‘What is a word you are brave enough to admit that you mispronounced for way too long?’ – 17 linguistic confessions
For non-native speakers, English is a notoriously difficult language to learn, largely due to its deeply unphonetic vocabulary.
Even for native speakers there are common words that are easy to mangle. If you’ve ever treated ‘hyperbole’ like it rhymes with ‘superbowl’ then you’re in good company.
The US Merriam-Webster dictionary account have just opened the floodgates on Twitter by asking their followers to share the words they’d been pronouncing completely wrong, starting with a confession of their own.
What is a word you are brave enough to admit that you mispronounced for way too long?
Ours may or may not be ‘epitome.’
Phew, that feels good to finally say out loud…
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) October 30, 2026
It prompted a very entertaining masterclass in public shame.