Age: First imported to western countries from South America as freeze-dried pulp in the 1990s. Appearance: A small, dark-purple berry, or a purée made from them, commonly used in smoothies. There’s a sort of chin whisker hanging from the “c” and something weird is going on with the dot over the “i”.
Those are accents, designed to help you pronounce the word correctly. That could explain why açaí is the most mispronounced word in the UK, often rendered in speech as “ack-eye” or “ah-sigh”. How should I be saying it?
Açaí is just the tip of the iceberg. It tops a new list of 20 commonly mispronounced words. Quinoa came fourth; gnocchi came fifth; chipotle was seventh.
Are you sure this isn’t a list of Britain’s least-ordered menu items? Not all the words on the list are foods. Segue, often mispronounced “seeg” instead of “segway”, was second.
Worcestershire came sixth. Knowing how to pronounce Worcestershire is the only advantage Britons have over the rest of the world. Who came up with this list?
It’s from a recent poll of 2,000 people commissioned by Škoda. Why would a Czech car company care how I pronounce chipotle? I think it is trying to make a point because Škoda is often mispronounced as “scoder” rather than “shkoda”.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
