How do you pronounce Worcestershire sauce?
On Oct. 20, Unscramblerer, an online word unscrambler, released a list of the 15 most mispronounced words in the United States in 2026, and "Worcestershire sauce" ranked No. 1. Between Jan. 1 and Oct. 20, Google users looked up how to pronounce "Worcestershire sauce" about 321,000 times, according to an Unscramblerer news release.
A sauce used on steaks, hamburgers and other dishes, Worcestershire sauce is pronounced, "WUUS-ter-sheer saws," as outlined by Unscramblerer.
To find the top mispronounced words, Unscramblerer used Google Trends API to analyze the top search queries for "how do you pronounce" and "how to pronounce" between Jan. 1 and Oct. 20. The company then used AI marketing platform Ahrefs
to find how many times a word was searched.
Interested in seeing the list? Here are the most mispronounced words in the United States for 2026.
15 most mispronounced words
According to Unscramblerer's analysis, these 15 words are mispronounced the most. Watch USA TODAY staffers try to say them in the video at the top of the story.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Gyro
- Dachshund
- Niche
- Porsche
- Qatar
- Gif
- Curacao
- Saoirse
- Pho
- Salmon
- Nguyen
- Aoife
- Acai
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How do you pronounce the words? Try for yourself.
Here are the 15 words again with their phonetic transcriptions.
- Worcestershire sauce − WUUS-ter-sheer saws
- Gyro − YEE-roh
- Dachshund − DAKS-hund
- Niche − NEESH
- Porsche − POR-shuh
- Qatar − kuh-TAR
- Gif − JIF
- Curacao − KYUR-uh-sow
- Saoirse − SEER-shuh
- Pho − FUH
- Salmon − SAM-un
- Nguyen − WIN
- Aoife − EE-fuh
- Acai − ah-sigh-EE
- Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious − soo-per-kal-ih-FRAJ-ih-lis-tik-ek-spee-al-ih-DOH-shus
What word does each state mispronounce the most?
Accents and dialects affect how people across the country pronounce some commonplace words. Per Unscreamblerer's analysis, here's a look at the top mispronounced word per state:
- Alabama − Gyro (YEE-roh)
- Alaska − Juneau (JOO-noh)
- Arizona − Saguaro (suh-WAR-oh)
- Arkansas − Aoife (EE-fuh)
- California − Iran (ih-RAN)
- Colorado − Colorado (kah-luh-RAD-oh)
- Connecticut − Curacao (KYUR-uh-sow)
- Delaware − Water (WAW-ter)
- Florida − Schedule (SKEJ-ool)
- Georgia − FIFA (FEE-fuh)
- Hawaii − Hawaii (huh-WY-ee)
- Idaho − Worcestershire sauce (WUUS-ter-sheer saws)
- Illinois − Chicago (shih-KAH-goh)
- Indiana − Gyro (YEE-roh)
- Iowa − Hozier (HOH-zee-er)
- Kansas − Iran (ih-RAN)
- Kentucky − Louisville (LOO-uh-vul)
- Louisiana − Eschatology (es-kuh-TAH-luh-jee)
- Maine − Bangor (BANG-gor)
- Maryland − Gauche (GOHSH)
- Massachusetts − Massachusetts (mass-uh-CHOO-sits)
- Michigan − Gauche (GOHSH)
- Minnesota − Nguyen (WIN)
- Mississippi − Gyro (YEE-roh)
- Missouri − Gyro (YEE-roh)
- Montana − Xochitl (SOH-cheel)
- Nebraska − Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
- Nevada − Nevada (nuh-VAD-uh)
- New Hampshire − Acai (ah-sigh-EE)
- New Jersey − Data (DAY-tuh)
- New Mexico − Laufey (LAY-vay)
- New York − Iran (ih-RAN)
- North Carolina − Raleigh (RAH-lee)
- North Dakota − Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
- Ohio − Spaghetti (spuh-GET-ee)
- Oklahoma − Acai (ah-sigh-EE)
- Oregon − Oregon (OR-ih-gun)
- Pennsylvania − Water (WAW-ter)
- Rhode Island - Caprese (kuh-PRAY-zay)
- South Carolina − Salmon (SAM-un)
- South Dakota − Worcestershire sauce (WUUS-ter-sheer saws)
- Tennessee − Sevierville (sev-uh-VEER-ul)
- Texas − Pho (FUH)
- Utah − Data (DAY-tuh)
- Vermont − Montpelier (mont-PEEL-yer)
- Virginia − Laufey (LAY-vay)
- Washington − Spokane (spoh-KAN)
- West Virginia − Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
- Wisconsin − Paczki (POONCH-kee)
- Wyoming − Dachshund (DAKS-hund)
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: We tried to say America's most mispronounced words. How it went
