17 Everyday Words You Just Might Be Mispronouncing... And Why You Need To Stop

Theres nothing more irritating to a pedants ear than someone saying mischievious instead of mischievous, and nothing more embarrassing than realizing youve been pronouncing the word mischievous with an extra i for your whole life. Despite the judgment we exhibit toward people who err in enunciating, we all mispronounce a word from time to time, despite our best efforts.

A recent study attempted to determine the most frequently mispronounced English words in Britain, concluding that 82 percent of Britons frequently mispronounce words. The studys list of the most common mispronunciations included terms like prescription, espresso, and several location names. One of the locations, the railway station St. Pancras International, commissioned the study due to their frustration at the constant confusion of their name with the word pancreas.

Writers were quick to jump to the defense of their errant countrymen, arguing that mispronunciations dont matter and have actually shaped English as we know it today . David Shariatmadari notes in The Guardian that former mispronunciations like "bird" (formerly "brid") have become the correct pronunciations over time. These widespread errors eventually become so pervasive that they must be deemed acceptable and added to the dictionary; these processes account in large part for why English today no longer remotely resembles Middle English. Sometimes pronunciations still commonly considered incorrect are added to dictionaries merely because the pronunciation has become ubiquitous, causing fury among prescriptivists .

Trying a different angle, also in The Guardian, Steve Poole argues that policing pronunciations, especially counterintuitive ones (he uses the example of Magdalene College in Cambridge, which is somehow pronounced "Maudlin"), enforces in-group/out-group distinctions that serve to perpetuate class and cultural divides. As he writes, "Like so many linguistic arguments, the power-struggles over correct pronunciation are most often proxies for issues of snobbery and class." And yes, thats a valid concern.

However, just because a snobbish fixation on the proper pronunciation can be taken overboard, that doesnt mean we can completely disregard the value of consistent, clear pronunciation. Theres a reason we prefer words to be pronounced the same way each time: It reduces barriers to understanding. Take Houston Street, a major thoroughfare in New York City. It's pronounced "How-ston," though it's spelled the same way as the large city of Houston, Texas, which is pronounced "Hyoo-ston." Accordingly, it's understandable that tourists and newcomers frequently mispronounce the name of Houston Street, and they're frequently snickered at for doing so. And sure, it might be my smug inner New Yorker (or New York resident, at least) sneering when someone refers to Hyooston Street, instantly marking himself as a tourist, but it also genuinely takes me a beat longer to realize the street hes referring to than it would have if hed pronounced it How-ston. Even though theyre pronouncing Houston in a perfectly logical way, my ears have become so accustomed to the New York pronunciation over the past few years that it takes me a moment to process the alternate pronunciation.

This applies to words as well as local place names with obnoxiously illogical pronunciations. While pronunciation guides often carp about common errors like espresso and prescription, these are actually unlikely to cause much confusion. The usual mispronunciations (expresso and perscription, respectively) are aurally similar to the correct ones, and there are no common near-homophones with which the mispronounced word are likely to be confused. When someone says expresso, we might cringe, but theres not even a slight difficulty in understanding the word.

There are, however, some words we really need to stop mispronouncing. Theyre easily confused with other words when not clearly and correctly enunciated, and youre just sowing bewilderment behind you if you misuse them heedlessly. Here are 17 words you might be mispronouncing, and why you need to stop now.

Ask: David Shariatmadari, defending mispronunciations in The Guardian, notes that pronouncing ask as aks is a very common, perfectly natural error referred to as metathesis. But theres already a pretty well-known word pronounced aks, and it refers to a hatchet-like tool or weapon. Lets keep axes out of this.

Cache: English speakers often seem befuddled by words that end with -che. Its tempting to pronounced this cash-ay, but that pronunciation belongs to the word cachet, which means the state of having high status or prestige. Cache is actually pronounced the same way as cash, and it means a group of items hidden in a secret storage place.

Cavalry: Cavalry , which refers to soldiers mounted on horseback, is tricky to pronounce, so its unsurprising that people often blur it into cal-vary. But Calvary is already taken -- it refers to the hill outside Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified. Avoid that whole awkward conversation by enunciating cavalry carefully.

Fiscal: Were often tempted to toss extra vowels into words with juxtaposed consonants -- ath-a-lete instead of athlete, for example. But fis-i-cal isnt just incorrect, its confusingly close to physical. For clarity, make sure youre restricting yourself to the two-syllabled fiscal , which means pertaining to government revenues and expenditures.

Hyperbole: What? A hyper bowl?! Where?? And how can a bowl even be hyper? Oh, oh, you mean hyperbole. Yes, thats pronounced hy-per-ba-lee , not hyper-bowl. Dont make people struggle to understand why a bowl might be characterized as overactive or frenetic when youre simply trying to refer to hyperbole, the literary technique of exaggerating for effect.

