Every year, current events bring new names, words, and concepts into our collective consciousness. And every year, newscasters and reporters struggle to pronounce strange language when they first encounter it.
The language learning app Babbel commissions an annual list of the most mispronounced words on television from the US Captioning Company. The list is interesting not only for linguistic purposes, but because it provides a window into contemporary culture, revealing which people and ideas that were previously relatively unknown became mainstream in 2018. This year’s collection reveals an array of new heroes and villains, fresh foods, and increasingly influential cultures.
In 2019, we will no doubt hear more about everyone from O’Rourke to Ronan and entomophagy to mukbangs. Perhaps next year’s big trend will be posting videos of oneself eating lots of insects. More likely, it will be something we can’t predict or pronounce that changes the cultural conversation.
