The names of New York City's incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and the famous Louvre museum in Paris have landed on the annual list of most mispronounced words in 2025. Language-learning company Babbel and closed-captioning company The Captioning Group released their annual compilation on Thursday, highlighting the words that news anchors, politicians, and other public figures in the United States struggled with most throughout the year.
Mamdani's name frequently caused pronunciation difficulties as he rose to political prominence this year. The 34-year-old democratic socialist will make history when he takes office in January, becoming New York City's first Muslim mayor, first mayor born in Africa, and first of South Asian heritage. According to Babbel, his name should be pronounced "zoh-RAHN mam-DAH-nee," but speakers most commonly mispronounced it by swapping the M and N in his last name.
The mayor-elect has expressed understanding when people genuinely attempt to pronounce his name correctly but miss the mark, though he has noted that some appear to mispronounce it intentionally. During one mayoral race debate, he directly corrected former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's pronunciation of his name, stating firmly: "The name is Mamdani. M-A-M-D-A-N-I."
The theft of France's crown jewels from the Louvre in October also contributed to widespread mispronunciation of the world's most-visited museum. Babbel explains that the correct pronunciation is "LOOV-ruh," with a very soft pronunciation on the "ruh" sound, which presents particular challenges for English speakers who are unfamiliar with French phonetics.
Several other notable words and names made the 2025 list, reflecting the year's major news events and cultural moments. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is properly pronounced "uh-SEE-tuh-MIH-nuh-fen." The word gained attention when President Donald Trump stumbled over its pronunciation while advising pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller, despite inconclusive scientific evidence linking excessive use to autism.
Alex Murdaugh, the prominent South Carolina attorney sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 fatal shootings of his wife and son, saw his name mispronounced frequently as his case was dramatized in a Hulu series this year. The correct pronunciation is "AL-ick MUR-dock." Additionally, Mounjaro, pronounced "mown-JAHR-OH," appeared on the list as this diabetes and obesity medication gained widespread popularity due to significant weight loss results reported by users of the injection.
The compilation process involves year-round tracking by captioning professionals who note words that repeatedly present pronunciation, spelling, or emerging usage challenges. Linguists at Babbel also monitor new pronunciation difficulties they observe in media and public discourse. Esteban Touma, a linguistic and cultural expert at Babbel, explained that many of these challenging words originate from different languages, requiring speakers to adapt to sounds they may have never produced before.
Interestingly, several words from the U.S. list, including Louvre and Mounjaro, also appeared on the United Kingdom's version, which was compiled by Babbel in partnership with the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters. The U.K. list included additional entries such as Storm Éowyn, which battered Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in January. According to Babbel, this storm name should be pronounced "ay-OH-win" with a distinctive three-beat pattern.
In a surprising revelation that caught many off guard, acclaimed actor Denzel Washington shared an unexpected pronunciation correction during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel's late-night talk show. Washington revealed that both he and his father are actually named with the pronunciation "DEN-zul," but his mother decided to use "Den-ZELLE" for her son to avoid confusion. This disclosure added an unexpected twist to the year's pronunciation discussions and highlighted how even seemingly familiar names can carry pronunciation surprises.
