43 Most Mispronounced Food Words

• my (non-French) Canadian wife pronounces it poo-teen, and it is delicious.

•  Ive heard a lot of people pronounce it as Car-mul, which is like the argument on pee-can vs pee-kahn

• I think you have chorizo wrong. Ask someone Spanish speaking. Thanks for the list. This is great!

• how about Provolone, Calzone and Bourguignon

• Smirnoff (smir•noff not shmear•noff) Reece's pieces (Reece's pieces not reeceees pieceees)

• In French, it's pronounced 'boo-fay', so in the UK and some parts of North America, the French pronounciation is used.

• -basil is pronounced 'bah-zill' - there is no Y in it -the final N in 'Cabernet sauvignon' is silent -the Q in 'coq' should be annunciated -The H in herb is there for a reason - to be hhhhheard! -'Crudité' is written with an é and pronounced 'crew-dee-tay' -In both instances, the S in hors d'oeuvres is silent. (ohr derve, not ohr derves) Please provide some French lessons for the author of this article.

• Better research is needed on basil - check the languages of the plant's origin. Check the Latin name. Check older English. The long "a" is a recent distortion. I suspect people are confused by the word basal.

• Couple of minor corrections on two of your entires.  Correct French pronunciation for Coq au vin should sound more like "cok oh vin" and endive should sound more like "on deeve". Thanks for the good work!

• I just had to put my 2 cents in. Originally from Chicago so this is where the words come from. Chipotle (Chi-poht-leh) soft e Chorizo (Cho-ree-zo) or (Cho-ree-so) ree as in free NO “t” anywhere in there Gyro yee-ro or yee-roe just ask a Greek friend to pronounce it and they might say Yee-ros hard o it sounds like they are saying more than one Gyro Guacamole (goo-ah-cah-moe-leh) soft e at the end. Hah-bah-neh-roe in spanish Ah-bah-neh-roe Horchata (Or-cha-tah) Huitlacoche (Wheat-lah-ko-che) Hard O on the koh and soft e in che like in check Mole (Moe-leh) soft e at the end. Tilapia sounds like (Teh-lah-pea-ah) Tried to spell it like it sounds in english. Hope this helps

• Don't forget tilapia. Ive heard it said as 'tilopo', 'tilapa' and worst of all 'tipatilla'. Mahi mahi is pretty bad too. Mostly said as 'mowi mowi'

• Aiiieee! It's "cho-REE-so" !!!! With an ever so slight roll to the R. The pronunciation here makes me want to punch someone in the face.

• Bay-sill? NOPE!!! It's pronounced 'bazzle' as in dazzle. Sheesh! I'm killin' myself here trying to educate folks... grr

• Bay-sill? NOPE!!! It's pronounced 'bazzle' as in dazzle. Sheesh! I'm killin' myself here trying to educate folks... grr

• OMG, I hate when playstation does this killing the jailbreak. I guess I wont be updating my Playstation 3 to this new firmware.

• My pronunciation differs on several items on this list. For instance, I say basil with a soft "a" -- as in Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers. I'm Canadian and wonder if regional differences play a role. Even the word vitamin has different pronunciations depending on where you live. Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to...

• Your pronunciation of "chorizo" is patently wrong. It's a Spanish word, and as such as two pronunciations: chor-ees-so chor-eeth-o That's it. Never "chor-eetz-o." What a retarded list.

• Your pronunciation of "chorizo" is patently wrong. It's a Spanish word, and as such as two pronunciations: chor-ees-so chor-eeth-o That's it. Never "chor-eetz-o." What a retarded list.

• Good read. There is currently quite a lot of information around this subject on the net and some are most defintely better than others. You have caught the detail here just right which makes for a refreshing change � thanks.

• Good read. There is currently quite a lot of information around this subject on the net and some are most defintely better than others. You have caught the detail here just right which makes for a refreshing change � thanks.

• Despite his Portuguese surname, ignore M. Mello's comment above about the pronunciation of chorizo. Prior commenters have it correct: chew-WREATH-o in Spain, chew-REESE-o in Latin America. The word M. Mello is going for is chouri� and that indeed is pronounced shoo-REESE. The actual sausages described by these words vary widely from country to country.

