Espresso, etc.

There is no X in espresso. It is pronounced ess-PREH-soh.

There is no X in etcetera. It is pronounced et-SET-ur-uh. If you insist on mixing it up, you can say et-SEH-truh.

Before I had my first espresso, I must admit I thought I would be having an expresso. Luckily I think the rise of the latte has led more than half of our citizenry to pronounce it correctly these days. But there are still a few stragglers out there. You know who you are. Practice in front of the mirror.

So what is it about E-words that bring out the X in folks? I expect there are other E-words that people have trouble with. Expecially kids. Can you think of any more?

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