# Do you say "car mel" or do you say "car amel"?- **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640 "2010-12-18T19:02:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/21 "2010-12-19T00:18:29Z")
Care-a-mull. I pronounce it the same way no matter whether it’s describing apples or hard candy or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/22 "2010-12-19T00:26:22Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I grew up on the Carmel - the original one. > > I eat caramel. Concur. Car-mel is a city. Car-A-mel is a food. Anything else is just wrong and displays ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/23 "2010-12-19T01:05:51Z")
Carmel, of course. It’s one of those Biblical words that I have to stop and think about… You know, the showdown between Elijah and Baal on Mount _Caramel_? Kind of like Christ’s crucifixion at _Cavalry_. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/24 "2010-12-19T02:08:23Z")
Clint Eastwood was the elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-sea, CA, pop. c. 3900, from 1986 to 1988. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/25 "2010-12-19T02:21:16Z")
I couldn’t vote. I say care-amel. quickly so it runs together. the Ah is barely noticeable ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/26 "2010-12-19T02:43:09Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > I agree. It’s the only word in the english language where people consistently don’t pronounce one of the letters in the word and that is dumb. How about February??? Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/27 "2010-12-19T02:47:55Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I couldn’t vote. > > I say care-amel. quickly so it runs together. the Ah is barely noticeable We all say it quickly; the important thing is that we say it. I say care-amel, whether it’s the candy, the topping, or the color of my leather sofa and backpack. [This](http://www4.uwm.edu/FLL/linguistics/dialect/staticmaps/q_4.html) may be useful. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/28 "2010-12-19T02:50:36Z")
The two options don’t do justice. It’s “care a mul.” Of course, that phonetics is based on my SE Michigan pronunciation of those phonetics; I don’t know the official way to write it. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/29 "2010-12-19T03:46:27Z")
I’m Australian so I pronounce it _ka-rə-mel_ - with emphasis on the first syllable. The first time I heard an American on a cooking show pronounce it ˈ_kär-məl_ I thought he had a speech impediment but I realise now that he was no freak. Still sounds odd to my ears though when Americans talk about “carmelizing onions”. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/30 "2010-12-19T03:49:13Z")
Then how do “CARE-uh-mel” people pronounce “caramelize”? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/31 "2010-12-19T03:54:00Z")
Probably care-uh-mel-ize. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/32 "2010-12-19T04:43:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Probably care-uh-mel-ize. Yep, something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Obeseus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbce88/32.png) [@Obeseus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Obeseus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/33 "2010-12-19T05:08:08Z")
In the $20,000 Pyramid game show hosted by Dick Clark circa 1977, I recall a constestant answering ‘carmel’ and it being buzzed wrong. Clark appealed on the contestant’s behalf by saying that he used to buy ‘carmels’ at Coney Island. The judges then accepted the answer. ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/34 "2010-12-19T05:12:33Z")
Neither. I say Ka Ramel ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/35 "2010-12-19T06:01:21Z")
/ˈkær ə məl/; the last syllable has a schwa. I’ve heard some people pronounce it with the last syllable rhyming with “melt”, but that’s almost as bad as pronouncing it car-mel, which is just ridiculous. > [@needscoffee](#): > > Then how do “CARE-uh-mel” people pronounce “caramelize”? How the hell do the _car-mel people_ pronounce it? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/36 "2010-12-19T06:12:37Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > /ˈkær ə məl/; the last syllable has a schwa. I’ve heard some people pronounce it with the last syllable rhyming with “melt”, but that’s almost as bad as pronouncing it car-mel, which is just ridiculous. > How the hell do the _car-mel people_ pronounce it? Car-muh-lize ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/37 "2010-12-19T10:43:28Z")
Cara mia! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/38 "2010-12-19T14:19:56Z")
> [@Angel\_of\_Doubt](#): > > car-A-mel. Car-mel sounds retrded. And care-uh-mell sounds pretentious and pedantic. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/39 "2010-12-19T14:45:36Z")
I’m betting you would find a religious division in pronunciation if you polled it that way. those raised Catholic, or who are practising Catholics know Carmel as a religious site which Catholics sometimes go to on pilgrimage. [Mount Carmel - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mt._Carmel) I reckon that most Catholics will have been taught to differentiate by pronouncing Car-a-mel for the candy and saving Car-mel for religious discussion. Most Catholics will also have had at least one female friend named “Carmel.” ETA: I clicked the second, under the assumption that you do mean the candy. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640/40 "2010-12-20T13:26:46Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > Cara-m’l (cara-mul?). Never car-mel. Carra-mill or Carra-mull for me, too. Car-mel is someone’s name, not a confection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-say-car-mel-or-do-you-say-car-amel/564640.md?page=3)