• This made me smile and hopefully after your last post it will do the same for you: They call it "pms" because "mad cow disease" was already taken. :)

• I live in Italy and hope I can help PANINI = 2 sandwiches PANINO = 1 sandwich YOU CANNOT HAVE 1 PANINI RISOTTO = the 'o' is ALWAYS like the o in HOT not like the 'o' in GO BRUSCHETTA - bru-sket-ta PASTA = big open 'a' NOT PAR-STAR GELATO = gelaTo not GelaDo and finally..... SPAGHETTI CARBONARA does not contain CREAM !

• I live in Italy and hope I can help PANINI = 2 sandwiches PANINO = 1 sandwich YOU CANNOT HAVE 1 PANINI RISOTTO = the 'o' is ALWAYS like the o in HOT not like the 'o' in GO BRUSCHETTA - bru-sket-ta PASTA = big open 'a' NOT PAR-STAR GELATO = gelaTo not GelaDo and finally..... SPAGHETTI CARBONARA does not contain CREAM !

• f you're going to pick on people's pronounciation, then you should be putting in the proper diacritical markings.

• I am so glad that Enrique is in the tamal camp. This is one of my greatest peeves. What about pecan?

• Contrary to what some are claiming, �bay-zill� is not an Americanization. Only Yeehaws pronounce it /?bez?l/. Those who don't long for the South to rise again pronounce the word /?b�l/ � the �a� as in �bad� and the �i� as a schwa.

• Karaoke = Ka-Ra-O-Kay Not Carry-O-Key

• Well I'm glad I came across this article because I've been pronouncing 'Worcestershire Sauce' as 'Wor-chester-shire-sauce' this whole time. No I'm not kidding. Stop laughing at me.

• Hi, I'm French and amused at the way you (English speaking people) try to pronounce French words. What you should know is that the letter 'n' after a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) changes the way it sounds and is never pronounced as a regular 'n'. Unfortunately for you, most of the sounds obtained this way don't exist in the English language. Also, the vowel 'u' doesnt sound 'ooh' or 'uh'. But then again, this sound is absent from the English language. Also, most of the final letters of French words are not pronounced, especially the 'e'. As in 'Endive', pronounced 'an-div'. As for writing, "Nicoise" is wrong, it would be said "Nee-kwaz". It should be "Ni�se" for it to sound "nee-swaz". Before 'a', 'o' and 'u', the 'C' sounds like a 'k' but before the other vowels, it sounds like a hard 's'. To make it sound like a 's' before 'a', 'o' or 'u', you have to add a 'C�lle' : '�. Anyway, to pronounce all these words the exact correct way, we would have to use phonetics and a native speaking person you could hear (and it would take a lot of time and practice :D), but it's not necessary, we French people like to watch you struggle with our language, and also, your accent is actually cute :).

• what is the correct way to pronounce guanciale?

• Former President and peanut farmer, Jimmy Carter, said that at a gathering of nut growers one would here the word "pecan" pronounced 4 different ways: PEE can, pa CON, pee CAN, and pe CAN (if memory serves). All were deemed to be acceptable at that gathering.

• If I said to my mom or aunt "I want some of your car-ah-mel pie" they would think I'm nuts! But when I say "I love cara-mel pie" I get another big piece! No wonder those people in Chicago look at me with a little puzzlement in their eyes when I ask for a certain kind of popcorn!

• If you're going to pick on people's pronounciation, then you should be putting in the proper diacritical markings.

• Actually, it IS pronounced "herb" and not "erb." Germans couldn't say "HERB" and always said "erbs" and so it stuck!

• Joel you were right to say "there is no such thing as mispronunciation. Just variation". People are always trying to control how other people speak. get a grip. All that's important is that the food is tasty and up to code. Get a grip people

• God, I'm ready for a nervous breakdown now with so many definitive and conflicting pronunciation guides. Aaaaargh!!!!! A... (as in a-pple) held (not ah as in father) R as in RRRRioja (think lion roar) GH (silent) Kyak kyak (as in Sid James, no not Ha-mes) Carry On up the Glottal Stop.

• Ref the above ramblings about coq-au-vin. The closest English pronunciation to the French is "cock-o-va[n]" - which America decided sounded rude. This is the exact same reason you say "tidbits" instead of "titbits", and call male chickens "roosters" instead of "cock" or "cockerel".

• In South Louisiana you need to say 'boo danh' and in New Orleans or thereabout you need to say 'muff a lotta' or you'll be . . . well giggled at probably.

• Another person complaining about the pronunciation of Worcestershire Sauce. Worcestershire Sauce (woosh-ter-sher saws) though with a good accent it can be closer to (wish-tuh-shuh sus)

• Challah Bread (HAL-la or KHAL-la)... Used to work in a bakery and all the rich stuck-up WASPS said "sha-LA" because they didn't want to dirty their mouths with that vulgar-sounding Hebrew. I enjoyed correcting them...

