# How do you pronounce coyote? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 21, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489 "2011-03-21T18:24:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/1 "2011-03-21T18:24:19Z")
kai-oat or kai-oh-tea? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Doctor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/2 "2011-03-21T18:32:26Z")
Kai-oh-tea. Of course, I learned how to pronounce it from Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner cartoons. Wile E Coyote, Super Genius! ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/3 "2011-03-21T18:37:24Z")
Chose the fourth option, but it comes out of my mouth sounding more like kahi- **yote** -ee and the first syllable is very Southern - kind of hard to describe, and the t is more of a t/d. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/4 "2011-03-21T18:53:19Z")
#2 although I’m more in the outer reaches of suburbia than living in the big city. But I’m guessing that counts under your definition of “urban”. Also, we have a lot of coyotes around here. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/5 "2011-03-21T19:01:02Z")
My grandmother pronounced it kai-yute. Never knew where that came from. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/6 "2011-03-21T19:04:13Z")
Chose the fourth, but it’s not quite on. Like Shelli, the “t” comes out more like a “d”. My pronunciation was set while growing up in rural Louisiana. Oh, and I also pronounce it…déjà vu: [How do YOU pronounce “coyote”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=562102) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/7 "2011-03-21T19:16:03Z")
I picked the 4th option, even though I’m an urbanite. I learned how to pronounce it while I lived in the suburbs. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/8 "2011-03-21T19:20:36Z")
I picked the 2nd, but pronounce it more kai-yo-tea ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/9 "2011-03-21T19:38:57Z")
I’ve also heard COY-yote. But I’m a kai-YO-tee sayer and I’m a bumpkin. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/10 "2011-03-21T20:12:33Z")
Coy-Oh-tay. But then I live in the Southwest where there is a strong Hispanic influence. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/11 "2011-03-21T20:36:02Z")
I’m on the edge of suburbia, and I pronounce it both ways. Really depends on my mood. ---
**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:** [March 21, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/12 "2011-03-21T20:43:54Z")
Do the suburbs count as urban or rural? ---
**Author:** ![Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diver)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/13 "2011-03-21T21:57:20Z")
I grew up in West Texas and we all said kai oat. The Mexicans pronounced it the other way. ---
**Author:** ![stw004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@stw004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stw004)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/14 "2011-03-21T22:04:00Z")
Depends on the context, a Kai-oat is the mangy dog like creature that I feel should be exterminated from the earth. A coy-o-teh is a person who specializes in moving humans from one side of the border to the other. Grew up and went to college in rural Texas, now work in downtown Houston, urban and rural are flexible terms for me. ---
**Author:** ![TravisFromOR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cc9497/32.png) [@TravisFromOR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TravisFromOR)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/15 "2011-03-22T00:51:26Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Do the suburbs count as urban or rural? If you can throw rocks at your neighbors, you’ll be urban. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/16 "2011-03-22T01:11:54Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > My grandmother pronounced it kai-yute. Never knew where that came from. My dad pronounces it that way, too (grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan). I use the Warner Bros. version. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/17 "2011-03-22T01:17:03Z")
> [@kelly5078](#): > > My grandmother pronounced it kai-yute. Never knew where that came from. Yep, rural Manitoba. It sounds more like ‘kite’ than anything else, there’s just a hint of a ‘u’ diphthong before the ‘t’. Has to be one syllable, though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/18 "2011-03-22T01:24:19Z")
I used to say it with three syllables (the same as Wile E.), but around here folks more often use the two-syllable version, and I figure they’d know better than I. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/19 "2011-03-22T01:34:49Z")
> [@Diver](#): > > I grew up in West Texas and we all said kai oat. > The Mexicans pronounced it the other way. Mine says COY yuh teh and I have noticed I say it like that too. Except when I call it “wolf”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489/20 "2011-03-22T02:06:23Z")
> [@sunstone](#): > > Coy-Oh-tay. But then I live in the Southwest where there is a strong Hispanic influence. Co-Yo-tay, so didn’t vote. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coyote/575489.md?page=2)