It looks like Fi-eri but I can swear he pronounces it Fietti. So which is it?
I think the “t” sound is him sort of rolling the “r”.
Kenobi’s got it. There is a “tapped” or “rolled” R in Italian, which to some people can sound like an English D or T sound. Fieri apparently has tried to replace the Italian R with an English D or T when he says his name.
It can go the other way around too. I’ve heard Italian Americans pronouncing “Madonna” in a manner that kind of sounds like “Maron.”
If you want to best approximate it, visualize yourself saying Fee-eddy. The tap or flap is identical, or at least pretty darn close, to the sound Americans use for the middle consonant in ladder, latter, water, rudder, fatter, etc.
In private conversation, you could just go with “Ferry,” the last name he was born with.
I can totally understand why he changed it, though.
Does anyone know why he changed his last name?
Because the name Fieri is on point!
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. Seriously, it’s a more ‘interesting’ name. Folks change their names all the time when they want to establish a public image, and Fieri was doing that even before he got on Food Network.
I believe the official story is that he changed it to honor his Italian grandfather. Though, I would guess the fact that he didn’t want to be referred to as “that Ferry guy,” probably had a lot to do with it as well.