Have you ever stumbled over the name of a favorite dish, drink or ingredient? You’re not alone! Many foods and drinks have names that can trip up even the most confident speakers, and some of these words come from other languages, while others have unique pronunciations that aren’t immediately obvious.
Whether you’re chatting with a friend, ordering at a restaurant or shopping at the grocery store, getting a little tongue-tied is easy. And let’s face it, if you’re mispronouncing these words, chances are your friends and family are desperate to correct you but don’t quite know how.
The 11 most mispronounced food words
Without further ado, let’s get into the words people are commonly mispronouncing. And if you’re one of the many saying these words wrong and no one has told you yet, this list might save you from a lot of embarrassment.
Charcuterie
Charcuterie is a relatively new word to many people, and the confusion about its pronunciation is understandable. We’ve heard shark-cutchie, CHarcucherie and chartcherie but none of those are correct. To say charcuterie correctly, relax your mouth ever so slightly — this is a French word after all — and let it slide right out as shar-KOO-tuh-ree.
Mascarpone
Do you know that smooth, creamy cheese spread that’s not quite cream cheese? Is it called marscapone or mascarpone? One of the most common words we get wrong is mascarpone. So many try to make it mars-ka-pone but it really is mahs-car-POH-nay.
Bruschetta
That toasted bread bite we all love to order? No, not crostini — the other one, bruschetta. How do you say it? If you’re adding an SH into the pronunciation, that’s wrong. Bruschetta is simply broo-SKET-tah. Leave the SH out of it.
Turmeric and Marjoram
Let’s move to the spice cupboard for a minute. Starting with turmeric — did you know you can actually say it either TUR-muh-rik or TOO-muh-rik? As long as you add the r in the last syllable, you’re good. Marjoram is another often mispronounced spice. It’s not Major-ram; it’s either MA-jor-um or MA-jer-um. Both of these spices have multiple proper pronunciations.
Chipotle
Whether you’re talking about the restaurant or the smoked and dried jalapeño, chipotle is one of the most mispronounced words. This author has personally encountered, live and unfiltered in the wild, CHIH-pol-TAY, chik-POTA-lay, and chip-OL-tay. The proper way to say it, whether it’s the restaurant or the pepper, is chih-POHT-lay.
Quinoa
How often has the word quinoa personally victimized you? Stopped you in the middle of a sentence and made you think, “Am I saying it right?” Nothing can bring you to a screeching halt during conversation or grocery shopping like quinoa. This one is an easy fix: If you’re saying KEEN-wah, you got it right. If you’re in the quin-oh-AH camp, you’re doing it wrong.
Espresso
This next drink is not fast, it’s not speedy and people are just dying to tell you it’s not EX-press-o. This pulled-shot coffee drink is just ES-presso. Leave out the X and people will stop staring at you in the coffee line, and your friends will breathe a sigh of relief that you’ve figured it out without them telling you.
Kombucha
What is kombucha? That’s an article for another day. Today, we’re only going to work on pronouncing it. Somehow, it has become hard to pronounce this simple word. It’s not KAM-booch-a; it’s just Kom-boo-cha, or sometimes it’s shortened to just ‘booch.
Acai
Love smoothie bowls but don’t know how to pronounce acai? You are not alone. It is so simple you’re going to be surprised. It’s just ah-sigh-ee. Simple and easy, right?
Worcestershire sauce
The queen of them all is Worcestershire sauce. There are so many silly ways people say it, such as wash your sister sauce, and so on. Then there is wooster sauce, which is understandable since there’s a place called Worcester, Massachusetts, and it’s pronounced the same way. The actual pronunciation of Worcestershire is fairly simple. Again, relax your mouth just a little, then say wuh-stuh-shr. Practice it a few times, and suddenly, you’ll be a pro, and you’ll definitely wince when you hear people say it wrong.
Now, say it right
So, there you have it — your ticket to sounding like you know what you’re talking about the next time you’re faced with one of these tricky food words. No more embarrassing stumbles or awkward corrections from your friends. Instead, you’ll casually drop mascarpone and quinoa like a pro. And if you catch someone else mispronouncing, feel free to pass along your newfound wisdom gently, or not so gently. Better yet, if you have a friend who is slaughtering these words, saying these correctly may just help them too.
Laura Sampson of Little House Big Alaska is on a mission to teach modern family-oriented home cooks how to make old-fashioned foods new again. She shares her passion for home cooking, backyard gardening and homesteading on her website and blog.