What's Australia's hardest place name?
Wooloomooloo? It's certainly hard to spell. Canowindra? There's just a few too many letters that aren't pronounced. Oodnadatta? We do like our different 'o' sounds.
According to the rest of the world, the place name that trips non-locals more than any other is Melbourne.
Mel-bn, not Mel-bourne. Gets them every time.
online language tutors at Preply.com analysed Google search data for 68 well-travelled and well-known places to determine which names are the worst pronounced worldwide.
The Victorian capital city made the list alongside Brisbane (Brisb-AAAAAne, mate) and Bondi (Bon-dee?)
Tutor Nicolette Filson compiled the list, ranking the cities based on how often people were googling the pronunciation. The theory is, that the more times a pronunciation is googled, the harder it must be to say.
Some of the results might surprise you.
1. Cannes, France
Correct: KAN
As any native French speaker (or just your beret-wearing high school language teacher) will be able to tell you, an 's' on the end of a French word is generally silent.
So it's not CON or CONZ or CANS. It's KAN.
It might be that this one tops the list because so many people have mispronounced the iconic Cannes Film Festival in the past.
And let's be honest, the French are brutal when it comes to their proper pronunciations and the apparent butchering of their language.
The sound of fingernails on a chalkboard is badly spoken French (disclaimer, the author of this article is half French and speaks from experience!)
2. River Thames, England
Correct: TEMZ
The 'TH' make a hard sound, but it's pretty usual to look at it and assume it must make the usual soft 'th' sound. So many other words use the soft 'th'. Theatre, three, thou language is uncomfortable to learn.
Couple with your weird t's, you've got an AMES that's spoken like an EMZ. Cruel. Why is it this way? Preply believes it has something to do with King George I of great Britain. He was German and unable to say the soft 'th' sound. So he pronounced it Temmes.
What? You going to tell the king he's wrong?
3. Yosemite, USA
Correct: yoh-SEH-muh-dee.
Well, even former US President Donald Trump couldn't get that one right ... Despite it being America's most famous national park ...
4. Louvre Museum, France
Correct: LOO-vr
Very few English words will ever combine the letters V-R-E in one, so it's uncomfortable to our English-speaking mouths to say a word that does.
Keep that 'r' sound lightly rolling, don't hit it too hard. It's not loo-VRA or loo-VER. It's loo-vr.
5. Versailles, France
Correct: vair-SIGH
Oh, end-of-word 's', we meet again! But there's just a whole heap of letters here that aren't doing much work.
Where did those L's, that E, and that S go at the end? It's a lot of letters for just two syllables.
6. Seychelles, East Africa
Correct: Say-shellz
The popular tourist destination in the African archipelago actually has a surprisingly easy name to say.
Nicolette Filson recommends you use this fancy little memory line to pronounce it properly:
"Sally sells seashells in Seychelles".
7. Ibiza, Spain
Correct: ee-BEE-tha
The Spanish island has welcomed many visitors, and many, many pronounciations. But the correct way to say it, the way the Spanish do, is with a soft 'th' sound at the end.
In Spanish-derivative languages, the z's are always softened.
8. Phuket, Thialand
Correct: poo-KET
Look, this one will get you into trouble if you try it phonetically. That's not an 'f' sound, and it's not an 'u' sound, as you might think. It's poo-KET and nothing else!
9. Antigua, Guatemala
Correct: an-TEE-guh
The 'u' is silent at the end of the word, and honestly, that's something we are used to with words like 'tongue'. it sits there at the end with another vowel that does most of the work.
10. Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Correct: Du-BAY
Some say it doo-BYE, but it's more of a doo-BAY sound according to the locals. Both have become accpetable forms of pronunciation, but the more correct one is the one the locals use.
But hey, 85 per cent of Dubai is made up of ex-patriates and immigrants, so you probably won't turn too many heads if you pronounce it the anglicised way.
11. Oaxaca, Mexico
Correct: wah-HAH-kah
Sorry, what? How does a word spelt like that sound so radically different?
It's a native Aztec Nahuatl word. Much of the Mexican language has derived from this dialect. According to the rules of the ancient language, the 'x' is a 'h', the 'oa' is a 'wah', and the 'ca' is a 'kah'.
Put that together and you end up with wah-hah-kah. Simple.
12. Maldives, Indonesia
Correct: MULL-deevz
And you thought that one would be easy, didn't you? It's mull-deeves, not mall-dives.
13. Laos
It's like the word 'blouse', but without the 'b'. Some pronounce it without the 's' to end, and this is also acceptable.
14. Beijing, China
Correct: bay-JING
Many pronounce the Chinese city as beige-ing. In fact, during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and this year's Winter Olympics, there were many commentators who did in fact popularise the beige-ing pronounciation.
But it's wrong. Bay-JING. That's it.
15. Seoul, South Korea
Correct: SUH-ool.
That's a city that has soul. So much soul that's pretty much how you say it's name. SOLE or SUH-ool, not SEE-ool or see-YULE.
16. Reykjavik, Iceland
Correct: RAKE-yah-veek
The Scandinavians love their jumbles of sounds. The name comes from Viking roots. It wasn't only village plunder they were hoarding, they also had quite the thing for consonant lettering.
Still, the Welsh have them beat with the Anglesey island village by the name of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.
Apparently people don't google how to prounce that. They just faint at the sight of it and never attempt.
Now, let's not get started on New Zealand's Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhen.
Cruelty, thy name is [redcated because we can't pronounce it anyway].
17. Worcester, England
Correct: Wuss-tuh
The United Kingdom is "the land of optional syllables", as Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings described it.
Rooster sooster? Warsha chester? Worst sister? WHAT IS THIS PLACE?
18. Budapest, Hungary
Correct: boo-da-PESHT
Black Widow said it best. "I'm pretty sure it's Buda-pesht". It is, it's Buda-pesht.
19. Qatar
Correct: KUH-ter
A 'q' that isn't followed by a 'u' is a strange sight to the English-speaker. Unless you're talking about Qantas.
Some sounds are just unique to the Arabic language, and this word is full of those sounds. So, the best an English-speaker can do, is aim for 'KUH-ter' and try to avoid 'kuh-TAAR'.
20. Edinburgh, Scotland
Correct: ED-in-bruh
This feels cruel. If Pittsburgh then why not Edin-burg? The Scottish don't like to waste time on unneccesary syllables, but at times they might like to add a few too. They're mavericks.
So, it's 'ED-in-bruh' or 'ED-in-bur-uh'. Leave the 'berg' well out of it.
