# FOY-urr or foy-YAY **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659 "2010-02-12T04:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/21 "2010-02-12T16:10:45Z")
Definitely foy-urr. In Chicago, if we’re trying to get a regional thing going here. I very rarely hear foy-YAY around here, and only from people who it is a safe bet are using it as an affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/22 "2010-02-12T18:18:04Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I’ve always heard it (and say it) as foy-yay, including when we were in high school, where I first heard the word used. But I think that here in Canada, there may be a greater tendency to use the French pronunciation of French loan words. I think you’re right - I still have a hard time pronouncing the band En Vogue as Enn Vogue - it always wants to come out as Ahn Vogue. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/23 "2010-02-12T18:44:46Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Just so you know, neither of these options is like the original French; /foy-yay’/ is not how ‘Foyer’ is pronounced in French anymore than /foy’-urr/ is; In French it’s /fwa-yay’/. I say foy-yay I’m from Michigan with a French Canadian mom who said “fwa-yay”. Foy-yurr bugs me, as does Eye-talian. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/24 "2010-02-12T18:48:05Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > As a kid I said foy-er because I didn’t know any better. As a young adult I said fo-yay because I thought it was right. Now I try to avoid pronouncing the word at all. Saying “foy-er” makes me feel stupid, saying “fo-yay” makes me feel pretentious. Whenever possible I substitute some other word, like “entryway” or “front hall.” I know how much people hate “this” so umm, that’s exactly what I was going to say. I avoid the word for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/25 "2010-02-12T19:05:11Z")
I say foy-yay, but I also hear foy-yurr and occasionally “fwa-yay”. I just looked up foyer in my Oxford dictionary, and it lists all 3 pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/26 "2010-02-12T19:28:31Z")
I normally say foy-urr. Foy-yay sounds pretentious. My vote makes it a tie! 45-45 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/27 "2010-02-12T19:49:34Z")
I know “foyYAY” is closer to the original French (well, the original would have been more look fwah-ee-ay" but it sounds pretentious to me. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/28 "2010-02-12T20:00:19Z")
fwa-YEH. No, FWA-yeh. Eh, I’m just being contrary. I like FOY-ey. Can you tell I really don’t care how it’s pronounced? I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/29 "2010-02-12T20:00:52Z")
I think it’s always foyYAY in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/30 "2010-02-12T20:06:58Z")
If foy-yay = “pretentious” and foy-yurr = “uneducated hick”, I’d pick pretentious. I’d rather be a dick than a hick. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/31 "2010-02-12T20:24:34Z")
It used to be the first, then I married a Québécoise and adapted. ---
**Author:** ![runcible\_spoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc29f/32.png) [@runcible\_spoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/runcible_spoon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/32 "2010-02-12T22:20:41Z")
I pronounce it foy-yay, and have never heard it any other way. Mind you, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I’ve heard that outside of architecture school, so it’s not exactly weighing on my mind. I’m from the west coast, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/33 "2010-02-12T23:09:23Z")
I pronounce it FOY-urr, and before this thread it never occurred to me that there was any alternative pronunciation out there. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/34 "2010-02-12T23:10:16Z")
I definitely pronounce it the French way, as I do most French loan words. I have a lot of trouble pronouncing things in English when I know they are actually French words, and I occasionally have to think about how to “mispronounce” things when speaking to American friends (pretty much every Canadian I know knows the French ways to say things). Aside: giving driving directions to an American last year was fun… "Go down _Saint-Urbain_…’ “Where?” “Saint-Urban”. "Oh, ok! " “Turn on Pine” “Where?” “sorry, they changed the name…_Des Pins_…um…dess pins” “oh, ok!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/35 "2010-02-12T23:15:59Z")
> [@runcible\_spoon](#): > > I pronounce it foy-yay, and have never heard it any other way. Mind you, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I’ve heard that outside of architecture school, so it’s not exactly weighing on my mind. I’m from the west coast, fwiw. It’s strange, I’ve heard the word 3 times in the last 2 days pronounced by 3 different people, on different occasions, talking about different things. And they all pronounced it differently, which is what led to the poll. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/36 "2010-02-12T23:30:33Z")
hall ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/37 "2010-02-12T23:36:05Z")
I can’t choose - I say both, for no particular rhyme or reason. Maybe it depends on what someone else says first or maybe I just have pretentious days. I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/38 "2010-02-12T23:47:33Z")
Since I speak French, I say it as a French person would. But in general, if I learn the “native” pronunciation of a foreign word, I use the native pronunciation. Why would you say something wrong on purpose? Well, except for _bleu_ cheese which I say as if it had been written _blue_ cheese. But then whenever I write it in English I spell it blue cheese. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/39 "2010-02-13T00:09:44Z")
vest-i-bule. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/40 "2010-02-13T00:45:21Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Since I speak French, I say it as a French person would. But in general, if I learn the “native” pronunciation of a foreign word, I use the native pronunciation. Why would you say something wrong on purpose? > Well, except for _bleu_ cheese which I say as if it had been written _blue_ cheese. But then whenever I write it in English I spell it blue cheese. I was in college in the 80’s, when one of the political issues was Nicaragua. It always drove me mad the way that people would speak in a flat American accent, and then pronounce _Nicaragua_ in that tonguerolling fashion as though they had just teleported from _Managua_ moments before. Same for people who say _Paree_ for Paris when speaking in English. Kind of like your comment regarding Bleu cheese. English is chock full of loan words, and you could pronounce them all appropriately to their home language if you wanted, but one would sound a bit odd. > [@](#): > > I overslept and was still in my _pyjamas_ and had to _shampoo my hair. I was in such a rush I went commando. On the way out the door I dropped my chemistry and algebra homework. I had a cookie on the way out the door and a cruller at school **. In my free period I went to chess club, but it was a pain, because of Dave kibtzing, and then he knocked over the board, the klutz** _. \*Say with Hindi accent \*\*Say with Afrikaans accent \*\*\*Arabic accent. \*\*\*\*Dutch \*\*\*\*\*Yiddish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659.md?page=3)