# How do you pronounce "Ramen"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 3, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348 "2004-02-03T17:54:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/21 "2004-02-04T05:43:34Z")

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It’s from Chinese “to pull.” Ramen, or rah-myun, or lamian means “pulled noodles” because you stretch the dough out when you make them.

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**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/22 "2004-02-04T07:56:55Z")

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> [@Roadwalker](#):
>
> saimin  
> everyone call it that in Hawaii, you can get it at resturants

Yup, we do. I wonder why.

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**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/23 "2004-02-04T09:08:28Z")

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Although I havn’t been in Hawaii for 20 years, I still call it saimin.

My brother has gotten my sister in law to call it that too.

My wife says rahmen

my kids just call it soup.

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**Author:** ![Vaeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Vaeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vaeth)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/24 "2004-02-04T09:24:26Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> The Japanese ra-men is a somewhat sloppy transliteration of the Chinese lo mein (which is actually pronounced “loh-myen”). The Japanese style ramen isn’t the same as Chinese lo mein, but that’s apparently where the word comes from.
> 
> I don’t have a cite for this, alas; I picked it up somewhere while I was living in Tokyo about 17 years ago. Bruce\_Daddy’s link up there kind of gestures in the general direction of corroborating my story, though.

Joven got it right above. To the best of my knowledge, in chinese it is:

拉麵 and not 老麵

Living in Osaka, they pronounce it la~ men here. The la~ is slightly longer/stretched.

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**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/25 "2004-02-04T14:19:12Z")

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I wonder if the person who brought this up had just watched The Surreal Life. Vanilla Ice pronounced them “roman” noodles and not doubt this paragon of pronunciationship influenced your student.

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**Author:** ![Gumbercules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)\
**Post date:** [February 4, 2004, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/227348/26 "2004-02-04T14:29:50Z")

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> [@Siddhartha Vicious](#):
>
> By the way, I love your Username, **Gumbercules**.

Thanks. I wasn’t sure if anyone would get the reference.

I guess the consensus is that “rahmen” is correct. All the Corrections Officers in the prisons around here refer to it as “crackhead soup.” Nice.

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