Chappell Roan, semaglutide and Kamala Harris: the most mispronounced words of 2024

Language experts rounded up the year's winners (losers?) in the US and UK - and provided the correct pronunciations

At the Democratic national convention, Kamala Harris's nieces explained how to pronounce Harris's name. Chappell Roan gave fans a friendly final warning" about the pronunciation of hers. And Zendaya settled the matter on video.

All three helped to define 2024 - and spent the year hearing people get their names wrong: each appears on lists of the year's most mispronounced words in the US and UK, produced by the language-learning website Babbel, which reminds us that they're pronounced COM-a-la HAR-iss, CHAP-uhl ROHN and Zen-DAY-a.

The Dutch Kooikerhondje (COY-ker-HUND-che), a breed of dog owned by the world's best baseball player, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani's dog won fans after throwing" the first pitch at a game (he carried the ball from the pitcher's mound to his crouching owner at home plate).

Shein, the fast-fashion site - it's SHE-in, not SHEEN or SHINE.

The drug in the weight-loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy is semaglutide (sem-ah-GLOO-tide).

Phryge, the mascot of the Paris Olympics and summer Paralympics, is pronounced FREE-je. It was a nod to the Phrygian cap, an emblematic accessory of the French revolutionaries.

The flygskam (FLEEG-skam) - or flight-shame - movement is pushing people to cut down on flying to help the planet.

Also in the word of professional sports: Joko Gvardiol (YOSH-ko GVAR-dee-ol) plays soccer (FOOT-ball) for Manchester City and Croatia.

And the mispronunciation of the word espresso (es-PRESS-oh) as ex-PRESS-oh sparked outrage among some coffee fans. The word has been in the news thanks to the song by Sabrina Carpenter, who also made headlines for her relationship with Keoghan.