People are only just realising how you’re actually supposed to say Brussels sprouts

People have been left dumbfounded after realising they've been making a really common mistake when pronouncing the name of a controversial vegetable.

Sometimes, we're so used to hearing something pronounced a certain way that we don't stop to second guess what we're saying - even after we've read the spelling.

While a lot of the time, mispronunciation is reserved for the likes of 'bruschetta', 'prosciutto', or 'focaccia', it also often refers to a common Christmas dinner item.

When it comes to sprouts, a lot of us just call them sprouts.

Many of us stretch so far as to call them brussel sprouts - but despite the extra effort, we're still getting it wrong.

You either love them or you hate them (Getty Stock Image)

If you stop to read the actual name of the vegetable you either love or hate - it's Brussels Sprouts.

And you're meant to be pronouncing it all.

But now you know the correct way, if you hear someone making the same mistake over Christmas dinner you can lean over and correct them in front of your entire family.

A lot of people are figuring it out for the very first time - and fair enough, to be honest.

One person wrote on X: "Still feel a spike of anger when I re-remember that it's brussels sprouts and not brussel sprouts."

In a tweet from earlier this week, a second added: "I was today year's old when I realized it's Brussel*s* sprouts, not brussel sprouts."

Light bulb moment!

They're a beloved part of Christmas dinner (Getty Stock Image)

Even if we can't always get their name right, we do like having them around during the festive season, as lorries full of them tipping over and spilling their precious cargo make for a national disaster.

Being such a staple of the beloved Christmas dinner, it's only natural that some places would decide to put their own spin on the humble little vegetable.

As for how Brussels sprouts actually got their interesting name, the French started calling them that back in the 18th Century and it's probably because they were grown near the Belgian city of Brussels.

There are records of them being grown near the city as far back as the 13th Century, so it's a fair guess that the vegetables owe their name to the major European city.

Despite their seemingly Belgian name of origin, the actual largest producer of Brussels sprouts in the world is the Netherlands, though the UK also grows plenty of the veg.