# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/41 "2010-02-13T00:51:45Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > I know the latter is the original French pronunciation, but growing up I always heard the former, and can’t help feeling like people who say foy-YAY are pricks. I feel like a prick when I say it, but I do pronounce it foy-AY. That’s what my mom called it - she was raised in Cleveland by Polish parents. My mom once found me passed out stone cold on the floor of her foy-AY after I’d been involved in a car accident. My injuries weren’t all that bad, but the casr-crash adreniline wore off as soon as I made it through the front door. Mmm… foy-AYs are a nice place to sleep it off. ---
**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 13, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/42 "2010-02-13T05:50:24Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > 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 try to pronounce all French words with my authentic Saskatchewan accent. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/43 "2010-02-13T06:03:03Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Same for people who say _Paree_ for Paris when speaking in English. One of my college pals was just like that: “Well, we were going to go to _Paree_, but decided at the last minute to head for _Munchen_, from which we could get to _Ostberlin_, then on to _Moskva_.” Or something like that. We just rolled our eyes. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/44 "2010-02-13T16:28:51Z")
Foy-urr. I’ve never heard a live person pronounce it foy-yay, much less the more correctly French fwa-yay (+/-). I’m originally from SoCal & have lived in the southwest, FL, and now the midwest. My attitude? What **Attack from the 3rd dimension** just said. It is now an English word pronounced according to English rules (such as they are). ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/45 "2010-02-13T17:33:46Z")
I’m AmeRican. I pronounce it at foyeR. I can’t help it; it’s just part of my language repeRtoiRe. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/46 "2010-02-13T17:42:35Z")
This word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary. Whenever people say foyer, I hear “furrier” or “fourier” and have to kick my noodle into gear for a few seconds whilst I examine the context to see what the hell they meant. Ahh, hallway. OK gotcha. ---
**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 13, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/47 "2010-02-13T18:15:06Z")
I’ll agree that switching to a French accent to pronounce Paris (unless you’re talking about gay Paree) is awkward; however, at least in architecture circles, foy-yay is a valid American pronunciation, even the dominant one in my experience. It’s actually not even that close to the French pronunciation - the consonants are the same, but the vowel sounds are fairly different. ETA: Oh, and agreed that houses have hallways or entries, in my lexicon. Commercial buildings, however, often have foyers. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/48 "2010-02-13T19:01:41Z")
I usually just say it in French. I’m not a prick, I’m just French-Canadian. Deal with it. 🆒 ---
**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, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/49 "2010-02-13T20:30:00Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I usually just say it in French. I’m not a prick, I’m just French-Canadian. Deal with it. 🆒 I would argue that anyone in a bilingual country gets to say any word from either language with either pronunciation. God knows where, when and from whom a Canadian learned any given word. My current issue is that my kids say ‘conch’ as though it were ‘konch’, instead of ‘konk’. However, this only comes up when we are having a formal discussion and must pass the conch. ---
**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 13, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/50 "2010-02-13T20:31:15Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > hall _vestibule_ ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/51 "2010-02-13T20:57:28Z")
I have to say that people who say For-Yer sound to me like people who say Buff-ett. 😛 For-Yer sounds like some hick pronunciation (hyuck, hyuck, and here’s our FOR-YER, 'cause it’s FOR YER coats and shoes) Just sounds stilted and wrong to me. Always did, even before I learned French. But then, hardly a deal breaker. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![InterestedObserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@InterestedObserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InterestedObserver)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/52 "2010-02-13T20:59:54Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > hall That. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/53 "2010-02-13T22:04:12Z")
The whole thing sounds so impossibly pretentious, it has set me off wondering what kind of people would have a room that is not for anything but entering it and then entering some other real room from it. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/54 "2010-02-13T22:14:19Z")
I’ve heard it pronounced both ways, depending on where I was living at the time. I think people who get their dick in a twist over regional variations in accents and pronunciations are flaming fucking assholes who seriously deserve to be banned from the internet. Forever. ---
**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 13, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/55 "2010-02-13T22:19:19Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > \ > I think people who get their dick in a twist over regional variations in accents and pronunciations are flaming fucking assholes who seriously deserve to be banned from the internet. Forever. Oh oh. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/56 "2010-02-14T00:42:42Z")
FOY-urr. It didn’t even occur to me that anyone would pronounce it any other way. Then again, I also say “gar-AHJ” for _garage_, and I hear others pronounce it “garridge.” ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/57 "2010-02-14T01:24:12Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > 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’ve always thought it was respectful to refer to proper nouns by their original names. Like when I was in Italy, I talked about Milano and Firenza and Venetzia. And I try to call ethnic groups what they call themselves. Don’t have a particular logical argument, it just feels that way to me. How do you pronouce Nicaragua without rolling your R’s? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/58 "2010-02-14T03:37:19Z")
Currently poll results at 82 to 81. I have to say I’m surprised by how remarkably even the division is. I suspect the Canadians (and Brits?) are skewing it, if we had only Americans responding we’d see a majority for foy-urr. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/59 "2010-02-14T09:41:35Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > How do you pronouce Nicaragua without rolling your R’s? 😕 Nick-ah-rah-gwa/Nick-er-ah-gwa. (Nick-er-ah-gew-ah if you’re on the BBC.) You’ve never heard an English speaker not roll their r’s when pronouncing Spanish names/loan words? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659/60 "2010-02-14T13:24:27Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > I think people who get their dick in a twist over regional variations in accents and pronunciations are flaming fucking assholes who seriously deserve to be banned from the internet. Forever. But then where would you find threads to join? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foy-urr-or-foy-yay/528659.md?page=4)