How do you say the word espresso? Or, bruschetta for that matter? If you pronounce these words as ess-press-oh and brew-sket-a, you get a gold star. Anything else, according to a new study on mispronunciations, is wrong. Who knew?
The Independent reports on a new study commissioned by St. Pancras International railway station that reveals that over three-fourths of British citizens struggle to correctly pronounce words and phrases. The train station commissioned the research after realizing its own name is among the most commonly mispronounced. If you’re interested, it’s pan-cras not pan-cree-ass.
“We are always hearing people referring to the station as 'St Pancreas,'" explained Wendy Spinks, the company’s commercial director, in an interview with the Daily Mail. “With the rise of social media, more and more people are mixing the two up both in speech and text.”
The report highlights the top 10 most mispronounced words with prescription, Greenwich, sherbet and et cetera all making the list. And, while we recognize that it can be a teeny bit annoying when a person mispronounces a word, it’s not really a big deal is it? Turns out that over 41% of the survey’s candidates would stop a conversation to correct someone's pronunciations. Excuse us.
Click through to read the entire list, and let us know your thoughts on this topic. Is it nit-picking at its worst? (The Independent)