Americans are somewhat tolerant regarding pronunciation errors when the mistakes involve infrequently used foreign phrases, place names, technical terms, dialectical differences, or idiomatic expressions. However, for various reasons, we do demand uniform pronunciation of some words. Following are our Top 40 Pronunciation Pet Peeves in no particular order. Also, make sure to check out the Top 40 Grammar Pet Peeves and the Top 40 Vocabulary Pet Peeves. Find out all of your grammatical mistakes and the words you misuse before “You-Know-Who” points them out to you.

1. Library is pronounced “lie-brair-ee,” not “lie-bear-ee.” [No, it’s not libarian either]
2. Nuclear is pronounced “nook-lee-er,” not “nUke-U-ler.” [Ode to Bush]
3. February is pronounced “Feb-roo-air-ee,” not “Feb-U-aire-ee.” [Frequently misspelled, as well]
4. Orange is pronounced “or-anj,” not “are-anj.” [Orange you glad you know this?]
5. Prostate is pronounced “praw-state,” not “praw-straight.” [Unless you are lying down]
6. Height is pronounced “hite,” not “hite with a ‘th’.” [That “e-i” or “width” must confuse us]
7. Probably is pronounced “praw-bab-lee,” not “prob-lee.” [Or some say “praw-lee”]
8. Ask is pronounced “ask,” not ” ax.” [Please tell me before you ax me.]
9. Pronunciation is pronounced “pro-nun-see-a-tion,” not ” pro-noun-see-a-tion.” [But pronounce]
10. Athlete is pronounced “ath-lete,” not “ath-ah-leet.” [Despite the ath-ah-leets foot commercials]
11. Strategy is pronounced “strat-uh-gee,” not “stra-ji-dee.” [Though we never say “stra-ji-jick”]
12. Aluminum is pronounced “uh-loo-mi-num,” not “al-U-min-um.” [Brits have their own version]
13. Et cetera (etc.) is pronounced “et-set-er-ah,” not “ek- set-er-ah.” [Not “ek-spe-shul-lee” either]
14. Supposedly is pronounced “suh-po-zed-lee,” not “su-pose-ub-lee.” [Or "su-pose-eh-blee”]
15. Difference is pronounced “di-fer-ence,” not “dif-rence.” [Often misspelled due to this error]
16. Mischievous is pronounced “mis-chuh-vus,” not “mis-chee-vee-us.” [You’ll look this one up]
17. Mayonnaise is pronounced “may-un-naze,” not “man-aise.” [“Ketchup-catsup” is another matter]
18. Miniature is pronounced “mi-ne-uh-ture,” not “min-ah-ture.” [Who drives an Austin “min-uh”?]
19. Definite is pronounced “de-fuh-nit,” not ” def-ah-nut.” [For define, it’s “di-fine” not “dah-fine”]
20. Often is pronounced “off-ten,” not “off-en.” [Probably just sloppy pronunciation]
21. Internet is pronounced “In-ter-net,” not “In-nur-net.” [Not “in-ner-rest-ing either]
22. Groceries is pronounced “grow-sir-ees,” not “grow-sure-ees.” [It’s not “grow-sure” either]
23. Similar is pronounced “sim-ah-ler,” not “sim-U-lar.” [But Websters says “sim-ler” is fine]
24. Escape is pronounced “es-cape,” not “ex-cape.” [It’s not “ex-pres-so” either]
25. Lose is pronounced “luze,” not “loose.” [Think “choose,” not “moose”]
26. Temperature is pronounced “tem-per-ah-ture,” not “tem-prah-chur.” [Cute when kids say it]
27. Jewelry is pronounced “jewl-ree” or “jew-ul-ree,” not “jew-ler-ree.” [More syllables won’t get you more carats]
28. Sandwich is pronounced “sand-which,” not “sam-which.” [Or “sam-mitch” either]
29. Realtor is pronounced “real-tor,” not “real-ah-tor.” [Similarly, it’s “di-late,” not “di-ah-late”]
30. Asterisk is pronounced “ass-tur-risk,” not “ass-trik.” [It’s not called a star, by the way]
31. Federal is pronounced “fed-ur-ul,” not “fed-rul.” [Use all syllables to ensure all federal holidays]
32. Candidate is pronounced “can-di-date,” not “can-uh-date.” [It’s not “can-nuh-date” or "can-di-dit"]
33. Hierarchy is pronounced “hi-ur-ar-kee,” not “hi-ar-kee.” [It’s not “arch-type”; it’s “ar-ki-type”]
34. Niche is pronounced “nich” or “neesh,” not “neech.” [This one drives some people crazy]
35. Sherbet is pronounced “sher-bet,” not “sher-bert.” [I’m sure, Burt]
36. Prescription is pronounced “pre-scrip-tion,” not “per-scrip-tion.” [and prerogative, not “per”]
37. Arctic is pronounced “ark-tik,” not “ar-tik.” [Not “ant-ar-tik-ah either]
38. Cabinet is pronounced “cab-uh-net,” not “cab-net.” [Likewise, it’s “cor-uh-net,” not “cor-net”]
39. Triathlon is pronounced “tri-ath-lon,” not “tri-ath-uh-lon.” [Not “bi-ath-uh-lon” either]
40. Forte is pronounced “fort,” not “for-tay.” [But Porsche does have a slight “uh” at the end]

And for the culinary snobs among us… It’s “bru-chet-tah” or “bru-sket-tah,” but definitely not “bru-shet-tah.” And it’s “hear-row,” not “gear-row” or “ji-roh.” If you’re eager for more of the same, check out the 20 Embarrassing Mispronunciations that I have been guilty of over the years.

Many of the pronunciation errors described above are made by people with poor decoding or syllabication skills. Mark Pennington’s comprehensive curricula: Teaching Reading Strategies and Teaching Spelling and Vocabulary are wonderful resources to teach reading, spelling, vocabulary, and proper pronunciation.