Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Gal Gadot, Harvey Weinstein among top 10 most mispronounced words for 2017

(JTA)—The names Gal Gadot and Harvey Weinstein were among the top 10 mispronounced words of 2017, according to Babbel Magazine

Gadot, who played Wonder Woman in the film by the same name and in “Justice League,” was fifth on the list put out by the magazine associated with the online language learning company.

Her name is often mispronounced with a silent “t,” according to Babbel, which consulted with the British Institute of Verbatim Reporters, the U.S. Captioning Company and National Captioning Canada to ask their professional subtitlers about the consistently mispronounced words they noticed this year.

So, just for the record, Gadot is pronounced “gah-dott.” No word on whether her first name is mispronounced—it is “gahl,” not “gal” as in a girl.

Weinstein was 10th on the list. The disgraced Hollywood producer, who appeared frequently in the news in the latter half of 2017, pronounces his name “wine-steen,” which has led to debates among linguists who believe his name should be pronounced “wine-stine,” rhyming with Einstein, the way it is frequently mispronounced.

Other words on the list include coulrophobia, pronounced “cool-ruh-foh-bee-ah,” the term for a fear of clowns and definitely related to the film adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” and fibromyalgia, pronounced “fai-broh-mai-ahl-jyah,” a chronic illness with symptoms such as widespread muscular pain. Lady Gaga announced this year that she suffers from the disorder to raise awareness.

 

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