I’ve always taken it for granted that it’s pronounced with a soft “G” and a long “Y” :
i.e. - j eye row
However, my girlfriend (from Wisconsin to my NY) pronounces it with a hard “G” and a short “Y” :
i.e. - G ear o
And you?
According to some Greek friends of mine, it’s supposed to be like “Yeero.”
Baltimorons say it guy-row (I think we all do - the place where I buy them does anyway.)
Does anyone remember the episode of Seinfeld where Elaine borrows George’s father’s tv guide, buys a gyro, and gets stuff all over the cover - I’m pretty sure she said “guy-ro” but I defer to all Seinfeld experts on that one.
“You likea da juice, eh?”
Well, it depends on if you are talking about a sandwich or a mechanical device. I pronounce a “gyro” as in gyroscope with a “j” sound, “j eye row” [jI’-rO (long i & o)]. But the sandwich, I pronounce “year oh” [yir’-O (short i, long o)].
However, dictionary.com pronounces it either [jI’-rO (long i & o)] or [jE’-rO (long e & o)] for the sandwich.
However, m-w.com pronounces the sandwich as:
<<Pronunciation: ‘yE-"rO, ‘zhir-O>>
using the key that means [yE’-rO (long e & o)] and [shir’-Oh (short i, long o)]
So, seems like you can pronounce it anyway you want and you’ll still get the sandwich. Although I didn’t find any reference to a hard “g” (guh) for either the sandwich or the gyroscope.
Jim
Is that where the ‘hero’ sandwich’s name came from?
I learned it first as J eye row and then as heerow.
Depends on how you pronounce toe-mar-toe (tom-a-ta)
According to my Greek friends, it is pronounced “yeero”.
So who ya gonna believe? The people who invented it? Or Seinfeld?
Zaphod has it right. According the great greek folks at my local, carefully unsung eatery claim, it’s “year-o”, or more closly slurred, “your-o”.
I cringed at recent Food Network thingy where the quiz was, “what’s a JY-row?” A polite, puzzled Atlantian asked, “like a gyroscope?”
However it you pronounce it, it’s wonderful. Munchables of the gods, straight from Mt. Olympus.
Adores olive oil and retsina, too,
Veb
We do? I always said j-eye-row myself. Like that gyroscope toy. Guess this Baltimoron was wrong. Or are you wrong, Sara? 
I always thought the right way was eee-row or g-eee-row, which we Americans slurred into Hero.
I prefer sub.
A hero or sub is not the same as a gyro. Cold cuts aren’t the same as roast lamb.
Jim
When I lived in Idaho, the common pronunciation was something like “heero” (sort of gargling the h). Strangely (thinking there would be a much larger Greek community here), when I came to the east coast, I only heard “gyro” as in gyroscope. People looked at me askance.
[sub]"That’s how they pronounced it in Pocatello, " I’d whimper.[/sub]
Well, my confidence is back and now I will order that gyro loudly and with no first consonant. Thanks for clearing it up!
No matter how you pronounce it, the Greek behind the counter will first pretend not to understand you, then give you a withering stare and pronounce it exactly the opposite way.
On the other hand, a sandwich this good is worth the humiliation.
Yeeeeeero.
And the coney island restaurants around here (it’s what the greek folks call their diners here, and they all serve coneys) also make a chicken gyro, which I guess defeats the whole purpose for you lamb fans, but damn it’s tasty.
Gear-row.
But I know that’s not correct - just common place.
Of course it’s yearo.
A few years ago, I went to New York, and there was a Gyro vendor on the street (although, he didn’t look Greek). I ordered a gyro, and he looked at me as if I was speaking greek. I said a “yeeeaaaar-oooh” slowly and carefully a second time. He put something in a bag and handed it to me. I walked a couple of blocks and sat down to eat. I opened the bag and found he had sold me a “Yahoo” drink.
I pronounce it khyrohss (with the first consonant being a soft guttural sound, like a Spanish “jota”).
Hasn’t anyone here seen those ads in various hamburger places (the ones mostly owned by Greeks) that have the blonde with a Gyro and it says “Yee-Roo”?
Kasuo - Yes. The poster is kind of faded from being in the sun for 15 years? I know that one.
Anyway, I think the common pronounciation is “year-o”, but I don’t really like saying that, so I prononce it “jy-row”.