Most mispronounced words of 2025 leave everyone shocked
Following the news often has you acquainted with some words or phrases that you might not have encountered before, and that's led many people to realize that they've been saying things wrong.
The name of a foreign city, a brand new viral term, or even a popular new politician could all be among the words that you don't realize you've been saying wrong, and while everyone around you might be doing the same, it's better to fix the mistake now so you don't make a fool of yourself down the line.
Thankfully all of 2025's most mispronounced words have been revealed, letting everyone know where they might have been going wrong, or alternatively allowing you to have a harmless little chuckle at other people's mistakes.
As reported by Euronews, language-learning company Babbel and closed-captioning company The Captioning Group have partnered to reveal what words people have struggled with the most this year, and it might take you by surprise.
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New York City mayor-elect surprised everyone when he emerged as the election forerunner after comprehensively beating Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, and he was left celebrating in early November after securing 50.78 percent of the vote.
This led to Mamdani becoming one of Google's most searched names in its year-end trending round up, but that might have partially been people looking for pronunciation tips as he also features in Babbel and The Captioning Group's rundown.
If you're unsure of exactly how you should say the 34-year-old's name, Babbel has provided a handy phonetic guide, guiding people to pronounce it "zoh-RAHN mam-DAH-nee," something the mayor-elect himself pointed out to his election rivals in a viral debate clip several months ago.
Joining Mamdani at the top of the list is one iconic art museum in Paris, as despite it being known across the world, many people apparently still struggle to properly pronounce the Louvre.
The reason why this is particularly relevant in 2025 is due to the recent art heist that saw over $100 million of jewels stolen from the gallery, but you might have been worried to bring this up in conversation, fearing that you'll say the name wrong.
Unfortunately the criminals themselves knew how to spell the name, as they used it to crack the pathetic security systems in place at the museum, but Babbel advises that it's pronounced "LOOV-ruh," with an emphasis on the first part over the soft 'ruh' at the end.
Labubu – the viral toy that you might have seen integrated into the fashion of many celebrities and social media stars – was also heavily mispronounced, with this list suggesting that they're actually called "luh-BOO-boo" instead of "la-bu-bu" which you, and most of TikTok, have been saying.
Additionally, popular weight loss drug Mounjaro might not be quite as ubiquitous as Ozempic – which thankfully has an easy-to-say name – but that hasn't spared it from the curse of mispronounciation.
If you ever want to bring it up to your doctor, you should mind that it's pronounced "mown-JAHR-OH" instead of the 'moon' that some people have leaned into.