Pronunciation Traps
People almost universally add a completely fake, second "r" to this frozen fruit dessert word.
What is sherbet? (The correct dictionary pronunciation is "SHER-bet" or SHER-bit").
The dictionary defines etymology as this specific branch of linguistics.
What is the study of word origins?
The dictionary defines heteronyms as two or more words that share this exact visual trait, but differ in pronunciation and meaning.
What is the same spelling?
The dictionary defines a contranym as a word that possesses this unique linguistic trait.
What is a word with two opposite meanings?
This letter starts the fewest English words.
What is "X"?
People frequently add a non-existent "x" sound to the beginning of this coffee related word.
What is espresso? (The correct dictionary pronunciation is "ess-PRESS-oh")
This common tech word for a software defect, trace its roots back to 1947 when a literal moth was found in a computer.
What is a bug?
Spelled the same way, this word can mean an arid, sandy environment or the act of abandoning someone.
What is desert? (DEH-zert vs. de-ZERT)
If a horse does this, it is running away in a panic; if you do it to a door, you are locking it firmly in place.
What is bolt?
William Chester Minor, an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane, was one of the most prolific volunteer contributors to this Dictionary.
What is Oxford English Dictionary?
Though it contains three syllables, this reading institution is frequently mispronounced as a two-syllable word that sounds like a type of fruit.
What is library? (Lie-berry is incorrect)
Originally from French and fencing, it's said when someone makes a good point.
What is touché?
One of these is a mathematical figure you study in school, but your brain might feel like this after staring at the chalkboard for too long.
What is number? (pronounced "NUM-ber", and "NUM-er")
This word can mean to fiercely split something apart with an axe, or to stubbornly stick closely together in loyalty.
What is cleave?
This creator of An American Dictionary of the English Language taught himself 26 languages. He also unilaterally changed British spellings to American ones, which is why Americans write color instead of colour.
Who is Noah Webster? (Webster's dictionary)
Many speakers add an entire extra syllable, and an extra "i" sound, to this word meaning "causing trouble".
What is mischievous? (The correct dictionary pronunciation is "MISS-chiv-us").
Fittingly, the word for this potent spirit comes from a Classical Gaelic phrase meaning "water of life".
What is whiskey (or whisky)?
This word refers to wrapping an injury or it could be referring to the injury itself.
What is wound? (Rhymes with "ow" or "oo")
This word can mean an official punishment designed to stop a country's actions, or legal approval to allow an action to happen.
What is sanction?
The letter "E" is the most frequently used letter in the English dictionary, appearing in roughly this percentage of all words.
What is 11%?
Often misspelled, this word for an employee's total compensation is frequently confused with the act of counting twice.
What is remuneration? (renumeration is incorrect)
From the Greek for "bad star," this heavy word originally referred to an event or calamity blamed on an unlucky planetary alignment.
What is Disaster?
You might participate in one of these to win a prize, but you may also do this to the official results at the end if you think the judging was unfair.
What is a contest? (pronounced "CON-test", and "cun-TEST")
Stemming from a root meaning "to warn," it means to legally extract a portion of a whole, or to apply an extraneous element for the sake of presentation.
What is garnish?
This is the technical term for a person who writes, compiles, and edits dictionaries.
What is a lexicographer?