• are people really this retarded? who says "faJEEtah"?

• Heh, Americans telling English speakers how to pronounce words. What a laugh. English is a juggernaut truck - it goes on regardless.

• coq au vin cock-oh-vaihn not ooh and not vin like vin diesel

• 'Bay-zill' has got to be one of the most horrific North American mis-pronunciations ... Where did it come from? And when did you decide that 'entr� meant 'main course'??

• Thank-you, Sean for pointing out that there are sometimes simply no PERFECT translations for some accents. Guttural sounds, inflections, etc are often linguistic tricks that can take years to recognize audibly, much less imitate vocally. As for the little Spanish tutorials... I cannot even begin to address those because they are just too hilarious. "I" is pronounced "ee", as in "lift"?!?! What is it that you are LEEFTING? It IS pronounced as "EE", but NOT as in "LIFT"... it is as in "FEEL". I am guessing that part of the issue is that those of us who have ethnic accents hear ENGLISH differently and therefore "translate" pronunciation incorrectly in written form. Don Quixote might "leeft" his hand to wave, but not in Brooklyn. Also, thanks for the correction on HABANERO!!! I ALWAYS employ hyperforeinism when pronouncing this one and insert a tilde over the "n". I looked it up, Gretchen, and you are absolutely right!!!

• maybe there's something about the nature of the name or maybe it's just fact, but i agree with the other matt who just posted. surprised no mention of the capicola argument: -cap-ee-cola VS gabba-gole. come to think of it...any italian dish really...

• Hahahh being able to speak very fluent French makes me laugh at how mispronounced these words are. Even the way you have many of them is VERY wrong. It hurts the ears to hear these words so butchered.

• Chorizo is "sha-reese". It's a Portuguese food, say it the way we do.

• Worcestershire Sauce is pronounced 'wuss-ter-sher sauce' I should know the town its named after is in my country. This was obviously written by a dumb american. NOT 'sheer', its 'sher'

• Worcestershire Sauce is pronounced 'wuss-ter-sher sauce' I should know the town its named after is in my country. This was obviously written by a dumb american.

• However Mr. Furious has not seen the irony in stating something as being 'AmericaniZed'

• Oh come on, you can't just use american pronunciation for 'Bay-zill,' it is 'Bah-zill.' Latin origins, etc.

• What about 'croissant' which tops my list of badly pronounced food. The best English approximation is KWAH-SAH with final vowel nasalized and stress difference between the syllables.

• you forgot salmon? Don't pronounce the "l" it makes you sound dumb.

• I agree with CynicalGrinch. It's Her-b, not erb. Might as well add Grows-a-ree to the list and not Grow-sherry.

• Typical American mispronunciation. It's Herb, not erb. Hard H.

• You also forgot Poutin. I dont even know how to say it. French canadian fries with gravy. Is it pronounced Poo-tzin or Poo-teen?

• Worcestershire Sauce is ALWAYS pronouced WOOSTER-SHEER. No matter what anyone says. In england-- just like the town. In New England -- just like the town we copied from England Just like Gloucester.

• Your attempts at a pronunciation guide are inconsistent and confusing.

• I didn't go through all of the comments, but I'm sure others have pointed out that several pronunciations on this list are INCORRECT. A little bit of research would have served this author well. examples: chorizo - NOT italian. chor-ee-so coq au vin - constants at the ends of words in french are pronounced when followed by a vowel. coke-oh-van (nasal n- i'd err on the side of not pronouncing it) and more! Especially with the Spanish. I think we'd all benefit from correction and better research in the future. Just because this is the internet doesn't mean that poor journalism is okay.

• Charcuterie is mispronounced is in that list -- it's shahr-euugh-teh-ree. -Francophone

• UK English: "BAH-zuhl", with a schwa (as per John Cleese's character in "Fawlty Towers"). And, as has already been pointed out, the "h" in Herb is usually aspirated here ("Hurb" - with or without a rhotic "r"). "Erb", in a British accent, sounds either regional or uneducated ("You 'avvin' an 'appy 'oliday, 'arry?").

• "I'm gonna buy us the most expensive meal we've ever had! Yeah, I'd like 6,000 chicken fajitas please."

• Basil (Bay-zil) = Incorrect. It's Bah-zil or Ba-zil. What you have done is "Americanized" it.

