That is how it is spelt?!!

I had something similar: in front of quite a few people I said “albeit” but rather than pronouncing it “all be it” I said “al bite” as I had said it all my life. Mortifying

It took me until about my mid 20s to be confident of how to read it aloud whenever I saw it in print. I could use it and understand it verbally, but everytime I would see it written down it just never felt right for some reason.

This happens to people who read more than they talk. I never hold it against them.

Anytime someone mispronounces an obscure word, I actually tend to hold them in higher regard.

Because like you said - that means they spend more time learning than they do with their mouth open. That's a good thing.

I verbally pronounced epitome "ep-a-tome" for a long time because I had read it a billion times, understood usage and context, but never put together "e-pit-a-me" is spelled epitome.

Mine was 'bourgeois' (amongst many others, but that one stands out).