Most Commonly Mispronounced Foods and How to Say Them

• The French food ‘croissant’ tops the list as the most commonly mispronounced food.

• Worcestershire is the second most commonly mispronounced food, with 222,890 searches seeking its pronunciation each month.

• Gyro and Pho also see a high volume of searches from people uncertain of their pronunciation.

• Expert says breaking up words into smaller sounds and focusing on each syllable before attempting to say the complete word is key to getting them right.

We all have that one word we have a hard time saying no matter where we are, but it turns out we also all have a hard time saying popular foods, despite thinking we’re pretty good at pronouncing most words.

Every once in a while, many of us learn we’ve been saying something incorrectly for years.  Especially with diverse cuisines like Italian, Chinese, Turkish, or Mexican, the names of these exotic foods are often in their native language, which can lead to mispronunciation.

Turns out, it’s not just a few people messing up – thousands go online to check if they’re saying their favorite foods right.

Research by study platform Quizgecko has revealed the top 30 mispronounced foods, including acai, chipotle, quinoa – and even Worcestershire sauce.

The top contender for the most mispronounced food is, perhaps unsurprisingly, French. Croissant is the most commonly mispronounced food in the world, with an average of 589,670 people searching for pronunciation guidance on Google each month.

It’s closely followed by Worcestershire in second place with 222,890 average monthly searches and Gyro in third place with 170,240 searches.

Data also revealed that Pho and Charcuterie followed closely in fourth and fifth place, with 90,440 and 79,140 searches each month by foodies searching for the correct pronunciation each month.

Other commonly mispronounced foods include Gnocchi (nyawk-kee), Quinoa (keen-wah), Acai (ah-sigh-ee) and Gruyère (groo-yair).

Language expert at Quizgecko, James Blackwell, has provided some helpful tips on how to order food and pronounce it correctly. He suggests breaking up the words into smaller sounds and focusing on each syllable before trying to pronounce the complete word.

“It’s important to pay attention to any specific sounds that are specific to the food’s native language. For example, some languages have specific sounds that are commonly found in food names, such as the soft “s” sound in “niçoise” and “açai”, which is represented by the “ç” letter,” she advises.

“The internet can be your best friend when it comes to learning new words or food names. You can easily find videos or sound clips that demonstrate how to pronounce each word.”

“If you’re unsure about how to pronounce a dish, don’t hesitate to ask the waiter or server. They are usually familiar with the menu and can provide you with the correct pronunciation,” he suggests.

The 30 most commonly mispronounced food names, along with a handy cheat sheet of how you can say them.

Methodology

The research team at Quizgecko analyzed Google data to find out which food names have got people people seeking pronunciation guidance the most.

To do this, researchers compiled a list of the most popular foods and analyzed the number of searches for each food combined with terms like “how to pronounce Food”, Food pronunciation”, and “how to say Food”.

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Author: David Keech

David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]