20 words Canadians had the hardest time pronouncing this year
When it comes to certain foods, faraway locations, and popular brands, not everything exactly rolls off the tongue.
Apparently, Canadians have been doing a little extra Googling to figure out how to say some of them.
To find out which words are giving us the most trouble, the word-finding experts at Unscramblerer.com analyzed Google search data from Jan. 1 to Nov. 2, 2026, looking at searches for “how do you pronounce” and “how to pronounce” to uncover Canada’s 20 most mispronounced words of the year.
“Academic research shows that the main causes for people to mispronounce words are irregular spelling, words borrowed from other languages, mishearing and unfamiliarity,” the experts say.
And honestly, I get it. Some words seem like they’re deliberately trying to trip us up (I’m looking at you, colonel!). Saying a word wrong is awkward, but saying it confidently in front of a room full of people is next-level embarrassing.
Who could forget that infamous scene in Showgirls when Nomi Malone confidently says the designer “Ver-sayce” instead of “Ver-sa-chee” and gets called out for it in the office? Yikes.
But haven’t we all had moments where we’ve confidently butchered a word?
I, for one, still can’t pronounce Worcestershire sauce correctly. At this point, I’ve given up and just call it âthat British condiment” and shrug. And, for the record, I still pronounce GIF with a hard G, not a J, sorry.
Speaking of Worcestershire sauce and GIF, here are the 20 words Canadians needed help pronouncing correctly this year.
- Porsche (159, 600 searches): POR-shuh
- Gyro (156,000 searches): YEE-roh
- Worcestershire sauce (135,600 searches): WUSS-ter-sher sauce.
- GIF (130,800 searches): JIF.
- Charcuterie (129,600 searches): shar-KOO-tuh-ree
- Schedule (123,600 searches): SKEJ-ool
- Nguyen (121,200 searches): Win
- Curaçao (118,800 searches): KYUR-uh-sow
- Aoife (117, 600 searches): EE-fuh
- Saoirse (114, 000 searches): SEER-shuh
- Acai (111, 600 searches): ah-sigh-EE.
- Croissant (106,800 searches): kwah-SAHNT
- Hyundai (103,200 searches): HUN-day
- Tinnitus (97,200 searches): TIN-ih-tus
- Dachshund (94,800 searches): DAKS-hund
- Pho (91,200 searches): FUH
- Qatar (82,800 searches): kuh-TAR
- Gnocchi (75,600 searches): NYOH-kee
- Sade (69,600 searches): shah-DAY
- Quebec (67,200 searches): kuh-BECK
The folks at Unscramblerer.com also looked at the most mispronounced words by region.
In B.C., a lot of people were searching to see how to pronounce the word schedule, while those in Manitoba wanted to check to see they’re pronouncing the Greek dish gyro correctly.
Saskatchewanians and Nunavut residents apparently had the toughest time in the whole country with Worcestershire sauce (I’m happy to be in such good company). Meanwhile, most folks in Newfoundland were Googling how to pronounce the Caribbean island Curaçao, perhaps dreaming of a tropical getaway.
Oddly enough, the most searched word for pronunciation in Ontario was Toronto, which is funny, considering we all know now that it only has one T in its name.
What was the last word you mispronounced? Let’s commiserate together in the comments.