If you have been struggling to pronounce Omicron, turns out you are not alone. According to a new study, the word has made it to the list of 2021’s most commonly mispronounced names.
Omicron stands in good company, along with words such as cheugy, a term coined by Gen Z to describe someone who is trying too hard.
Another tongue-twister according to the survey? The surname of popstar Billie Eilish, which proved to be as complicated to broadcasters as the last name of Philadelphia Eagles centre Jason Kelce.
The survey has been compiled by the US Captioning Company, which provides subtitles for live events on TV and in courtrooms.
The list unveiled words that proved most challenging for newsreaders and people on television.
Some of 2021’s other most mispronounced words include:
Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas), the Greek tennis player who reached this year's French Open final.
Glasgow (GLAHZ-go) the host city of the Cop26 climate conference got mispronounced by Joe Biden and also Barack Obama.
Yassify (YEAH-sih-fai) a popular beauty filter trend.
Ever Given (Ev-er GIV-en) the name of the ship that blocked the Suez Canal was often mistaken for "Evergreen", the company who owned the vessel whose name was printed on its side.
Dogecoin (DOHJ-coin) - the cryptocurrency popularised by Elon Musk.
(Pronunciations provided by Babbel)
The survey was commissioned by language learning app Babbel.
Esteban Touma, a Babbel Live teacher, believes there’s a reason why these words are hard to pronounce: they’re derived from other languages.
"And as a non-native speaker, I must confess it's fun to see English speakers stumbling a bit for a change," he said.
The survey is now in its sixth year. Some words that made it to the list last year include the first name of US Vice President Kamala Harris, the surname of infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and X Æ A-12, the name of Elon Musk and singer Grimes’ child.
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What Super Bowl LIII
Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams
Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
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Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
