Most Hilarious "Genetic Subscription" Mispronunciations

If you’ve ever been asked to fill a “genetic subscription” or had a patient confuse hydrocortisone with hydrocodone, then you know that pharmacy-related mispronunciations can be a recipe for hilarity.

Pharmacists have stressful jobs, so we need to just laugh off the stress sometimes. Whenever I’m having a bad day, a patient who brutalizes a generic drug name puts a smile on my face. That's why I created this list.

As promised in my previous post on the Top Mispronounced Brand-Name Drugs, here is my latest installment of commonly (and comically) mispronounced generic drug names, with mispronunciations in parentheses:

My Personal Favorites

• Gabapentin (Galapin, Gabatins, Gabateen, Gabby-pentin, Gaga-pentin, Gaba-tini)
• Lisinopril (Lisaprel, Lisinop, Lisin-o-pearls, Lis-niss-o-pril, Lis-pril-nil)
• Metformin (Metamorphin, Metaform)
• Metoprolol (Meto-top-pro-lawl, Marcopolo, Metropole, Meto-pro-pol, Metro-polo, Metropolitan)
• Omeprazole (Omeprazoleee, Omaprezoli, Oh-me-praise-all, Ohmeeprazole, O-me-pra-zola, Omprez-olay)

The Rest of the List

1. Acyclovir (A-silly-clover, A-c-clover)

2. Allopurinol (Almopurinol)

3. Alprazolam (Ala-pra-zam, Alpra-kazam)

4. Amitriptyline (Ami-trampoline)

5. Amlodipine (Amalodipine, Ama-da-peen)

6. Atenolol (A-ten-ol)

7. Atorvastatin (At-or-vastatin, Astro-vastin)

8. Benazepril (Benzpril)

9. Candesartan (Candy-sartan)

10. Carvedilol (Carve-a-die-lawl, Car-va-dol)

11. Cefdinir (Sef-for-dinner)

12. Celecoxib (Sell-ee-cox-a-bob)

13. Cetirizine (Set-tra-zine)

14. Citalopram (City-ala-pram)

15. Clonazepam (Cloz-a-pam, Colon-zap-am)

16. Clopidogrel (Clop-i-dopy, Cloppy-dog-roll, Kloppa-do-grel)

17. Coumadin (Cooter-man)

18. Diclofenac (Dic-lo-finny-ac)

19. Dipyridamole (Dippy-ride-a-mole)

20. Domperidone (Dom-perig-non)

21. Donepezil (Done-puzzle)

22. Escitalopram (Es-ka-tally-pram)

23. Furosemide (Furo-moose-hide)

24. Gemfibrozil (Gem-from-brazil)

25. Glipizide (Glippy-zide, Glip-i-zoid)

26. Hydrocodone (Hydro-corn-dog, Hi-dro-co-de-own, Hy-drock-a-done)

27. Ibuprofen (I-be-profen, Imb-profin)

28. Insulin (In-suh-lint)

29. Lactulose (Lact-o-loose)

30. Levetiracetam (Le-ve-te-ric)

31. Lorazepam (Laura-zap-em)

32. Lovastatin (Low-vast-a-tin)

33. Metronidazole (Meh-tron-uh-dazzle, Me-tron-dizzle)

34. Montelukast (Monte-lu-cast, Monkey-lust)

35. Oxycodone (Oxycodine, Oxy-cotton)

36. Pantoprazole (Pant-a-pro-zolie)

37. Pravastatin (Pravstin)

38. Progestin (Puh-jest-reen)

39. Ranitidine (Rangatang, Ran-a-dine)

40. Ropinirole (Rope-in-roley, Ro-pin-rolee, Rom-pin-roley)

41. Simvastatin (Simvastin, Simva-stay-son, Sim-vass-tin)

42. Tadalafil (TADA-la-fil)

43. Tamsulosin (Tams-o-loss-in)

44. Temazepam (Te-max-ipam)

45. Theophylline (Theo-fillin)

46. Triamterene/Hydrochlorothiazide (Triamerene/Hydrochloride)

47. Warfarin (Warfern, Warlock)

48. Zolpidem (Zolpy-dim, Zolpi-derm, Zo-pee-dum)

I think all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can agree that it’s amazing what you hear after working in the profession for a while. So, if you haven’t heard some of these yet, trust me…you will!