It can be a huge bummer to walk up to the bar after a long day with a specific drink in mind, only to not know how to pronounce it to the bartender. To play it safe, you ask for the house pour instead to save yourself the awkwardness of possiblly mispronouncing anything. Unfortunately, cranberry juice and vodka is the last thing you feel like having.

To avoid painful future scenarios like that, here are 8 of the most commonly mispronounced liqours and champagnes, and how to correctly articulate it to your bartender the next time you're in the mood for some.

1. Veuve Clicquot

Its exclusivity as one of the most recognisable and popular luxury champagnes in the world is matched by the impossiibility to pronounce its fancy French name name, named after its founder, Phillipe Clicquot-Muiron. 

Say it right: Verv kli-koh

 

2. Champagne JACQUART

Calling it jack wart would be a blasphemy on so many levels to a brand that is fast becoming one of the leading champagne names in the world.

Say it right: Sham-payne jhek-karhh

 

3. Dom Perignon

The most prestigious of all of Möet & Chandon's lines, it was named after the monk Dom Perignon who was speculated to have discovered the champagne method of making sparkling wines, but actually didn't.

Say it right: Dom peri-nyon

 

4. Moët & Chandon

Contrary to popular belief, it is not pronounced with a silent T. It was named after its founder Claude Moët, who was Dutch. The Moët surname was already prestigious before the winery's establishment. The misconception that it is pronounced mo-ehy stems from the belief that it is a French name because Moët began shipping it from Paris. 

Say it right: Mo-wett and shan-dawn

 

5. Cointreau 

Whoever coined the name must not have thought it would ever become so controversial. 

Say it right: Kwan-troh

 

 

6. Blue Curaçao

Unless you hail from the liqueur's native island region, we understand that that it can prove to be quite a mouthful to pronounce, what with the easy tendency to confuse it with another word more closely associated with cocoa.

Say it right: Bloo kure-a-soh

 

7. Grand Marnier

It may be grand in flavour and reputation, but the "Grand" in its name isn't quite pronounced the way or mean what it does in English. 

Say it right: Graa mar-nyay

 

8. Courvoisier

By now, you probably can guess it, like the rest, isn't voiced the way it is spelled either. 

Say it right: Kur-vwa-syay

What other liquor or champagne brand names can you never quite say right? 

Also read: Mispronounced foods: Are you saying 'bruschetta','foie gras' and 'crepe' correctly?