• lol, guys: for god's sake use IPA if you want to tell somebody how to pronounce a word: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet and with the symbols being read out: http://web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm your attempts to write down french pronunciation with US orthography is kind of funny^^

• I find it hilarious that in the comments for a list of mispronounced words, native speakers come in and correct some items, and they get called out for being elitist. Do you want to learn how to pronounce these words? or not? I don't understand why you'd bother reading this list at all if you don't? Obviously a more correct list is more useful to everyone. PS: correcting misinformation isn't being a jerk. Heard of constructive criticism? Were all your teachers at school jerks as well?

• I'm sorry but as a proud Englishman who has many Italian and other European friends, your pronunciations have been Americanized - again. Wake up people

• What an elitest bunch of nitpickers. Politely helping others learn something new is nice. Being a snooty (snotty? haha!) jerk about something so trivial speaks volumes to character.

• I'm not American .. I do not pronounce them this way but that does not mean the way i pronounce them are incorrect

• hmmmmm ... Chipotle is NOT chipotlay, Guacamole is NOT Guacamp-lay, they are simply Chipotle and Guacamole, the E in Spanish is NOT pronounced ay, it is simply e, as in Lebron James, not Lay-bron James :-) ....call them Chipo-tlay and Guacamo-lay only if you want to sound like a true Gringo to a native Spanish speaker :-) By the same token, Chorizo is NOT pronounced chore-eetz-zo as you suggest, but rather Cho(as in chocolate) - ri - so (as in social) If you pronounce Habanero as Hah-bahn-air-oh, you will also elicit laughter from any Mexican person, you should pronounce it as follows: a (the h is mute in Spanish) - ba (as in bank) - ne (as in Nero) - ro Finaly, Mole is not pronounced anywhere near your suggested MOH-lay. Pronounce it as Mo (as in Monitor) - le (as in Lebron James, once again). I suggest you research your Spanish pronunciations a wee bit more before suggesting how other people pronounce words :-) - From Mexico City (De la Ciudad de M�co, el DF, el Defectuoso, la Ciudad de los Palacios) Cheers, and Bon Appetit.

• hmmmmm ... Chipotle is NOT chipotlay, Guacamole is NOT Guacamp-lay, they are simply Chipotle and Guacamole, the E in Spanish is NOT pronounced ay, it is simply e, as in Lebron James, not Lay-bron James :-) ....call them Chipo-tlay and Guacamo-lay only if you want to sound like a true Gringo to a native Spanish speaker :-) By the same token, Chorizo is NOT pronounced chore-eetz-zo as you suggest, but rather Cho(as in chocolate) - ri - so (as in social) If you pronounce Habanero as Hah-bahn-air-oh, you will also elicit laughter from any Mexican person, you should pronounce it as follows: a (the h is mute in Spanish) - ba (as in bank) - ne (as in Nero) - ro Finaly, Mole is not pronounced anywhere near your suggested MOH-lay. Pronounce it as Mo (as in Monitor) - le (as in Lebron James, once again). I suggest you research your Spanish pronunciations a wee bit more before suggesting how other people pronounce words :-) - From Mexico City (De la Ciudad de M�co, el DF, el Defectuoso, la Ciudad de los Palacios) Cheers, and Bon Appetit.

• Chipotle (chi-poht-lay) Guacamole (wah-cah-moe-lay) Mole (MOH-lay) All three words above end in "LE" which sounds "leh" as in "LEFT", not "lay". "LAY" is fine if you want to sound like a Gringo. Huitlacoche (wheet-lah-KOH-chay) Same as the three words above, but with "CHE". It should sound "CHEH" as in "Check". Chorizo (chore-eetz-zo) No "T", then it will be fine. Habanero (Hah-bahn-air-oh) H is silent. it should be Ah-bahn-air-oh. Horchata (orrchata, silent h, roll the r) R's in Spanish are only rolled if they are at the beginning of the word or double. Horchata doesn't have a rolled R. It's just a different sound that many english speaking people can't pronounce. In english the R is pronounced with the tongue at the back of the mouth, in Spanish it's pronounced with the toungue at the top of the mouth right behind the front teeth. Tortillas (tohr-tee-yahs) More like Tohr-tee-jahs. In spanish the double l always sounds "J". Never "Y" Here is a little vowel class in Spanish. They only have one sound. so it's easy: A: Always sounds "AH" as in apple. Never as in Pay. E: Always sounds "EH" as in left. Never as in eat. I: Always sounds "ee" as in lift. Never as in life. O: Always sounds "OH" as in boss. Never as in bow. U: Always sounds "OO" as in put. Never as in cute or as in cut.

