Skip to content

Tech and programming words

Technology vocabulary is full of acronyms and coinages with no settled spelling convention, so pronunciation is set by community habit rather than rule. Cache is simply cash, and tuple splits the field between too-ple and tup-le. This list gives the most widely used version of each.


15 words · intermediate · your accent and voice are remembered across the site. More options on the settings page.

The words

More lists like this

Hypothesis, criteria, methodology: the high-frequency academic words every student must say.
15
Show the 15 words

Agenda, deadline, colleague, schedule: the vocabulary of every meeting, said correctly.
15
Show the 15 words

The words almost everyone says wrong: espresso, sherbet, mischievous, prerogative.
15
Show the 15 words

Rural, squirrel, anemone, sixth: the words native speakers themselves stumble over.
15
Show the 15 words

Lead, read, tear, wind, bow: one spelling, two pronunciations and two meanings. Hear both.
15
Show the 15 words

Rendezvous, croissant, entrepreneur, faux pas: French words English kept and half-anglicised.
15
Show the 15 words

Keep practising

Browse every practice list or the word index, hear two accents back to back on Compare, or test your ear with the listening quiz.

To read the rules behind these words, see the pronunciation guides — including silent letters, word stress and American vs British. Or hear each accent on its own page: American, British, Australian.