The Nigerian peoples are known for their special and exclusive accent that cannot be replicated or flawlessly impression-ed by individuals who are not Nigerian-ground (even Hollywood has tried but failed to replicate it). Although the (ear-orgasmic) Nigerian accent is rated very highly amongst the sexiest accents in the world, most Nigerians (unenlightened though) still prefer to sound unsophisticated by twisting their tongues and noses to sound British or "yankee-fied", without coming to terms that whilst speaking English, what matters most isn't the accent or mode of speech; but the correct pronunciation of simple everyday words (and correct use of intonation), coupled with the simplicity of diction (Obama's various speeches endorse this fact). This "simple" grammatic awareness is what lightly differentiates the educated from the schooled (the bifurcation of formal literacy). Here is a list of a few simple everyday words that are mispronounced by most Nigerians (even those forming "frosh" and "posh" accent and the ones who juggle between the British, American, Jamaican and Ghanaian accent in one sentence (God is on His throne watching you) alone), accompanied with their correct pronunciation (pro-nun-cia-tion)

Fuel/Scarce: 90% of Nigerians mispronounce this as fwel rather than fewyl. The current national "epidemic" has overtime led to the unholy spread of the mispronounced fwel-skar-sea-ti rather than fewyl-skir-city (fuel scarcity)

Chassis: even grammarians mispronounce this word as char-sis, rather than shar-sea.

Beret: A large number of our military brethren and the beret wearing "confraternities" as well as various church choirs across the country are vastly ignorant that their beloved head-gear is pronounced bey-rey and not beh-RET. #NowYouKnow

Sachet: It's pronounced sar-shay and not sa-CHET. The "t" is silent.

Quay: This word is simply pronounced same as you'd pronounce "key"

Illegal: Nigerian artiste, Pepenazi had the one greatest opportunity to educate the Nigerian mass on the pronunciation of this dreadful word (ill-lee-gal). Even Badoo-Sneh couldn't even help out *sigh* (so much for loving the streets).

Bomb: 99% percent of Nigerians mispronounce this word by including the "b" (at the end) whilst pronouncing it. The "b" is silent.

Chalet: This word is pronounced shar-ley and not char-LET.

Tomato: too-may-toe is the pronunciation. Practice and correct this pronunciation when grocery shopping.

Okra: this popular pod is fondly pronounced ok-roh. It's correct pronunciation is in fact ok-ra (English dictionaries confirm this).

Vitamin: This word is an acronym for Vital Mineral(s), thus breeding vy-ta-min (vitamin) and not the mispronounced vee-ta-min.

Divorce: I hear lots of individuals mispronounce this word as die-vorce. It is in fact pronounced dee-vorce.

Arena: It is pronounced ar-ree-na and not ah-reh-na.

Vehicle: Even the elite fail to pronounce this word (vee-he-cle) couth-ly

Democracy: Hmmm! Where do I start from? Howbeit, this very popular word/concept has been mispronounced in varying context and degree by all manner of individuals all over the world. This people's political concept is pronounced dee-mo-cracy. The pronunciation of the "de" sounds like that of "deliver"

Qatar: This oil rich Middle-Eastern nation is pronounced ka-tar not kwa-tar. Football pundits please take note.

Meme: The culture of picturising humour laced with rib cracking and brain teasing text has become a widespread internet sensation. The 9gags and Twitters have made this trend popular amongst the internet folk. Thus, this "culture" is pronounced meem or mim and not maym as widely pronounced.
#MemeHistory will give you good laugh.

Naira: We even go as far as mispronouncing our national currency. It's simply pronounced nai-ra, not neh-rah or any other incorrect variation.

Plumber: The "b" is silent.

Debt: This word has same pronunciation as death. The "b" is also silent.

Realist/idealist: ree-list/ idee-list. Political elites and "feel-amongs" are also guilty of mispronouncing these words. My professors back then were not left out too.

Ebola: With the way most Nigerians (including the sensitising health practitioners) mispronounced this word, you'd think it is (or was) an air borne disease (thank God it wasn't). This "persona non gratia" is pronounced ee-bow-la, and not air-bow-la.

Sword: In pronouncing this word, the "w" is silent.

Wednesday: The " D " is silent as well. It's pronounced more like wens-day.

October: Oc-to-ber is not pronounced ork-tow-ber.

Main road: It beats my imagination why people mispronounced this word as meh-road (when they're not bleating goats). It is simply MAIN-road and not MEEH-road. Same goes for Third MAIN-land Bridge. That aside, please observe all traffic laws when driving. Let's make our (main) roads safe.

Brothel: bruh-ttle

Hotel Suit: I've over-time heard persons (from even entertainment event jingles on TV) mispronounce the "suit" in "hotel suit" (eg Eko Hotel and Suit) same as they pronounce the bodily garment-cover. The "suit" in "hotel-suit" is simply and sweetly pronounced sweet.

Trafficator: The word traffi-CA-tor is widely mispronounced as traffi-GA-tor. That aside, please always make use of your trafficator/indicator when making turns (even on lonely roads) whilst driving.

Chewing gum: Even big girls and aunties still mispronounce it as chin-gum. Are you using it to gum your chin? I'm sure chewing-gum isn't a hard word to pronounce.

Pant: Please, I beg, it's not pronounced pynt, it's simply pa-nt. Haba! (habatically)

Oil: Even our honourable emeritus grammarian from the moth city is guilty of mispronouncing this word. It is pronounced oyl and not oyel.

