‘Cheugy,’ ‘omicron’ among 2021’s most mispronounced words – KXAN Austin

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from: WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press

Posted: Dec 7, 2021 12:26 AM CST
Updated: December 7, 2021 / 12:51 am CST

This combo of 2021 photos shows Jason Kelce (left) of Philadelphia Eagles and Billie Eilish in London. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter and the Eagles Center have something in common: broadcasters have difficulty pronouncing their names. Both Eilish and Kelce and “omicron” made it onto this year’s List of Most Commonly Mispronounced Words compiled by the US Captioning Company that captures and subtitles real-time events on television and in courtrooms. (Tim Tai / The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP, Pool, Joel C Ryan / Invision / AP)

“Cheugy” is apparently a lot to chew. Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce have one thing in common – the stations are slaughtering their names.

And practically everyone has problems with “omicron”.

All four made it onto this year’s list of Most Commonly Mispronounced Words compiled by the US Captioning Company, which captures and subtitles real-time events on television and in courtrooms.

The list, released on Tuesday, includes the words that turned out to be the most difficult words for news anchors and television people this year.

The caption said it interviewed its members to create the list, now in its sixth year, commissioned by Babbel, a language learning platform based in Berlin and New York.

“US news anchors grapple with the new words and names of 2021 as they cover major sporting events, internet viral trends and emerging celebrities,” said Esteban Touma, a stand-up comedian and teacher for Babbel Live.

“It is always interesting for a language teacher to see that some of these terms are usually new colloquial languages, or are rooted or borrowed from another language,” he said. “As a non-native speaker, I have to admit that it is fun when English speakers stumble a little for a change.”

Here’s how Touma breaks down the correct pronunciation of the most commonly mispronounced words:

– Cheugy (CHOO-gee): A trending term popularized by Generation Z and used to mock an outdated and unfashionable aesthetic typically associated with Millennials, such as “Live, Laugh, Love “sign.

– Chipotle (chih-POHT-lay): The American fast food chain became the center of a viral trend this year that prompted baby boomers to pronounce the name.

– Dalgona (tal-goh-NAH): A Korean delicacy made from melted sugar and baking soda popular in Netflix’s “Squid Game” middle syllable.)

– Dogecoin (DOHJ coin): a divisive cryptocurrency that started out somewhat ironically before it was popularized by Elon Musk, which increased its value dramatically.

– Eilish (EYE-lish): Singer Billie Eilish, whose album “Happier Than Ever” was released to critics earlier this year and nominated for Grammy Album of the Year.

– Ethereum (ih-THEE-ree-um): Another cryptocurrency that has soared in value this year amid the decentralized currency boom.

– 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 anchors confused the ship’s name with “Evergreen,” the name of the company that owns the ship and was printed on the hull.

– Glasgow (GLAHZ-go): The host city of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November was mispronounced by both President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama.

– Kelce (KELs): Philadelphia Eagles Center Jason Kelcer revealed on the radio this year that his teammates and the media had mispronounced his name for years.

– Omicron (AH-muh-kraan / OH-mee-kraan): A new variant of COVID-19, first identified in November, named after the World Health Organization’s system of identifying variants using Greek letters. (Touma notes that it is pronounced differently in the US and the UK)

– Shein (SHEE-in): The Chinese fast fashion company at the center of the “Shein-Haul” trend, in which the participants hold on to try on numerous different outfits from the company.

– Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas): The Greek athlete, who is currently ranked number 4 in the world in tennis, rose to international fame when he played against Novak Djokovic in the final of the French Open in June lost.

– Yassify (YEAH-sih-fai): A popular trend that involves applying multiple beauty filters to familiar images or portraits to create a comical effect.

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