Tomato or tomato. Potato or potato. Scone or scone.
The English language is full of words that can be tricky to pronounce, and in many cases there's more than one correct way to say the same word.
With so many rules to learn, even the best linguists among us can sometimes make a mistake.
Well, it turns out there are also five words that lots of us mess up, as an English teacher has shared five examples that she claims you are probably saying "wrong" - and might have been doing so your whole life.
The bold claim was made by @english.with.lucy, in a video posted to her educational TikTok account.
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Luckily, she is more than happy to help out, and she offered a demonstration of how you ought to pronounce the words.
The five suspects that she believes people often get wrong are as follows:
1. Mischievous - enjoying playing tricks and annoying people
Lucy pronounces the word as mis-chuh-vuhs, before revealing many people add an 'I' sound. "But look at the spelling," she recommends.
2. Prerogative - an exclusive or special right, power, or privilege
"I hear a lot of people saying per-ro-gu-tuhv. It should be pruh-ro-guh-tuhv," Lucy explains.
3. Larvae - plural of larva - a worm-like baby insect
"It should be laa-vee," she explains, "not laa -vay."
4. Celtic - relating to the Celts or their languages
Lucy claims the word should be pronounced with a "k" or "c" sound rather than a softer "s" sounds.
5. Specific - clearly defined or identified
And last but not least, the teacher reminds viewers the word is not the same as Pacific.
The video was loved by most viewers, with several shocked to learn they had been mispronouncing words.
One person wrote: "I pronounce mischievous wrong?" followed by a crying emoji
Another added: "Had been pronouncing these all words wrong."
But not everyone accepted Lucy's suggestions.
"No, you’ve been pronouncing them wrong all throughout the video," one comment claimed.
A second said: "Depends on where you live."
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