Machete: ma-sher-ti is the correct pronunciation, and not some other way you might pronounce it.

Often: ofen (the "t" is silent).

Valium-Five: this sedative is called Valium-Five, not volume five.

Celebrity: This popular word is pronounced sea-leh-brity and not cer-leh-brity.

Theory: Even professors and English academics often fail to intonate this word correctly. The intonation eliminates the "o" in it whilst pronouncing it. Thus, it sounds more like thee-ry and not thio-ry.

Chicago: In one of my favourite songs off from our beloved African Mama, she mispronounced this popular city as chee-ka-go (even the featured artiste from East Africa did same). That got me thinking as to how many other Nigerians (and Africans alike) pronounce it like she did. Thus, making it have a place on this list. The city (in Illinois, USA) is pronounced she-cargo and not some other incorrect pronunciation.

Champagne: sham-pain.


#NobodyIsAboveMistakes
God bless Nigeria.



*modified* the correct and incorrect pronunciations are in italics. I can't tell why it's not reflecting as such

Will this give the average Nigerian a job?
by the way thanks!.

if agbero slap u g junction ehn u no go no when u go dey make d same mistakes u r correcting
Anyways,Gbayi

fawaz050:
if agbero slap u g junction ehn u no go no when u go dey make d same mistakes u r correcting
Anyways,Gbayi

They don slap u b4 abi?

MzLarem:
They don slap u b4 abi?

Igboro Lawa o :8

MzLarem:
They don slap u b4 abi?

Igboro Lawa o :8


But make i no lie i no dey stay for here dem dey fight oo .i value my teeth

fawaz050:
Igboro Lawa o :8


But make i no lie i no dey stay for here dem dey fight oo .i value my teeth

Lazy fowl..

chaii .they tell da guy word. |

MzLarem:
Lazy fowl..

No go show for where i dey para o,i go just use bottle draw map of Africa for ur body

Nice one....but please note,some of these suppose mistake that people make in prounciation are because of where they come from....instead of shift ..ibadan will say sifT....instead of director,and igbo man will say dilector....instead of people and hausa will will feofu...accents and other sociolinguitics factors affect peoples pronouciation...all in all the thread is gud for people that want to learn...like they say in the streets'''''who pronunciation don help''?...

fawaz050:
No go show for where i dey para o,i go just use bottle draw map of Africa for ur body

they give urself hope..

Hhmmm, the words are many o... Very educative though

Ok

Thanks, understandable accents is really good, it's difficult to pronounce many word correctly because it's not our mother's tougue, don't worry about it as your term sounds understandable

Thanks for the post. However, I disagree with:

1. SWORD: the "" being silent - /sɔɹd/. That's an emoticon - ok, the D being silent.


2. Hotel Suit: I believe this is SUITE, not SUIT though I see that the use of the latter is archaic.

3. Chicago: just like Liecester, this one is not our fault. This has to do with places one may not be familiar with. Afterall, how many can pronounce "Awka", "Kontagora" or "Illesa" properly? Even the popular Sokoto, how many people avoid the use of "Sh"?

---

§Trafficator: reminds me about the fact that there's no word such as 'trafficate' or 'trafficating'. The word is not a verb.

Lalasticlala ...na Sunday school be dis

1. Oshodi : osho-di
2. Ekiti : a-kiti
3. Ambode : arm-bode
4. Mynd44: mind44
5. Barcelona: bass-o-lona

Also fatal is pronounced /fetl/ and not fa-tal

Op you made mistakes

Vitamins:
Americans call it vai-ta-mins while British call it vitamins.

Okra:

Okra is coined from the Igbo word okro or even more correctly okwuru. Okra is the anglicised form of it

Nice...!

this is enlightening

Noted....... But i don't take everything i see or read on net HOOK, LINE AND SINKER

Determinism:
Okra: this popular pod is fondly pronounced ok-roh. It's correct pronunciation is in fact ok-ra.

There's nothing like Okra but Okwuru or Okro.

U mean Bomb is 'omb'
i no agree!




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ens6AS4-BSA

OP American English differs from British English and same goes for New Zealand and Australian English. All these forms of English is considered acceptable. How dare you tell me Nigerian English is incorrect

sword has a silent 'D' in whc English version sir?

Op go siddon abeg.

Sword- I believe "W" is the silent letter here not " D "

PrettyHausaGirl:
U mean Bomb is 'omb'

it's "bom not omb. The last b is the silent one.

babyfaceafrica:
instead of director,and igbo man will say dilector

not true. It's Mostly Anambra people that have issues with "R" and "L"

Nice one.
Lalasticlala, please move this to the permanent site.

Is not To-may-toe..... The correct answer is Tomaaaati

NnamdiN:
Sword- I believe "W" is the silent letter here not " D "
it's "bom not omb. The last b is the silent one. not true. It's Mostly Anambra people that have issues with "R" and "L"

that is a lie...R is an allophone of L ....ala and ara are both madness in igbo Language

babyfaceafrica:
that is a lie...R is an allophone of L ....ala and ara are both madness in igbo Language

lol are you igbo?
I'm from anambra, I've got the "r and l" ish even though it doesn't happen all the time.
Ara is central igbo and it means madness
However it's just anambrarians and some parts of imo and Enugu that call it "ala". The rest call it "ara". My point is, it's not a general thing. Let's not derail the thread sha