# "Correct" pronounciations that people have given up on **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246 "2015-10-11T07:34:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/101 "2015-10-12T11:31:54Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > > > _Mayonnaise_ is another one where, at least in the U.S., an “incorrect” pronunciation - “man-ayze” - is driving out the proper “may-on-ayze”. > > It is? I certainly hear “man-ayze” most commonly. I would think the correct pronunciation would be closer to “may-uh-nayze,” given that it uses the French nasal sound. ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/102 "2015-10-12T12:38:26Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > Bimbo is pronounced in Mexican Spanish as Beem-bo. I’m not sure how you mean “as in girl”… Do you mean literally girl or niña? The second has that sound. The main issue here in the US is that Bimbo - pronounced bim-boh, is what you’d call a pretty but stupid woman, especially one with loose morals. Because of that, the name gets snickered at. Odd, my Central and South American friends pronounce it BIM-boh, with a closed “O.” It was the same for the Bimbo commercials I heard while living in Buenos Aires. Similarly, I’ve never heard gringo pronounced “GREEN-goh.” Always “GRIN-goh.” And I’ve heard this plenty of times, being a “gringo feo” according to my Salvadoran ex-girlfriend and her sisters. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/103 "2015-10-12T12:42:26Z")
> [@wombattver](#): > > There’s a town near Pittsburgh, PA which is called North Versailles. ver-SAYLES. Yep. Missouri also has a Versailles pronounced ver-SAYLES. And not far away is Auxvasse pronounced AWKS-vass. When the Germans moved in in force in the late 19th century displacing the previous French settlers they seemed to take especial delight in butchering all the names they could. There are many many more I could cite. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/104 "2015-10-12T13:18:08Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Missouri also has a Versailles pronounced ver-SAYLES. Indiana, too. Indiana also has a town called Vevay, pronounced VEE-vee. For the record, I have never in my life heard anyone say “man-ayze.” ---
**Author:** ![Abner\_Ravenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Abner\_Ravenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abner_Ravenwood)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/105 "2015-10-12T13:35:54Z")
I’m in Barcelona on vacation and asked the Peruvian lady who works at the place I’m staying and she pronounces it somewhere between “BIM-boh” and " BEEM-bo," maybe 2/3 of the way towards “BIM-boh.” But it definitely didn’t rhyme with beam or scheme. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/106 "2015-10-12T13:44:02Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Dick Cheney’s last name [was supposed to rhyme with genie](http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-03-11/news/chi-10-things-dick-cheney_1_mary-cheney-vice-president-dick-cheney-wyoming). Just watch Chris Matthews for a week. He’ll bring it up, multiple times. I don’t get how people get “SHIV-a-lay” out of Chevrolet but a good many do. Of course, next year we’ll get people talking about “electorial votes” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/107 "2015-10-12T14:42:00Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > … For the record, I have never in my life heard anyone say “man-ayze.” That’s pretty much the standard west coast pronunciation. There might by a tiny vestige of an “uh” in the middle but for most folks it’s almost indistinguishable. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/108 "2015-10-12T15:37:42Z")
This may be peculiar to Hoosierland, but saying ‘prent-zel’ for ‘pret-zel’ was quite common where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/109 "2015-10-12T16:28:34Z")
Siri is forcing me to mispronounce many of the local (Albuquerque) place names. She just cant grok the double-L sounds like a Y thing, bless her heart. Must be from Amarillo. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/110 "2015-10-12T16:30:17Z")
Once when I was driving through California’s central valley, I heard an NPR story where a spokesman kept talking about ‘ammins’. It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. I found out later that ‘ammin’ is a common pronunciation in some areas, but in 40 years of being a California native, I had never heard it pronounced that way. And I haven’t since. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/111 "2015-10-12T16:56:22Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > For the record, I have never in my life heard anyone say “man-ayze.” You may well have heard what some other people hear _as_ that, though. Some of the complaints in this thread, I’m sure, are rooted in people accustomed to fuller enunciations not hearing all the sounds that are actually present in more compressed versions. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/112 "2015-10-12T16:58:19Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Once when I was driving through California’s central valley, I heard an NPR story where a spokesman kept talking about ‘ammins’. It took me a while to figure out what he was talking about. I found out later that ‘ammin’ is a common pronunciation in some areas… Of…? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/113 "2015-10-12T16:58:59Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Of…? Sorry. ‘Almond’. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/114 "2015-10-12T17:14:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Sorry. ‘Almond’. Heh. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/115 "2015-10-12T17:21:48Z")
> [@JKilez](#): > > I certainly hear “man-ayze” most commonly. I would think the correct pronunciation would be closer to “may-uh-nayze,” given that it uses the French nasal sound. Except that in French a double consonant doesn’t indicate a nasal sound, but a flat preceding vowel, and in this case, it’d be closer to the “o” in the English “on”, but hardly voiced, given the stress on the final syllable. The French would say it more like My-on-ezz, but I don’t see anything wrong in anglicising the vowels a bit for use in English-speaking countries. So, for me, the same thing applies to Lidl. You should hear the variations we have for Lido. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/116 "2015-10-12T18:38:11Z")
[QUOTE _Mayonnaise_ is another one where, at least in the U.S., an “incorrect” pronunciation - “man-ayze” - is driving out the proper “may-on-ayze”. Likewise “chok-lit” is more common than “chok-o-lat”.[/QUOTE] Are you 104 years old? Or from France? I’ve never heard anyone in the US say “chok-o-lat” or “may-on-ayze”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/117 "2015-10-12T18:47:49Z")
I am neither 104 years old, nor French. Nevertheless… ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/118 "2015-10-12T19:04:17Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > In Joliet (Jo-lee-et) Il, there is a highway sign on Interstate 80 above the Des Plaines (dez planes) river that indicates Des Moines (deh moin) Iowa is ahead. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > The correct pronunciation of a place name is always that of the people who live there. Which is why once you get to Des Moines, we can direct you north to Nevada (nah-VAY-dah), Iowa and Madrid (MAD-rid), Iowa 😃 ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/119 "2015-10-12T20:13:52Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Which is why once you get to Des Moines, we can direct you north to Nevada (nah-VAY-dah), Iowa and Madrid (MAD-rid), Iowa 😃 Or you could head back east via Marseilles (mar-sales), IL and Terre Haute (Terra Hawt), IN. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246/120 "2015-10-12T21:59:56Z")
> [@Turpentine](#): > > [QUOTE > > _Mayonnaise_ is another one where, at least in the U.S., an “incorrect” pronunciation - “man-ayze” - is driving out the proper “may-on-ayze”. Likewise “chok-lit” is more common than “chok-o-lat”.[/QUOTE] > > Are you 104 years old? Or from France? I’ve never heard anyone in the US say “chok-o-lat” or “may-on-ayze”. Neither. But that’s how I say both, and I’m not the only one. My guide to pronouncing _mayonnaise_ is to remember that it ultimately derives from the Balearic Island port of Mahon. Although “chocolate” is probably closer to “chok-uh-l’t”, lest you think that I meant “chok-oh-lat”. I was trying to capture the pronunciation without using IPA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/correct-pronounciations-that-people-have-given-up-on/734246.md?page=7)