# How do you pronounce 'ramen'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034 "2012-02-07T00:25:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/1 "2012-02-07T00:25:32Z")
I was listening to the WTF podcast with Marc Marron, and he (and I think a guest) were talking about the ubiquitous noodles, and pronouncing their name ‘RAY-men’. Is that a common pronunciation? How do you pronounce it? ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/2 "2012-02-07T00:26:16Z")
rah-men ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/3 "2012-02-07T00:28:29Z")
RAH-men. ---
**Author:** ![SDMBKL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdmbkl/32/7297_2.png) [@SDMBKL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SDMBKL)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/4 "2012-02-07T00:31:51Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I was listening to the WTF podcast with Marc Marron, and he (and I think a guest) were talking about the ubiquitous noodles, and pronouncing their name ‘RAY-men’. > > Is that a common pronunciation? How do you pronounce it? Ha-ha. I remember watching a TV courtroom case when a character said “Roman noodles”, and the judge corrected the man/woman, saying that it was “Ramen” noodles" in the setting. At first, I was kind of confused on the phrase “Roman noodles”, though. Amusing, huh? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/5 "2012-02-07T00:33:15Z")
They probably just made a mistake. But there is a certain Japanese dish of cold noodles called “ray-men”. I doubt they were discussing that exact dish though. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/6 "2012-02-07T00:35:32Z")
Rah-men, though ever since I took Japanese I do have a nasty habit of pronouncing it as the way you would read ラメン (Japanese speakers: the “ー” was omitted intentionally since in English I don’t make the length distinction), which means the “r” is more of a flap. Though as far as weird pronunciations go my mom says romaine. Like the lettuce. She claims that everyone she knew in college said it that way, though I find this dubious since I think the only common type of instant noodles when she was in college would have been called “Oodles of Noodles.” > [@Isamu](#): > > They probably just made a mistake. But there is a certain Japanese dish of cold noodles called “ray-men”. I doubt they were discussing that exact dish though. Just looked it up – reimen sounds absolutely delicious. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/7 "2012-02-07T00:36:54Z")
> [@SDMBKL](#): > > Ha-ha. I remember watching a TV courtroom case when a character said “Roman noodles”, and the judge corrected the man/woman, saying that it was “Ramen” noodles" in the setting. At first, I was kind of confused on the phrase “Roman noodles”, though. Amusing, huh? 😉 I think Roman noodles would be pronounced ‘spaghetti’. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/8 "2012-02-07T00:43:33Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > Just looked it up – reimen sounds absolutely delicious. It is! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/9 "2012-02-07T02:50:18Z")
I’ve only heard ramen by people who think foreign words are all too highfalutin. It’s something I would expect someone like Archie Bunker to say. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/10 "2012-02-07T02:53:49Z")
Larmen. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/11 "2012-02-07T02:55:02Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ve only heard ramen by people who think foreign words are all too highfalutin. It’s something I would expect someone like Archie Bunker to say. Archie Bunker would just cut thru the crap and say “noodles,” no? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/12 "2012-02-07T02:58:56Z")
Rah-men is close, but not quite. Rah-mən. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/13 "2012-02-07T03:01:35Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Rah-men is close, but not quite. > > Rah-mən. I did actually get as far as copying the schwa character from Wikipedia in order to put it in the OP, but then realised to be consistent I would have to use all phonetic transcript characters and I don’t know them, and nor would many people reading the thread. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/14 "2012-02-07T04:52:18Z")
“throat-warberler-mangrove” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/15 "2012-02-07T11:46:36Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > Larmen. I used to frequent a Japanese restaurant where they spelled it ‘larmen’ on their menu. I just thought it was a bad spelling error, since they used ‘rah-men’ when speaking. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/16 "2012-02-07T15:07:41Z")
Dear Lord, Thank you for the tasty noodles. Ramen. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/17 "2012-02-07T15:39:46Z")
Just yesterday we stopped to try a Japanese place we hadn’t been to before and I had the shoyu ramen with pork and kamaboko (fish cakes). In fact, I’m finishing off the leftovers at this very moment. Yum. But what really blew me away was something I hadn’t gotten around to trying before – zaru soba cold buckwheat noodles with soba tsuyu and scallions and wasabi on the side. Fandamntastic! So refreshing. The Japanese really are the masters of food. I think Japanese cuisine should displace Chinese as one of the top global cuisine traditions. I’d call it Japanese, Indian, and French. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Room](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_room/32/5069_2.png) [@Little\_Room](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Room)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/18 "2012-02-07T16:15:46Z")
I used to say ray-men, then I heard other people say it the “right” way, felt for a time like an ignorant, uneducated rube, and then started saying rah-men. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/19 "2012-02-07T16:26:04Z")
When I hear Japanese people say it, it sounds like they’re dropping the last consonant, so it’s more like [ra 'me:] ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034/20 "2012-02-07T18:26:47Z")
I’m in the midwest and hear it both ways about equally. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-ramen/612034.md?page=2)