# How do you pronounce greasy **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499 "2013-09-10T14:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/1 "2013-09-10T14:07:36Z")
Yet another how do you pronounce thread. In the GQ thread about emu oil I started to think about the radio commercial for Australian Dream that I’ve been hearing about 20 times a day. The legendary Chuck Woolery is the spokesman. One of the great properties is the product isn’t greasy. Whenever I hear him say the word greasy its jarring. So how do you say it? Love the internet.[Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqkClZJ0IpA)is the radio spot. He pronounces it “gree-zee”. Gree rhymes with glee. I have always heard it pronounced “grease-ee” with grease said like Frankie Valli sings it in _Grease is the Word_. Chuck’s way just sounds weird to me. Chuck is from Kentucky. I’ve spent time in Kentucky. I have no idea if the word ever came up in conversation while I was there. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/2 "2013-09-10T14:13:03Z")
I say [gri-si] (“gree-see”) (i.e. with an unvoiced “s”). My wife, on the other hand, varies her pronunciation based on context. If something just has grease on it, she agrees with me. However, the food in a hole-in-the-wall diner or similar place is “gree-zee”. I think it’s an interesting distinction. I am from New Hampshire, she is a native St. Louisan. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/3 "2013-09-10T14:20:08Z")
Greezy sounds a bit ignorant…IMO ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/4 "2013-09-10T14:34:57Z")
New York-born and bred. Unvoiced sibilant (GREE-see). My Alabama born-and-bred friend is the only person I know who pronounces it with a voiced sibilant (GREE-zee). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/5 "2013-09-10T14:41:38Z")
I use both pronunciations, depending on what I’m saying. If I’m describing a slice of pizza with just a little too much grease, I say it is “grease-ee”. If I’m describing a disgusting individual, I say that he is “greeeee-zee”. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/6 "2013-09-10T14:49:15Z")
/grisi/ I don’t mind people saying /grizi/ but I would never say it like that. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/7 "2013-09-10T14:56:14Z")
With a “S” sound, not the “Z” sound. It’s my understanding that in general, certain areas of the south are more likely to pronounce it Gree-Zee. I know that Alton Brown is from Georgia, and he would pronounce it ‘gree-zee’ on Good Eats all the time. What I find curious, though, is the people who say "gree-zee’ don’t say “greeze.” As in, the noun form is still pronounced with more of an ‘s’ sound, so how come only the adjective gets transformed into a ‘z’-sound? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/8 "2013-09-10T15:00:08Z")
I say gree-see normally. But if something is really heinously greasy, I’ll use the “z” sound. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2013, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/9 "2013-09-10T15:07:51Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > What I find curious, though, is the people who say "gree-zee’ don’t say “greeze.” As in, the noun form is still pronounced with more of an ‘s’ sound, so how come only the adjective gets transformed into a ‘z’-sound? Probably something to do with being intervocalic in greasy but a terminal sound in grease. ---
**Author:** ![vontsira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/51bf81/32.png) [@vontsira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vontsira)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/10 "2013-09-10T15:08:55Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > What I find curious, though, is the people who say "gree-zee’ don’t say “greeze.” As in, the noun form is still pronounced with more of an ‘s’ sound, so how come only the adjective gets transformed into a ‘z’-sound? I’m in (and from) England – both pronunciations of “greasy” are heard here. I learned, and have always used, “gree-see”; perhaps this is classism and snobbery, but I have the impression that over here, that it tends to be folk at the less-educated-and-cultivated end of the population, who say “gree-zee”. A subjective thing, but “gree-zee” always sounds to me, a bit crass and annoying. I recall once in my life (this was in England) hearing someone say “greeze”, as above – the guy (definitely working-class; and not hugely bright) talked about giving a car engine a “greeze-up”. I’d reckon that, vanishingly rare here; on the whole, those who say the adjective as “gree-zee”, say the noun as “greese”. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/11 "2013-09-10T15:10:14Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > I am from New Hampshire, she is a native St. Louisan. Native St. Louisan here. I say greasy, but I definitely know people who say greazy. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/12 "2013-09-10T15:32:55Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I use both pronunciations, depending on what I’m saying. If I’m describing a slice of pizza with just a little too much grease, I say it is “grease-ee”. If I’m describing a disgusting individual, I say that he is “greeeee-zee”. This. Native Minnesotan. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/13 "2013-09-10T15:56:49Z")
Rhymes with “easy.” As in, _Keep it greasy so it goes down easy._ – Frank Zappa ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/14 "2013-09-10T16:39:48Z")
I do the hard, unvoiced ‘s’, but I like the ‘z’ version. It’s much more evocative. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/15 "2013-09-10T16:46:38Z")
Usually with the S sound. Only with the Z sound when I specifically _want_ it to rhyme with “sleazy.” ---
**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:** [September 10, 2013, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/16 "2013-09-10T17:07:01Z")
I’ve only ever heard it with the “S” sound. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/17 "2013-09-10T17:09:28Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I say gree-see normally. But if something is really heinously greasy, I’ll use the “z” sound. Me too. Greasy for every day use Greezy is for disgust. “Careful the spot on the floor might be a little bit greasy” “Man that meatloaf is greezy” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/18 "2013-09-10T17:13:32Z")
A long time ago, I was reading a book on phonetics and it made the claim that the 40th parallel that goes through Philadelphia (around Lehigh Ave.) divides Philadelphians who say greesy from those who say greezy. Well, I grew up in West Philly, well south of the 40th parallel and I swear I never heard anyone say greezy. And I never say it. With one exception. There is a financial adviser/charlatan here in Montreal whose name is Grisé and I refer to him as Greezy. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/19 "2013-09-10T17:21:01Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever heard it voiced. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499/20 "2013-09-10T17:23:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard it voiced. Stealth brag? 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-greasy/668499.md?page=2)