20 Commonly Mispronounced English Words

English pronunciation can be notoriously inconsistent, with spelling often failing to indicate how a word should sound. Epitome is pronounced ih-PIT-uh-mee, not EP-ih-tohm. Colonels are pronounced KERNEL, a legacy of the French coronel that the British military eventually adopted. Hyperbole should be hy-PER-buh-lee with four syllables, not HY-per-bole. picturesque ends in -ESK not -picture. Gauge is pronounced with a hard G (like cage), not with a soft G. Pharaoh drops the second syllable: FAIR-oh. Quinoa is KEEN-wah, originating from Quechua. Worcestershire sauce remains one of the most baffling: WOOS-ter-sheer, not wor-ches-ter-shy-er. These pronunciation traps affect both native and non-native speakers alike.