Writing Tips compiled data from the most popular Google searches from the US, starting with “how to pronounce”. Here are the ten words Americans found the hardest to pronounce in 2022.
how to pronounce acai (18,000 searches) how to pronounce nguyen (15,000 searches) how to pronounce gyro (15,000 searches) how to pronounce omicron (14,000 searches) pronounce gnocchi (10,000 searches) how to pronounce Kyiv (7,900 searches) how to pronounce Worcestershire (7,800 searches) how to pronounce Dogecoin (7,300 searches)
Some of these searches show what’s been on Americans’ minds for the past year, like Omicron, a more contagious strain of COVID-19; Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine; and Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency. Others are more timeless queries, like the correct pronunciation of GIF or Worcestershire.
Americans led the world in not knowing how to pronounce gyro: 88% of global pronunciation searches in the last year were conducted by Americans. In fact, four of these 10 hardest-to-pronounce words for Americans in 2022 related to food.
Nguyen is the most common Vietnamese surname and 71% of all searches for pronunciation guides in the last year were made by Americans.
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