The words most often mispronounced by Americans have been revealed in a new study.
The survey found that people across the country struggled with everything from dog breed names to popular dishes, as well as country names and even a famous word from a hit Disney movie.
However, the word most people turned to Google for help in pronouncing was ‘Worcestershire sauce’, according to the study by online puzzle platform Unscrambler.
A condiment that shares its name with a county in England, it is also known as a key ingredient in a Bloody Mary cocktail.
Unscramblerer’s study analysed Google Trends data from January 1 until October 20 and focused on searches that included prompts such as: “How to pronounce” and “How do you pronounce.”
Over 321,600 searches for the pronunciation of Worcestershire sauce were made during that period, which is over 30,000 more than the word that landed in second place.
The runner-up to Worcestershire sauce was ‘gyro’, the Greek dish in which meat is stacked in layers on a vertical rotisserie and slow-roasted. Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi and Missouri were the four states where gyro topped the list of pronunciation queries.
In third place was German dog breed ‘Dachshund’ with Nebraska, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming coming out top in pronunciation searches.
In fourth place was niche, followed by Porsche in fifth.
The fifteenth most searched-for word is of particular note, as ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ was invented for Disney’s classic movie Mary Poppins.
The film dedicated a song to its pronunciation in a memorable scene with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.
Some Americans even searched for the correct pronunciation of their own home states, including people living in Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada and Oregon.
And Iran, which has been locked in a conflict with the U.S. since February this year, also featured on the Unscramblerer’s list.
Top 15 most mispronounced words in the United States
- Worcestershire sauce (Wuus-ter-sheer sauce) - searched 321,600 times
- Gyro (YEE-roh) - searched 290,400 times
- Dachshund (DAKS-hund) - searched 259,100 times
- Niche (NEESH) - searched 224,500 times
- Porsche (POR-shuh) - searched 205,200 times
- Qatar (kuh-TAR) - searched 196,800 times
- Gif (JIF) - searched 190,700 times
- Curacao (KYUR-uh-sow) - searched 189,600 times
- Saoirse (SEER-shuh) - searched 181,200 times
- Pho (FUH) - searched 174,000 times
- Salmon (SAM-un) - searched 171,600 times
- Nguyen (WIN) - searched 170,300 times
- Aoife (EE-fuh) - searched 169,200 times
- Acai (Ah-sigh-ee) - searched 168,000 times
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (Super-cali-FRAJ-al-istic-ex-pi-ali-do-shous) - searched 165,600 times
The most mispronounced word in each states
- Alabama – Gyro
- Alaska – Juneau (JOO-noh)
- Arizona – Saguaro (suh-WAR-oh)
- Arkansas – Aoife (EE-fuh)
- California – Iran (ih-RAN)
- Colorado – Colorado (kah-luh-RAD-oh)
- Connecticut – Curacao (KYUR-uh-sow)
- Delaware – Water (WAW-ter)
- Florida – Schedule (SKEJ-ool)
- Georgia – FIFA (FEE-fuh)
- Hawaii – Hawaii (huh-WY-ee)
- Idaho – Worcestershire sauce
- Illinois – Chicago (shih-KAH-goh)
- Indiana – Gyro
- Iowa – Hozier (HOH-zee-er)
- Kansas – Iran
- Kentucky – Louisville (LOO-uh-vul).
- Louisiana – Eschatology (es-kuh-TAH-luh-jee)
- Maine – Bangor (BANG-gor)
- Maryland – Gauche (GOHSH)
- Massachusetts – Massachusetts (mass-uh-CHOO-sits)
- Michigan – Gauche
- Minnesota – Nguyen (WIN)
- Mississippi – Gyro
- Missouri – Gyro
- Montana – Xochitl (SOH-cheel)
- Nebraska – Dachshund
- Nevada – Nevada (nuh-VAD-uh)
- New Hampshire – Acai (ah-sigh-EE)
- New Jersey – Data (DAY-tuh)
- New Mexico – Laufey (LAY-vay)
- New York – Iran
- North Carolina – Raleigh (RAH-lee)
- North Dakota – Dachshund
- Ohio – Spaghetti (spuh-GET-ee)
- Oklahoma – Acai
- Oregon – Oregon (OR-ih-gun)
- Pennsylvania – Water (WAW-ter)
- Rhode Island – Caprese (kuh-PRAY-zay)
- South Carolina – Salmon (SAM-un)
- South Dakota – Worcestershire sauce
- Tennessee – Sevierville (sev-uh-VEER-ul)
- Texas – Pho (FUH)
- Utah – Data (DAY-tuh)
- Vermont – Montpelier (mont-PEEL-yer)
- Virginia – Laufey (LAY-vay)
- Washington – Spokane (spoh-KAN)
- West Virginia – Dachshund
- Wisconsin – Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Wyoming – Dachshund