Most Mispronounced Words of 2025: From Zohran Mamdani to the Louvre

Dallas:

Throughout 2025, Americans found themselves grappling with the pronunciation of various names and words that dominated headlines. New York City's incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and Paris's renowned museum the Louvre have emerged as two of the most frequently mispronounced words of the year.

On Thursday, language education company Babbel, in collaboration with The Captioning Group, unveiled their annual compilation of words that challenged public figures, news anchors, and politicians across the United States, providing insight into the people and topics that captured American attention.

Mamdani's political ascension brought pronunciation challenges for many. The 34-year-old democratic socialist is set to make history in January as New York City's first Muslim mayor, first Africa-born mayor, and first of South Asian heritage. According to Babbel, his name—correctly pronounced zoh-RAHN mam-DAH-nee—was commonly mispronounced with people interchanging the "M" and "N" in his surname.

While Mamdani has expressed understanding when people genuinely attempt to pronounce his name correctly, he has called out intentional mispronunciations. During a mayoral debate, he notably corrected former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, stating firmly: "The name is Mamdani. M-A-M-D-A-N-I."

The October theft of France's crown jewels from the Louvre brought the museum's name into frequent conversation, often with incorrect pronunciation. Babbel advises that the correct pronunciation is LOOV-ruh, with an extremely subtle "ruh" at the end—a sound particularly challenging for English speakers.

"Many of these words originate from different languages, requiring us to produce sounds unfamiliar to our native speech patterns," explained Esteban Touma, a linguistic and cultural specialist at Babbel.

Additional challenging words and names from 2025 include:

Acetaminophen (uh-SEE-tuh-MIH-nuh-fen), the active component in Tylenol, gained attention when President Donald Trump stumbled over the word while advising pregnant women against taking the medication, despite inconclusive evidence linking it to autism.

Alex Murdaugh (AL-ick MUR-dock), the prominent South Carolina attorney sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2021 murders of his wife and son, returned to public consciousness through a dramatized Hulu series this year.

Mounjaro (mown-JAHR-OH), part of the increasingly popular category of diabetes and obesity medications, made headlines for its weight loss effects.

Several entries, including Louvre and Mounjaro, also appeared on the UK's mispronounced words list, compiled by Babbel and the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters. Storm Éowyn (pronounced ay-OH-win with a three-beat rhythm), which affected Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in January, was uniquely featured on the UK list.

Throughout the year, captioning professionals document words that consistently present pronunciation, spelling, or emerging usage challenges, while Babbel's linguists track new pronunciation difficulties.

In a notable pronunciation revelation this year, actor Denzel Washington disclosed to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel that his name, inherited from his father, should actually be pronounced DEN-zul. However, Washington explained that his mother opted for Den-ZELLE for her son to avoid confusion.