• Oh,I still have trouble pronouncing some of them.I think I need more practic to pronounce them.

• Regional variation indeed. In Australia: Fillet - fill-et (filet only in Filet Mignon) Buffet - buff-ay Basil - baz-il (no "ay" sound) Oregano - o-re-GAH-no Pecan - PEE-can Strawberry - straw-bree (raspberry likewise) Also giro is often spelled yeeros, and shrimp is pronounced prawn.

• If you ask for yeeh-ros here in new york, people will look very confused. I eat at greek and turkish diners all the time and have never heard yeeh-ro, ever. Even my greek and turkish friends say Jai-ro. The closest I've heard is Gee-ro. Perhaps there is no one "correct" way to say gyro, and yee-ro, gee-ro and jai-ro are all correct just depending on what city, or country you're in.

• only white folks visiting east l.a. say "chorEETZo." every hispanic says it chor-ee-zo, no "t".

• Well my italian speaking mother in law, and her, now passed, father pronounced in Broo-scheh-tah. They pronounce it with a very defined CH sound - but not with a solid K. Also, I believe of Americans pronounce basil as bayzil. If you want to be a real nazi about it, it's from the same base as basilica, so it probably should be pronounced buh-sil.

• Its called the evolution of language. It's how dialects & new words/meanings develop.

• There is a difference in fillet and filet, they have two different meanings and two different pronunciations. Fillet - fill et, filet - fil ay

• Tamale is correct as well, Enrique and Ditka. Both are acceptable.

• No way dude, that is just too cool! Lou www.anon-web-surfing.it.tc

• car-ah-mel? What language are you speaking. It's either care-ah-mel or car-mul.

• My pet peeve lies in the word Pecan Louisiana as Puh-con I hate hearing it as PEE-CAN

• Uninformed America is not really a "region" per se. You can only talk about regional dialects when the people speaking are native speakers of the language, who have a different but consistent way of pronouncing things (usually this is a result of the influence of other languages on the speakers of a region). There may be small regions of Italy that pronounce 'ch' sound as 'sh', but it was clearly not Gabe's intent to point that out, and it is certainly not the dominant way of pronouncing the word in Italy.

• mango pronounced in Mexico as: Mongo

• Like Eddie Izzard said "You say 'erbs' and we say 'herbs'-- because there�s a f--king 'H' in it"

• Pretentious snob. Ever hear of regional dialects? Not every speaks as you do. People like you insult the rest of our fine country.

• Gabe: actually, Bruschetta should be pronounced Broo-skeh-tah; the h after the c makes it a hard sound, which you would know had you taken an italian class.

• Coq au Vin - I've heard it as Coke-ko-va Adding Linguica. (Lin-gu-wiSa)

• It's awfully difficult to mispronounce a word from a linguistic standpoint. Mispronunciation is usually variation. That is, as long as the word your saying is still understood as the word you meant, it's not wrong. Once it is perceived as a different word altogether, then you have mispronounced. For example, when someone orders an "expresso" you still know which drink they want. If they somehow managed to utter "potato" and still meant "espresso" however, that is where they would crossover into mispronunciation. So fa-jee-ta, bru-shet-ta, and even gwak-uh-moh-lee are just variations on their "standard" pronunciations.

• Linguists would argue that there is no such thing as mispronunciation. Just variation.

• Another one I hear pronounced wrong all the time is chipotle (chee-poat-lay). Everyone flips the T and the L, saying CHI-POLE-TAY. ARGH! Read the letters in order!!!!

• Bruschetta is not pronounced Bruschetta broo-skeh-tah its broo-sheh-tah.. jeez, take an italian or spanish class or something.

• it's BUF-FAY not BOO-FAY

• That is not how boudin is pronounced. There is no ending "n" sound. It is more "denh". And if it is spelled boudain--don't eat it.

• "woos-ster-sheer?" "Worcester" is pronounced as "WUSS-STER," not "WOOS-STER."

• May I suggest anything Italian with "gli" in it? e.g. There is no "Tag" in Tagliatelle It's Ta-lli-a-telle, like million

• "Hors d' oeuvre", like the word "shrimp", is both singular and plural. It is bad form to add a final "s".

• coq au vin = co'-koh-vehn (vehn with a slight nasal ending)

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