Omicron, cheugy and Eilish are some of the most mispronounced words of 2021

The survey compiled by the US Captioning Company was commissioned by language learning app Babbel

The surname of popstar Billie Eilish, is a tongue-twister for many broadcasters. Photo: EPA
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If you have been struggling to pronounce Omicron, turns out you are not alone. According to a new study, the word has made it to the list of 2021’s most commonly mispronounced names.

Omicron stands in good company, along with words such as cheugy, a term coined by Gen Z to describe someone who is trying too hard.

Another tongue-twister according to the survey? The surname of popstar Billie Eilish, which proved to be as complicated to broadcasters as the last name of Philadelphia Eagles centre Jason Kelce.

The survey has been compiled by the US Captioning Company, which provides subtitles for live events on TV and in courtrooms.

The list unveiled words that proved most challenging for newsreaders and people on television.

Some of 2021’s other most mispronounced words include:

Stefanos Tsitsipas (STEH-fuh-nohs TSEE-tsee-pas), the Greek tennis player who reached this year's French Open final.

Glasgow (GLAHZ-go) the host city of the Cop26 climate conference got mispronounced by Joe Biden and also Barack Obama.

Yassify (YEAH-sih-fai) a popular beauty filter trend.

Ever Given (Ev-er GIV-en) the name of the ship that blocked the Suez Canal was often mistaken for "Evergreen", the company who owned the vessel whose name was printed on its side.

Dogecoin (DOHJ-coin) - the cryptocurrency popularised by Elon Musk.

(Pronunciations provided by Babbel)

The survey was commissioned by language learning app Babbel.

Esteban Touma, a Babbel Live teacher, believes there’s a reason why these words are hard to pronounce: they’re derived from other languages.

"And as a non-native speaker, I must confess it's fun to see English speakers stumbling a bit for a change," he said.

The survey is now in its sixth year. Some words that made it to the list last year include the first name of US Vice President Kamala Harris, the surname of infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci and X Æ A-12, the name of Elon Musk and singer Grimes’ child.

Updated: December 08, 2021, 12:44 PM