohio: Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Oklahoma: Nguyen (WIN)
- Oregon: Bibimbap (BEE-bim-bap)
- Pennsylvania: Jhoan Duran (JO-an duh-RAN)
- Rhode Island: Worcestershire sauce (WUSS-ter-sheer)
- South Carolina: Chose (CHOZ)
- South Dakota: Derecho (duh-RAY-cho)
- Tennessee: Gyro (YEE-roh)
- Texas: Staphylococcal (STAFF-uh-loh-KOK-ul)
- Utah: Qatar (KAH-tar)
- Vermont: Montpelier (mont-PEEL-yer)
- Virginia: Adolescence (ad-oh-LES-ens)
- Washington: Primeval (pry-MEE-vul)
- West Virginia: Acai (ah-SIGH-ee)
- Wisconsin: Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Wyoming: Mayonnaise (MAY-uh-nayz)