# How do you pronounce "mayonnaise"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229 "2017-03-28T16:56:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/21 "2017-03-28T18:30:30Z")
I pronounce it “may-o-nayzee” so it rhymes with angry and pedigree. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/22 "2017-03-28T18:43:51Z")
I’m another one for MAY-naze. Which is also the devil’s semen. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/23 "2017-03-28T18:44:33Z")
I say it with three syllables. Midwest. My brother says “MAN aze” and I think he does it in part to annoy me. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/24 "2017-03-28T19:15:07Z")
I pronounce it, “Miracle Whip.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/25 "2017-03-28T19:27:35Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Just like Louis Gossett, Jr. > > 😃 That was my first thought, too!! 😉 I think I say it both ways. Sometimes “MAN-aze” and sometimes “MAY-uh-naze”. I think it’s more often the latter. American, grew up in New England. And I would use it in a sentence thusly: “Can you go easy on the MAY-uh-naze for that sandwich?” Sometimes you need to it avoid dry-mouth, but just a little bit. Use too much, and you ruin the sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/26 "2017-03-28T19:30:35Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I say MAY-uh-naze (/ˈmeɪ ə neɪz/). Definitely three syllables for me, with the second being a pretty short schwa. This. Why pronounce it any differently? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/27 "2017-03-28T19:41:27Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This. Why pronounce it any differently? What, are you new here? Do not release the descriptive / prescriptive factions :eek: ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/28 "2017-03-28T19:43:12Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > This. Why pronounce it any differently? Probably the same reason Worcester, as in “Worcestershire sauce” has only two syllables. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/29 "2017-03-28T19:53:18Z")
MAN-aze, much like Bandaids. Kind of intrigued by the Midwesterners who say it with three syllables. I was surprised when I left Chicago for college and discovered that there were people who said it that way. Seemed like everyone I knew said it the Bandaids way. I also loathe the stuff. Satan’s ejaculate? Works for me! ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/30 "2017-03-28T19:55:23Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Probably the same reason Worcester, as in “Worcestershire sauce” has only two syllables. I count five: Wuss sta suss sta shire Even if you don’t pronounce it like Bugs Bunny, however do you get two? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/31 "2017-03-28T19:59:14Z")
As long as were discussing mayonnaise, I’d like to point out how much fun it is to make from scratch. I remember teaching my kids about emulsions while making a mayonnaise, and the end results taste better IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/32 "2017-03-28T20:03:39Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Probably the same reason Worcester, as in “Worcestershire sauce” has only two syllables. Well, the condiment has four. The town west of Boston has only two. Which Abbie Hoffman fortunately taught me long before I had to pronounceify it to a local. I did manage to otherize myself by not knowing the local prounouncing of “Coventry.” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/33 "2017-03-28T20:04:58Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > As long as were discussing mayonnaise, I’d like to point out how much fun it is to make from scratch. I remember teaching my kids about emulsions while making a mayonnaise, and the end results taste better IMO. And it’s toxic sludge in about an hour. 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 28, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/34 "2017-03-28T20:08:13Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > And it’s toxic sludge in about an hour. 🙂 Mine is gone (eaten) in half that time.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/35 "2017-03-28T20:14:42Z")
When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and pronounced it MAN-aze: but when I became a man, I put away childish things and started calling it MAY-oh-naze. Or, more frequently, just Mayo. This is in the Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/36 "2017-03-28T20:28:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > When I was a child, I spoke as a child, and pronounced it MAN-aze: but when I became a man, I put away childish things and started calling it MAY-oh-naze. Or, more frequently, just Mayo. This is in the Midwest. Same here. Grew up in midwest in the 60s/70s. Kids said man-aze, most adults transition to may-oh-naze. Of course, since the stuff is disgusting, I normally don’t pronounce it at all. Slightly off-topic, but one of my pet peeves is when I order a sandwich somewhere and specify no mayo and the wait person says with a shocked expression: “Yuh want it DRY?!!!” “Honey, if your sandwiches can be accurately described as dry, they’re inedible, and putting revolting goop on them won’t help.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/37 "2017-03-28T20:35:47Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I count five: > > Wuss sta suss sta shire > > Even if you don’t pronounce it like Bugs Bunny, however do you get two? > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Well, the condiment has four. The town west of Boston has only two. > > Which Abbie Hoffman fortunately taught me long before I had to pronounceify it to a local. > > I did manage to otherize myself by not knowing the local prounouncing of “Coventry.” Like I said. The same reason Worecster, as in Worcestershire sauce, has only 2 syllables. This time, emphasis added, but it still reads the same way. “Worcester has 2 syllables”. Not rocket science, just ordinary grammar rules. 😉 The reason for interjecting “Worcestershire” is that many people mispronounce “Worcester” (war-chester), but most people correctly pronounce Worcestershire [sauce]. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/38 "2017-03-28T21:06:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I say MAY-uh-naze (/ˈmeɪ ə neɪz/). Definitely three syllables for me, with the second being a pretty short schwa. Same here. Yep, from Midwest. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/39 "2017-03-28T21:09:03Z")
N/m ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229/40 "2017-03-28T21:10:17Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > but most people correctly pronounce Worcestershire [sauce]. I find most people have no idea how to pronounce “Worcestershire sauce.” I typically hear “War-sester-shire” or “wor-chester-shire” instead of “woo-stuh-sure” (or similar) sauce. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-mayonnaise/783229.md?page=3)