These Are the 12 Most Mispronounced Words of 2016

An eventful year of news saw the resurrection of Pokémon, the death of legendary singer David Bowie and the perennial struggle of some tongue-tied U.S. newscasters trying to correctly pronounce a set of words from the year’s top headlines.

The language-learning app Babbel has commissioned the U.S. Captioning Company to identify the words in 2016 that gave television broadcasters the most difficulty. Here are the top 12 most mispronounced words of 2016, according to the report:

Bowie
(/’boʊ-iː/; boh-ee)
—the surname of David Bowie, the legendary British musician who died in January at 69

Breitbart
(/’breɪt-bɑːrt/; breyt-bart)
—an ultraconservative website that is an online home for the so-called alt-right

Cisgender
(/’sɪz-dʒɛn-dɜːr/;sizz-gen-dehr)
—noting or relating to a person whose self-identity aligns with the gender of their biological sex; not transgender

Hygge
(/’hjuː-gə/; HUE-gah)
—a concept, originating in Denmark, of creating cozy and convivial atmospheres that promote wellbeing

Marion Cotillard
(/’koʊ-ti:-ja:r/; koh-tee-yar)
—French actress, singer-songwriter and musician, who starred in 2016’s Assassin’s Creed

Narcos
(/’nɑːr-koʊs/; nark-ohs)
—from the Spanish ‘narcotraficante’ (drug trafficker); a slang name given to South and Central American drug traffickers in the late 20th century; 2016 Netflix television series about the life of Pablo Escobar

Nomophobia
(/’noʊ-moʊ-‘foʊ-biː-ə/; noh-moh-pho-bee-ah)
—the fear of being without one’s mobile phone

Quinoa
(/kiː-‘noʊ-ə/ or /kiː-‘nuː-ə/; kee-NOH-ah or kee-NOO-ah)
—an Andean grain crop popularized in recent years as a health food

Rattata
(/’ræt-æ-tæ/; RAT-ah-tah)
—a Pokémon, a fictional cartoon character, commonly encountered in augmented reality mobile game Pokémon GO, which launched in the summer of 2016

Roald Dahl
(/roʊld/ /dɑːl/; rohld daal)
—a deceased English author, whose birth centenary was in September 2016

Xenophobia
(/‘zɛn-oʊ-‘foʊ-biː-ə/; zen-oh-phoh-bee-ah)
—the fear of foreigners; Dictionary.com’s Word of the Year 2016

Zika
(/’ziː-kə/; zee-kuh)
—a mosquito-borne virus that can cause certain birth defects