From quinoa to Shein: South Africa’s most mispronounced words
· Citizen
Porsche, Shein and Worcestershire sauce are among the words South Africans struggle to pronounce, according to an analysis of Google search data for 2026.
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Research conducted by word-finding experts at Unscramblerer.com identified 15 words that attracted the most pronunciation-related searches in South Africa between 1 January and 9 November 2026. The analysis focused on queries such as ‘how do you pronounce’ and ‘how to pronounce’.
Google Trends was used to identify commonly searched words, while software company Ahrefs provided search-volume estimates.
The researchers also combined 110 variations of pronunciation-related searches, including queries such as “data pronunciation” and “how do you pronounce gyro”.
The study identified the Free State, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal as the five provinces with the highest search interest in word pronunciations.
South Africa’s most mispronounced words
Porsche topped the list with 121 200 searches, followed by Shein with 102 000 and Worcestershire sauce with 97 200.
According to the research, these are the 15 words South Africans searched for most often, along with their suggested pronunciations:
- Porsche (121 200 searches) – POR-shuh.
- Shein (102 000 searches) – SHAY-in.
- Worcestershire sauce (97 200 searches) – WUSS-ter-sheer sauce.
- Charcuterie (94 800 searches) – shar-KOO-tuh-ree.
- Schedule (85 200 searches) – SKEJ-ool.
- Croissant (81 500 searches) – kruh-SAHNT.
- Aoife (80 400 searches) – EE-fuh.
- Curaçao (72 000 searches) – KYOOR-uh-sow.
- Saoirse (68 400 searches) – SEER-shuh.
- Huawei (48 000 searches) – HWAH-way.
- Dachshund (46 800 searches) – DAKS-hund.
- Jalapeño (44 400 searches) – hah-luh-PEH-nyoh.
- Açaí (43 200 searches) – ah-sigh-EE.
- Quinoa (42 000 searches) – KEEN-wah.
- Spaghetti (36 000 searches) – spuh-GET-ee.
South Africa’s most mispronounced words by province
The research also identified the words that attracted the most pronunciation-related searches in each province.
The findings were:
Mpumalanga: Schedule (SKEJ-ool).
Limpopo: Shein (SHAY-in).
Northern Cape: Worcestershire sauce (WUSS-ter-sheer sauce).
Eastern Cape: Schedule (SKEJ-ool).
Free State: Burgundy (BUR-gun-dee).
North West: Daiquiri (DAK-uh-ree).
Western Cape: Jalapeño (hah-luh-PEH-nyoh).
Gauteng: Shein (SHAY-in).
KwaZulu-Natal: Allow (uh-LOW).