It was 10:00 a.m. on a Friday morning when I found out I had been spelling — and therefore pronouncing — Charizard’s name wrong for the past 20 years.

I honestly thought it was “Charzard”.

How in the world did I not see that cursed “i” in Charizard?

Ever since I learned to speak, I spelled and pronounced Charizard as “Chaah-zaard”. It never occurred to me that there was an “i” in there. Seriously, where did that little bugger come from?

It didn’t help that as an Australian, proper enunciation constantly eluded me whenever I opened my mouth.

Want to sound like an Aussie? Pretend you’ve had a few too many drinks, or pretend that your tongue is partially paralyzed. I’m dead serious mate.

I felt silly Googling “How to pronounce Charizard” during my morning Zoom call with my work colleagues. The thought of clicking a link to learn how to pronounce and spell Charizard properly didn’t sit well with me.

How exactly do you pronounce the Pokémon, Charizard?

A combination of charcoal and lizard, you’d think saying Charizard would be rather simple. Not for me apparently.

Thankfully I found a short video on one of Netflix’s many Youtube channels featuring Leon and his Charizard, where the battle announcer said the magic word: Cha-rih-zard.

My feathers were ruffled to say the least. If I screwed up Charizard so badly, what other Pokémon names had I butchered over the years?

What other Pokémon names have I royally pronounced and spelled wrongly?

Piloswine

All these years I thought it was “pillow-swine” when in actual fact it’s pronounced “pile-oh-swine”. A name that plays off pile-of-snow and swine, I have never facepalmed so hard in my entire life.

Alomomola

Modelled after the giant Mola mola, I’ve been calling this big girl (or guy) “Aloe-moe-mole-ah”. Apparently the correct pronunciation of its name is Al-low-mom-oh-lah. To be fair, I doubt anyone gets it right the first time.

Xatu

I’m embarrassed about this one. I’ve been saying and spelling “Ex-ah-two”, but it’s really “Zah-two”. Please tell me I can’t be the only one?!

I am honestly ashamed, I may as well hang my Masters in miscommunication on my front door for the neighbors to see. Hopefully my misery has made your day a little bit better, because I don’t see myself being able to live this down.

Ever.

Shockingly, I spelled and pronounced Charizard wrong for 20 years