Our vernacular contains many words of varied provenance, and sometimes they are difficult to pronounce. Here are a few of them:

Niche. This noun is defined as the perfect place to fit – usually denoting people finding where they fit in, usually with a talent or skill: He knew he had found his niche in education. It derives from the French word of the same spelling that is a recess in a wall for an object or a kennel in which to keep an animal. It is pronounced “neesh” in French, but we have changed the vowel sound in English to “nish” – which rhymes with “dish”. It is often mispronounced as “nitch”. In that same vein, I once heard a journalist on television mispronounce the word echelon – another noun of French origin that means “ladder” in its mother language. In English, it means a tier or level, as in “the upper echelons of society” or the progressive military tactic used at the Battle of Gettysburg on the second day: the en echelon attack. The person pronounced it as “eckelon” – but, like niche, it is pronounced “ESH-elon” with the emphasis on the first part of the word and with a short vowel sound at the end with the “o”.

Often. Speaking of the adverb that we use, well, often in our everyday usage, this word is regularly mispronounced too. Do we pronounce the “t” or don’t we? The answer is that we do NOT. Unfortunately, this word, joining the ranks of “snuck” and “ain’t” – which are not words by the way – is finally being accepted with some dictionaries with the “t” to be pronounced as well as remaining silent. Grammarians will appreciate it if we leave that “t” silent.

Debris. Another word with French origin, which means “ruins” or “fragments” in that language is for us a word for extensive garbage and/or the aftereffects of a terrible storm with destroyed items in its wake. In this word, the “s” is silent and the accent is on the second syllable (Dih-BREE).

Epitome. This noun is defined as the perfect example or model of something, describing people, things, or events: To his army, Robert E. Lee was the epitome of the perfect soldier. It comes from the Greek etymon meaning “to cut upon”. Unlike the aforementioned French words, all the letters in epitome are pronounced – the first “e” is a soft vowel, the last one a hard vowel, with the emphasis on the second part of the word: ih-PIT-uh-mee.

Idiosyncrasy. Another Greek word that many find hard to pronounce is idiosyncrasy – originally meaning “a mixing together”. In English it has come to mean a peculiarity, usually in someone’s habits that distinguishes them. Like epitome, all of these letters need to be pronounced: ih-dee-oh-SINK-rah-see, with the emphasis on the “sink”. It is misspelled and mispronounced on a regular basis, usually omitting the “n” sound in the middle of the word.

Mischievous. This adjective, which means being inclined to tease or playfully cause minor disruptions, has its beginnings in medieval times. We find its origins in both early English and French (dating from William the Conqueror in 1066) with the word meschever. In early times it meant “coming to a bad outcome” – and carried with it a portent of misery and evil. Not only has its definition changed, but its pronunciation has as well. We hear an extra “i” in that word way too often. It is not “mis-CHEE-vee-us”, but “MIS-chi-vus”: “My sister’s son is the most mischievous child I have seen in a long time.”

February. Our second month of the year is the most mispronounced of our months. Do we hear that first “r” or don’t we? The answer is yes, we do. It is not “FEB-u-ary”, it’s “FEB-ru-ary”. Luckily, we have passed it by for 2023, but we need to be ready in 2024 to say it correctly. Maybe we can make it next year’s resolution.

Arctic. Like February, many mispronounce this word (along with its southern parallel “Antarctic”), by not pronouncing that first “c”. We are supposed to pronounce every letter: ARC-tic. Like the aforementioned February, it is easier to leave out all the sounds, as they don’t seem to trip easily off the tongue.

Caribbean. This lovely area, named for the sea of the same name, is often mispronounced with the accent on the second syllable: Care-RIB-ee-un. It is correctly pronounced instead with the accent on the third syllable: Care-rih-BEE-un. I will admit that the incorrect way sounds more polished and urbane, but that’s the way it is.

Affidavit. This noun, which is defined as a certain paper, signed and legally sworn to be correct, is often mispronounced as “af-fi-DAVID”. David is someone’s name. We need to pronounce the “t” at the end of the last syllable. I solemnly swear it.

Cole slaw. It is COLE slaw, not COLD slaw. We might think that over the years, we grew lax with our pronunciation (like February and Arctic) – but we haven’t. The word is derived from the Dutch word koosla, which is a salad from The Netherlands made from shredded cabbage. We just Anglicized the word, which likely came early Dutch settlers to the thirteen original colonies. There are versions of warm slaw, popular from the 19th century, so it is understandable that menus want to designate that the slaw is cold instead of warm. But the correct pronunciation is cole slaw.

Quay. This French word that is another word for a dock or wharf, also found its way into English in the Middle Ages, due to that nation’s extensive use of the sea for its livelihood. It is not pronounced the way it looks. It is pronounced like “key”. The French “qu” always sounds like our “k” in English.

Gauche. This adjective is derived from the French word that means “left” (as in the direction). The Rive Gauche in Paris is the left bank of the Seine River, the waterway that divides the city. In both French and English, the word has come to mean “awkward” or “unused to the ways of the world”. Like the above-mentioned “niche”, gauche also is pronounced with an “sh” sound at the end. The word is also mispronounced at times like “goush”. To be fair to anyone who mispronounces, it does appear to look that way. It is similar to the Spanish word “gaucho” (which is a cattle or sheep herder, or “cowboy” in Argentina). The Spanish gaucho is pronounced correctly with the “ow” sound. Gauche is correctly pronounced with a long “o” sound, like “go”, ending with the “sh” sound: You won’t appear gauche if you pronounce that word correctly.

Pronunciation. Our final word to make the list is, appropriately, the word pronunciation. Speakers of this noun sometimes mispronounce it because of its verb form, pronounce. With the noun version, we drop that second “o” and say “pro-NUN-see-A-tion”. We say it just as it is written, with the strongest emphasis on the second syllable of the word, and a smaller emphasis with the fourth syllable.

Improving our pronunciation will also help in spelling and reading comprehension. And, we don’t want to appear gauche in any conversation.

Pass the word!