Care-a-mull. I pronounce it the same way no matter whether it’s describing apples or hard candy or whatever.
Concur.
Car-mel is a city.
Car-A-mel is a food.
Anything else is just wrong and displays ignorance.
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.
Clint Eastwood was the elected mayor of Carmel-by-the-sea, CA, pop. c. 3900, from 1986 to 1988.
I couldn’t vote.
I say care-amel. quickly so it runs together. the Ah is barely noticeable
How about February???
Best wishes,
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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 may be useful.
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.
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 ˈkär-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”.
Then how do “CARE-uh-mel” people pronounce “caramelize”?
Probably care-uh-mel-ize.
Yep, something like that.
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.
Neither. I say Ka Ramel
/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
Cara mia!
And care-uh-mell sounds pretentious and pedantic.
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
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.
Carra-mill or Carra-mull for me, too. Car-mel is someone’s name, not a confection.