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Babbel Names 2025’s Most Mispronounced Words: Mamdani and the Louvre Top the List

The year-end list from Babbel with The Captioning Group cites unfamiliar phonetics driving frequent on-air stumbles.

FILE - Generic acetaminophen capsules are shown Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, in Santa Ana, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson, File)
FILE - A carpet at Le Louvre museum, Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)
FILE - New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani listens as President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Nov. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
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Overview

  • Babbel and The Captioning Group released the 2025 list on Thursday, flagging words that tripped up U.S. anchors, politicians and other public figures.
  • New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s name appears with the pronunciation zoh-RAHN mam-DAH-nee, with Babbel noting a common error of swapping the m and n.
  • The Louvre is listed with the recommended LOOV-ruh, a soft final sound that drew attention after October’s reported $102 million jewel heist.
  • Other frequent misfires include acetaminophen, which President Donald Trump stumbled over, Alex Murdaugh (AL-ick MUR-dock), and the drug Mounjaro (mown-JAHR-OH).
  • Babbel’s Esteban Touma says many errors arise from sounds borrowed from other languages, and captioners’ tracking informed the selections, which also overlap with a U.K. list.