Travis Kelce and 'nepo baby' are among the most mispronounced names and words of 2023

Mia Jankowicz,Sonam ShethJan 15, 2024, 07:07 IST

From left to right: Travis Kelce, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Cillian Murphy.Getty Images

'Nepo baby' and 'psammophile' are some of the most frequently mispronounced words of 2023.
Vivek Ramaswamy, Travis Kelce, and Saturn's sixth moon also challenged speakers, according to The Captioning Group.

2023 was the year of mispronouncing names, from politicians and athletes to high-profile celebrities and fictional characters.

People were also stumped by geological and astronomical phenomena this year, according to The Captioning Group.

Since 2016, the closed-captioning company has compiled the list on behalf of language platform Babbel, bringing together all the terms that newsreaders, politicians, public figures, and others struggled to pronounce correctly on TV.

In no particular order, here are the top 10:

10: SZA

SZA.Getty/Omar Vega/FilmMagic

9: Enceladus

NASA/JPL-Caltech

Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer.Universal Pictures

Popocatépetl

The most active volcano in Mexico, Popocatépetl, erupted and spewed ash nearly 2,000 feet in the air.Screenshot YouTube/webcamsdemexico

Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce (left) and Taylor Swift (right).Dustin Satloff via Getty Images; Jeff Kravitz/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management via Getty Images

Iam Tongi

Iam Tongi stands on set of American Idol.Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images

Psammophile

Dev Shah, 14 , became the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June.Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Vivek Ramaswamy

Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.Win McNamee/Getty Images

Choupette

Jared Leto in his Choupette costume at the Met Gala on May 1, 2023.Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

Kīlauea

Lava shooting out of a fissure on Kīlauea.Mario Tama / Getty Images

Wambsgans

Matthew Macfadyen as Tom Wambsgans on season four, episode six of "Succession."Claudette Barius/HBO

Stone of Scone

The Stone of Scone is displayed in Scotland in June.Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP

Nepo Baby

A rare tribute to the nepo baby appears in east London, May 2023.Mike Kemp/Getty Images

Photos show the real flying saucer funded by the US Army that never took off

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