‘Omicron’ and ‘Eilish’ Among Most Mispronounced Words of 2021

 

Each year brings a new set of words that are widely used but difficult to pronounce.

Among the terms making the 2021 list were a new version of the coronavirus, a superstar singer and the names of two digital currencies.

The list identifies words that were most often mispronounced by American newsreaders and television presenters¹. The U.S. Captioning³ Company chose the words. It creates captions⁴ for live events on television and in courtrooms.

The creation of the list was supported by the language-learning company Babbel. Esteban Touma is a teacher for the company's Babbel Live service. He said, "As a language teacher, it's always interesting to see that some of these terms are usually new colloquialisms⁶, or are rooted or borrowed from another language." A colloquialism⁵ is an informal word or expression that is more useful in speech than writing.

Touma added: "As a non-native speaker, I must confess it's fun to see English speakers stumbling a bit for a change."

He provided The Associated Press with guidance on how to correctly pronounce the words that made the list. Here are the explanations, with phonetic⁷ pronunciations next to the words.

Cheugy (CHOO-gee): A term made popular by members of Gen Z, a name for the generation of people born in the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Cheugy is used to describe people and lifestyle choices considered outdated⁸, unpopular or uncool.

Chipotle (chih-POHT-lay): This U.S.-based restaurant company received viral attention on the internet with a campaign that centered on how older people pronounce the name.

Dalgona (tal-goh-NAH): A sweet Korean treat made with melted sugar and baking soda⁹. It was shown in the widely popular Netflix TV series Squid Game.

Dogecoin (DOHJ-coin): A form of cryptocurrency that began as kind of a joke before being popularized by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk¹⁰.

Ethereum (ih-THEE-ree-um): Another form of cryptocurrency that skyrocketed in value this year.

Eilish (EYE-lish): The last name of Grammy Award-winning singer Billie Eilish.

Ever Given (EV-er GIV-en): The name of the ship that blocked the Suez Canal in March, costing billions of dollars in lost trade. Many news presenters mistook the name of the ship as "Evergreen¹¹." But that was actually the name of the company that owns the ship, which was printed on its side.

Glasgow (GLAHZ-go): The Scottish city where the United Nations Climate Conference was held. The name was widely mispronounced, including by both President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.

Kelce (KELs): The last name of American football player Jason Kelce, who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles. He said earlier this year that his teammates and the media had been saying his name wrong for years.

Omicron (OH-muh-kraan (U.S.) / OH-mee-kraan (Britain)): The name of a new COVID-19 variant¹². It is a letter of the Greek alphabet, in keeping with the World Health Organization's system of identifying new coronavirus versions.

Shein (SHEE-in): The Chinese clothing company at the center of the "Shein haul" trend. The trend involves people recording¹³ themselves trying on numerous sets of the company's clothes.

Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas): A Greek tennis player currently ranked number 4 in the world.

Yassify (YEAH-sih-fai): A popular trend in which different beauty filters are put onto well-known pictures to produce humorous effects.

Words in This Story

pronounce – v. to make the sound of a letter or word

caption² – n. words written under a picture or with video to explain it

confess – v. to admit something

stumble – v. to make a mistake, such as pausing or repeating a word, while speaking

phonetic – adj. relating to the sounds you make when you speak

trend – n. a general development or change in a situation

filter – v. to pass liquid, gas, light, etc. through a piece of equipment in order to remove unwanted material

1 presenters   

n.节目主持人，演播员( presenter的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each week presenters would put the case for their favourite candidate. 每个星期主持人推出他们最喜欢的候选人。 来自互联网
• Karaoke was set up to allowed presenters to sing on the stage. 宴会设有歌唱舞台，可让出席者大演唱功。 来自互联网

2 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

3 captioning   

v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的现在分词 )

参考例句：

4 captions   

n.标题，说明文字，字幕( caption的名词复数 )v.给（图片、照片等）加说明文字( caption的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I stared, trying to grasp the point of the picture and the captions. 我目不转睛地看着漫画，想弄清楚漫画和解说词的意思。 来自辞典例句
• Indicates whether the user or the system paints the captions. 指示是由用户还是由系统来绘制标题。 来自互联网

5 colloquialism   

n.俗话，白话，口语

参考例句：

• The writer aerateed his writing with a persuasive colloquialism.作者用一种有说服力的口语体使他的文章显得生动。
• Her speech is informal and filled with colloquialism.她的演讲是非正式的，很口语化。

6 colloquialisms   

n.俗话，白话，口语( colloquialism的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are as many colloquialisms in Japanese as are in Chinese. 中日文中存在着大量的四字熟语。 来自互联网
• It is getting better, but It'still struggles with colloquialisms and idioms. 机器翻译的质量虽然有所改善，但翻译起口语体和习语来还是困难重重。 来自互联网

7 phonetic   

adj.语言的，语言上的，表示语音的

参考例句：

• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。
• English phonetic teaching is an important teaching step in elementary stages.语音教学是英语基础阶段重要的教学环节。

8 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

9 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

10 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

11 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

12 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。