What words can't Americans say?

Here are the top 30 words Americans struggle to pronounce
  • affidavit [af-i-dey-vit]
  • almond [ah-muh nd, am-uh nd]
  • beget [bih-get]
  • cache [kash]
  • caramel [kar-uh-muh l, -mel, kahr-muh l]
  • coupon [koo-pon, kyoo-]
  • croissant [French krwah-sahn; English kruh-sahnt]
  • epitome [ih-pit-uh-mee]
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on marketwatch.com


What are words that English people can't say?

10 Words English People Have Difficulty Pronouncing
  • Et cetera. Apparently 34% of Britons pronounce the beginning of this word as /ek/ when it really should be /et/ or /eʔ/! ...
  • Pronunciation. This is always a fun one for the teachers at Pronunciation Studio. ...
  • Specific. ...
  • Quinoa. ...
  • Similarly. ...
  • Facade. ...
  • Hyperbole. ...
  • Voluptuous.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on pronunciationstudio.com


What is the hardest word to pronounce in America?

The word onomatopoeia is a jumble of vowels and is probably the most difficult English word to pronounce. It is pronounced [on-uh-mat-uh–pee–uh], and it defines a word that imitates a sound.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on cudoo.com


What are the 10 hardest words to pronounce?

20 Most Difficult Words to Pronounce in the English Language
  • Colonel.
  • Worcestershire.
  • Mischievous.
  • Draught.
  • Quinoa.
  • Onomatopoeia.
  • Scissors.
  • Anemone.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on gmrtranscription.com


Why can't Americans say squirrel?

'Her answer is that it is because the word 'squirrel' contains only one syllable. ' Len Clarke says that the Americans 'are simply copying posh English, in which syllables are discreetly halved in number.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on independent.co.uk


7 Things Americans Don't Really Say



Why can't Americans Say caramel?

You see, the word caramel is derived from the 18th-century Spanish turned French word caramelo, which is pronounced as car-a-mello. So, North American English speakers adopted the "car" pronunciation from the original word, whereas British speakers tend to pronounce caramel as "care-a-muhl."
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on eatthis.com


Why can't Americans say herbs?

Answer. Answer: The Americans have picked this up from Norman- French. "Herb" is a word that would have been very commonly used by the French, so that is why it would have stuck, as oppose to other words in the American dialect such as "helicopter."
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on lbc.co.uk


What is the hardest R word to say?

murderer. As we noted earlier, the R sound in English can be tricky. That's what makes murderer, with its three R sounds particularly difficult to pronounce. The word is pronounced [ mur-der-er ].
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on dictionary.com


What is the longest weirdest word?

10 Longest Words in the English Language
  1. Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (45 letters) ...
  2. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia (36 letters) ...
  3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (34 letters) ...
  4. Pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters) ...
  5. Floccinaucinihilipilification (29 letters)
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on irisreading.com


What is the weirdest word to say?

Here are the 12 weirdest words in English:
  • Gerrymandering.
  • Fungus.
  • Aa.
  • Vex.
  • Bequeath.
  • Mixology.
  • Flub.
  • Bibble.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on ef.com


What is America's oldest word?

Mother, bark and spit are some of the oldest known words, say researchers. Continue reading → Mother, bark and spit are just three of 23 words that researchers believe date back 15,000 years, making them the oldest known words.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on seeker.com


What is America's longest word?

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

It's a technical word referring to the lung disease more commonly known as silicosis. Despite being in the dictionary, the word was originally made up by the president of the National Puzzlers' League.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on babbel.com


What is the longest American word?

The longest word in any of the major English language dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a word that refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles, specifically from a volcano; medically, it is the same as silicosis.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on en.wikipedia.org


What do Brits call drunk?

Pissed / Pished

Strictly speaking, “pissed” (or “pished” in Scotland) is a swear word and you shouldn't use it in a formal, professional or school context. However it is probably the most commonly used word in the UK to describe being drunk. If you spend any time in the UK, you will hear it all the time.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on eurocentres.com


What words can't kids say?

And here's how they actually tend to pronounce them.
  • · Amblance (ambulance)
  • · Aminal (animal)
  • · Babbit (rabbit)
  • · Pasgetti (spaghetti)
  • · Binoclars (binoculars)
  • · Confoo'd (confused)
  • · Constructions (instructions)
  • · Hopital (hospital)
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on itv.com


What is the longest P word?

Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a New Latin word made up of five parts. The combining form pneumono- means “lung.” The word ultramicroscopic refers to something so small that it can't be seen by normal microscopes.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on dictionary.com


What starts with P and ends with E?

Q: What starts with "P", ends with "E", and has millions of letters? A: The "Post Office"!
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on englishclub.com


What is the 3 hour word?

The longest English word

The longest word in English has 189,819 letters and takes 3 hours to pronounce. This is a technical term for the chemical composition of titin. Titin is the largest known protein responsible for maintaining the passive elasticity of the muscles.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on berlitz.com


What are 5 difficult words?

As a follow up to our article on confusing words, here are ten of the most difficult words in English.
  • Literally. If you know a language purist, watch out. ...
  • Ironic. ...
  • Irregardless (instead of regardless) ...
  • Whom. ...
  • Colonel. ...
  • Nonplussed. ...
  • Disinterested. ...
  • Enormity.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on ef.com


What accent Cannot say r?

Non-rhotic speakers, however, like those who speak British English or Australian English do not pronounce the /r/ in those words.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on magoosh.com


Why can't i pronounce l?

Correctly pronouncing /l/ is very difficult for many non-native speakers. /l/ is commonly confused with/r/ or /w/. If you don't have /l/ in your language, you will have to retrain your muscle memory. You must focus on proper placement for your tongue, lips, jaw and air flow.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on callearning.com


Why do Americans say Mom?

Mom and Mommy are old-English words, words that are stilled used in Birmingham and most parts of the West Midlands. It is said that when people from the West Midlands went to America many years ago they took the spelling with them, hence Americans use Mom and Mommy.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on projectbritain.com


Why do Americans say period?

In 19th-century texts, both British English and American English were consistent in their usage of the terms period and full stop. The word period was used as a name for what printers often called the "full point", the punctuation mark that was a dot on the baseline and used in several situations.
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on en.wikipedia.org


Why do Americans say Zee?

Zee became the standard way to pronounce Z in the United States in the 19th century. It's said that zee most likely came about because it rhymes with other letter pronunciations in the English alphabet (e.g., e, d, c, b, g, and p).
Takedown request   |   View complete answer on getproofed.com.au
Next question
Where should I invest in 2023?