Irreverent: Speakers often blur the i and the t in this adjective, resulting in a much different noun: A reverend. Irreverent should be pronounced more like ear-rever-ent than uh-rever-end. You dont want to accidentally refer to a singular minister when youre trying to describe a person as showing disrespect to something or someone normally treated with respect. Is your friend Teddy irreverent, or is he a reverend? This is a pretty important distinction.

Liable: Both of those vowels after the l need to be enunciated: li-a-ble . Its easy to drop the a, but then youre saying lie-bull, and thats how you pronounce another legal term: libel. When it comes to the law, its best to be as clear as possible: say li-a-ble when you mean legally responsible and lie-bull when you mean written defamation.

Moot: Moot, meaning open to discussion and unlikely to come to a definite answer, or not of practical value to discuss, may seem similar to mute, meaning silent or not making a sound. But they are not pronounced the same way. Moot should always be pronounced with the moo of a cow, not the myu of mute. It may seem to be a moot point, but in reality, a moot point is quite different from a mute point (which, somehow, must be made silently).

Niche: Like cache, niche should end with a soft sh. However, we tend to say nitch instead of neesh. Technically both pronunciations are now considered correct , but if you want your interlocutor to know that youre referring to a niche, a small wall recess or a position for which someone is well-suited, and not an itch, an unpleasant tickling sensation that induces scratching, we recommend using the original French pronunciation.

Peremptory: Meaning leaving no opportunity for disobedience or refusal, peremptory is usually used to refer to a dictatorial command, and its correctly pronounced per-emp-tor-y . Its frequently pronounced pre-emp-tor-y, with a careless switcharoo of the first e and r. This sounds an awful lot like preempt, and while preemptory isnt actually the adjective form of preempt (that would be preemptive, meaning intended to prevent or forestall a future event), the fact that youre now using a totally fictional word leaves your conversational partner totally at sea in interpreting this. Are you trying to say peremptory or preemptive? How are they supposed to know? Save them the trouble and say it right the first time.

Picture: Guys. Its "pic-shur" or "pic-tchur," not pitch-er. This is very important, because both pictures and pitchers are items you might have lying around your house. Do you want to be handed the pitcher sitting on the table, or the picture sitting on the table? Would you like a nice framed picture for your birthday, or a lovely glass pitcher? Make sure to enunciate that hard c so everyone knows for sure.

Prostrate: You lie prostrate on the ground (face down on the ground), not prostate ( gland near the bladder in male mammals). For that matter, dont reverse them either. The two words are so close its common for an r to be dropped -- or for an extra one to slip in. But come on, theyre two entirely different words! Make sure youre using the right number of rs, and saying the word you mean to say.

Silicon: Silicon and silicone seem like basically the same word -- theyre both materials of some sort, and theres only one pesky e differentiating them, right? But silicon, which refers to the chemical element often used in electronics, and silicone, which refers to a rubbery compound used in non-stick cookware and breast implants, are not only different materials but have different pronunciations. Silicon, as in Silicon Valley, is pronounced sill-i-con, while silicone is pronounced sill-i-cone.

Specific: Its unclear why its so hard to enunciate the s at the beginning of the word specific , but many people seem to skip right past it to the p. Which means that specific becomes pecific... and suddenly it sounds a lot like youre saying pacific. Do you mean particular and clearly defined, or do you mean peaceful? Dont make us guess.

Suite: Suite, a term for a group of things being used for the same purpose (usually a set of rooms), looks more like suit than sweet. But its pronounced like the latter, not the former. Pronounce suite as sweet, or people will wonder why you had to rent a suit for the wedding instead of just bringing your own to the hotel.

Tack: Like anyway, tack often suffers the indignity of having another letter just, well, tacked right onto the end. Tack is pronounced as written, not as tact. The word refers to a short pin or to the act of changing direction, and the latter definition most commonly suffers from mispronunciation. Because tact means the ability to deal with difficult situations without giving offense, it seems like an appropriate word to use when referring to altering your approach in conversation in order to get a better response. But the correct phrase, and pronunciation, is changing tack, as it was originally a metaphor drawn from sailing .

Tenet: Tenet has been so frequently mispronounced that the error has begun to plague print instances as well. Tenet, meaning a central principle or belief, has only one n and is pronounced ten-et , not ten-ent. Of course, there is a word pronounced ten-ent -- tenant, which refers to someone who inhabits a rented dwelling. But just to be clear, freedom of speech is not a basic tenant of American society, its a basic tenet of American society.

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this post only listed one of the correct pronunciations for the word picture. The other has been added.