People Share Their Most Embarrassing Pronunciation Fails

Ada Elder

Apr 10, 2023 4:00 PM EDT

It's pretty common knowledge that English is far from the most logical of languages. I can't imagine how difficult it is to make sense of words like "their", "there," and "they're." Spelling may not be quite as difficult as Gaelic or Welsh, but making sense of silent or fickle letters must be frustrating.

Even as a native English speaker, I've had many issues with pronouncing words correctly. This is largely due to the fact that my vocabulary grew very rapidly thanks to my childhood obsession with reading. I would tear through books meant for older kids or even adults, learning words that I would never use in conversation. Eventually, when my age caught up to my vocabulary, and I started using the words at school or during chats with friends and family, I often missed the mark. The way I cautiously pronounced the words "awry" and "trough" elicited hearty laughter from my parents and peers, and left me feeling pretty damn stupid. But thanks to Twitter user @baileymeyers, I now know that I'm not alone in these blunders.

Bailey shared a tweet this past week asking other kids who learned their vocabulary through reading to share their most embarrassing pronunciation fails, and boy did it make me feel less silly about my past. Hell, the thread showed me that there are other people out there who had a tough time with "awry." But there are also users who screwed up in far more shameful ways than I had. The whole thread is both entertaining and oddly comforting. Maybe you'll see yourself in the replies, too.