Joe Rogan Word Pronunciation Grates on Fans

Joe Rogan’s pronunciation of the word “ethanol” on his podcast has sparked a flurry of responses on social media.

Newsweek reached out to Rogan’s representative via email on Thursday for comment.

Why It Matters

Rogan, 58, is one of the most influential podcast hosts in the world, with over 20.4 million subscribers on YouTube. The Joe Rogan Experience, which began in 2009, often tops Spotify’s podcast chart.

What To Know

On Wednesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan pronounced “ethanol” as “Ethan-all” while discussing Prohibition with his guest, comedian Jeff Dye. The segment quickly drew attention, spawning a series of viewer comments expressing amusement, confusion and sometimes frustration at his word choice.

The former Fear Factor host and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) commentator has previously acknowledged challenges with pronouncing certain names, especially those of foreign mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters.

“There are struggles, some of them are rough,” Rogan told NFL star Aaron Rodgers on his podcast in May, referring to tricky pronunciations he’s encountered while commentating for MMA events. “I f***** up Umar Nurmagomedov’s name once. I knew his name, I knew how to say it, it’s just my mouth didn’t work right.”

“Generally, the Russian ones are the most difficult,” he added, noting that he would often practice names in his hotel room before weigh-ins. “Sometimes I’ve never seen a guy fight before—like they’re new to the UFC—so then I have to find them online, watch some of their fights online, and even then, there’s discrepancies in how to say the name, so we have to get it from them, and they have little recordings where the fighter will say their name.”

What People Are Saying

In the comments underneath Wednesday’s episode on YouTube, fans fumed over Rogan’s “ethanol” pronunciation.

EvoDad87 wrote: “Every time Rogan says ‘Ethan-all’ instead of ‘ethanol’ I recoil in cringe. wtf bruh.”

davidalterego said: “”t”The way Joe says ethanol is bothering me soooo much for some reason lol.”

andrebennett3680 remarked: “Joe saying ethanol has me messed up.”

JetReich-x7w agreed: “2:09:27 ethanol is like beth-a-nall without the b. Not ethan-all.”

daverandall803 shared: “Eeethanol? Oh no, Joe is turning into Simon Whistler…”

joshalred9565 stated: “I love Joe, but his pronunciation of ‘ethanol’ is infuriating.”

NatetronOG1970 added: “Come on Joe it’s ethanol not eithanol..”

jaxhellscream, referring to Rogan’s producer Jamie Vernon, chimed in: “Somebody needs to fire Jamie off solely the fsct [fact] he didn’t stop Joe from saying ‘eethanol’ a hundred times.”

What Happens Next

The Joe Rogan Experience airs new episodes weekly on platforms like YouTube, Spotify and Apple Podcasts.