Television newscasters strive to speak clearly and enunciate words accurately. Words that do not originate from the English language can become a challenge, like Qatar or Gaddafi. Gaddafi, Gaddafi? But Native American speakers also find some words within our own language more disconcerting to pronounce than others.

According to a Google search analysis conducted by the vocabulary experts at Unscrambled Words over the past 12 months, ‘Acai' is the most difficult word for Americans to pronounce, with more than 20,000 searches per month.

Close behind in second place, with nearly 18,000 searches, is the hard-to-pronounce but prevalent street food ‘Gyro'.

In an effort to help the average English speaker use these words more confidently in everyday life, here are the correct pronunciations and some sample sentences to test the words.

1. here

‘Acai', pronounced ‘Ah-sa-ee', is a berry found on palm trees in the tropical rainforests of South America. Packed with antioxidants and nutrients, they give it the bright purple color you see in those amazing shakes on social media.

Now you can confidently walk up to the counter and order an ‘Ah-sa-ee' smoothie bowl.

2. gyroscope

‘Gyro', a term for meat cooked on a spit and served in pita bread, is pronounced ‘Yee-ro'. That's right; feel free to ignore the letter ‘G.'

Originating in Greece, gyros can be found at street stalls around the world and typically include tomatoes, onions, and tzatziki fries. If you'd like to order more than one, just say, ‘Two Yee-ros, please, with all the ingredients.'

3. Omicron

Here's a word most could have lived without learning. Unfortunately, there is no escape now that an incredibly contagious variant of coronavirus is named after him. It received over 15,500 searches per month, which puts it near the top of our list.

Omicron is pronounced ‘Oh-muh-crane' and is the fifteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. Hopefully, you never have to hear the sentence, “I think you're showing symptoms of Oh-muh-krap.”

4. Sausages

Next on the list is another food-related word. Hungry yet? Deli was searched for 15,000 times, placing it fourth on the list of words Americans have a hard time pronouncing.

Pronounced ‘shar-koo-tuh-ree', it originates from the French language. The term denotes cold-cooked meat, often thinly sliced ​​and prepared using specific preservation techniques. The most used meats for sausages are bacon, ham, salami, sausage, confit, etc.

Charcuterie boards are very popular appetizers and can be found on restaurant menus and at house parties across the United States. In addition to meat, charcuterie boards may include dried fruits, olives, nuts, pickles, herbs, and various spreads.

5.Nguyen

Moving away from food for a minute, the most common Vietnamese last name ranks fifth on the list. About 40% of the Vietnamese population are Nguyens. Some 14,500 searches a month confirm that Americans are confused about how to pronounce a word that begins with ‘Ng'.

This is where it gets a bit tricky. According to Atlas Obscura, the pronunciation varies across the country due to dialect differences. North Vietnamese may pronounce it ‘N-Win' or ‘Nu-Win'. South Vietnamese would say ‘Win' or ‘Wen'. In North America, people with this surname may even pronounce it as ‘New-Yen'. It's perfectly acceptable to do your best and then ask the person you're talking to if they're comfortable with your pronunciation.

6. Gnocchi

We return to delicious food, and the letters ‘G' and ‘N' ring out again. This time we are talking about the gnocchi, pronounced ‘nyow-kee', which are delicious dumplings from the land that also gave us pizza and pasta.

These simple but delicious pieces of dough include wheat flour, egg, salt, and potatoes. You can serve the gnocchi with any sauce or Italian dressing, just like pasta.

7.GIFs

Here's a word that has puzzled many since the '90s. GIF is an abbreviation for Graphic Interchange Format, an image format that dates back to the early days of the Internet. Is it a strong ‘G', as in the word ‘Graphics' or ‘JIF', like peanut butter?

People intensely debate the pronunciation of the word. Oxford Online Dictionary accepts both as correct. The founder of the format prefers ‘Jif'. Here's a full timeline of the debate online. What side are you on?

8.Worcestershire

Many of us would be quietly confident uttering this, but let the British make it difficult. The correct way to pronounce the word is ‘Wuss-Tur-Shur' or ‘Wooster-shur'. The syllable ‘ces' is completely silent, and you must skip saying all the letters ‘r' except the last one.

So if you are in England, you may want directions to the city of Wuss-Tur-Shur. Chances are, you're looking to order a bottle of delicious Wuss-Tur-Shur sauce to go with the meat.

9. Dogecoin

Dogecoin is a highly volatile meme cryptocurrency that gained huge popularity due to Elon Musk's apparent endorsement on Twitter. While the fluctuating price of this cryptocurrency can thwart your efforts to make money online, the pronunciation doesn't have to.

According to Dictionary.com, the correct way to say Dogecoin is ‘Dohj-coin'. Even though their logo is a dog, the word is not pronounced as ‘Doggy'.

10.fo

Completing the top ten is one of the most famous Vietnamese dishes. The next time you go to your neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant, order a bowl of ‘fuh' and head in.

Pho is a soupy broth consisting of rice noodles, herbs, and meat. With winter approaching, there is nothing better to warm you up.

Did you beat the majority of Americans?

The above findings make two things very clear.

First, Americans love exotic food, with 6 of the top 10 words searched on Google being related to the culinary arts. Good news for those who are fans of food podcasts with accurate pronunciation. Second, it's heartening to know that thousands of people across the US are curious about the proper way to interact with the items, food, tools, and people we encounter on a daily basis.