A survey of 2,000 Americans highlighted what some respondents claimed were the most commonly misused phrases and words they encounter – with “I could care less,” “would of,” “anyways” and “irregardless” claiming the top four spots.

Preply, an educational platform founded in Ukraine, said it surveyed “2,000 native English speakers” and combed through Google search data to find the most-searched pronunciations in America.

For that list, the luxury brand “Hermès,” the ringing in ears known as “tinnitus” and the fictional entity “Cthulhu” created by author H. P. Lovecraft were the top words Americans Googled to decipher proper pronunciation, according to the survey.

While some may hold strong and true to certain English pronunciations or interpretations, language is known to evolve and as a multicultural society, correcting others on what one might deem an error could be seen as a form of linguistic prejudice. 

Joining us to discuss the survey and conversations surrounding English words and phrases are David Durian, an English and linguistics instructor at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, and Jacob Phillips, a teaching fellow at the University of Chicago’s linguistics department.