More than three-quarters of British people struggle with common words and place names, with espresso and prescription among the most difficult to pronounce, according to researchers.
A new study has revealed that 82 per cent of British people regularly trip over the words, with women getting most tongue-tied by every day terminology. And place names can be particularly confusing, according to the study commissioned by London railway station St Pancras International.
TONGUE-TIED? TRY TESTING THE 10 TRICKIEST WORDS TO PRONOUNCE:舌頭打結?試一試這十個讀音最令人糾結的單詞吧!
1. Ely Mispronounced by 59% of people EE-lee NOT Ee-Lie1. 59%的英國民眾將Ely讀錯,實則應讀為「EE-lee」,並非「Ee-Lie」。【Ely是英國劍橋郡沼澤地區教區總教堂所在城市的名字】
2. Keighley (West Yorkshire town) 40% keith-lee NOT ki-lee or kay-lee2. 40%的英國民眾把Keighley(西約克郡某城鎮的名字)要麼錯讀成"ki-lee",要麼讀成「kay-lee」,實際應讀成「keith-lee」。
3. Sherbet 40% shur-but NOT sher-burt3. 40%的英國人把Sherbet(果汁牛奶凍)錯讀成「sher-burt」,實際應是「shur-but」。
4. Et cetera 34% et-set-ter-eh NOT ecc-set-ter-eh4. Et cetera(諸如此類)被34%的英國民眾錯讀為「ecc-set-ter-eh」,應該讀為「et-set-ter-eh」。
5. St Pancras 33% Saint Pan-krass NOT Saint Pan-kree-ass5. 33%的英國民眾將St Pancras(前面提及過的車站名)錯讀為"Saint Pan-kree-ass」,應該讀為"Saint Pan-krass「。
6. Espresso 26% ess-press-oh NOT ex-press-oh6. 26%的英國人把espresso(意式濃咖啡)錯讀為「ex-press-oh」,實際正確的讀音是"ess-press-oh「。
7. Bruschetta 25% Brew-sket-a to be truly Italian NOT Brew-shet-a7. Bruschetta(上圖所示的義大利烤麵包)被25%的英國人錯讀成「Brew-shet-a」,實際義大利讀音應該是「Brew-sket-a」。
8. Often 24% (traditionally offen, although off-ten has become increasingly common in the UK)8. 發Often的音是,24%的英國人會讀錯,之前通常發為「offen」,不過把它讀成「off-ten」已經在英國變得更加常見。
9. Prescription 21% Pruh-skrip-shun NOT per-skip-shun or pro-skrip-shun9. 21%的英國民眾錯把處方這一單詞prescription讀成「pro-skrip-shun」,實際發音應為「Pruh-skrip-shun」。
10. Greenwich 16% Gren-itch NOT Green-witch or Green-itch10. 16%的人把Greenwich(格林尼治,倫敦一地名)讀錯了——正確應讀為「Gren-itch」,而非「Green-witch或Green-itch」。
The study found a quarter of British people (23 per cent) feel so worried about getting words like these wrong they even ask someone else to say them.研究還發現四分之一(23%)的英國人會因為自己這麼把單詞讀錯而特別著急,他們甚至會請其他人來讀。