# How do YOU pronounce "sherbet"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2009, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264 "2009-08-30T16:33:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/21 "2009-08-30T20:34:52Z")
Shur bet. Or sometimes shur bit. I think I’m the only person I know who pronounces it this way instead of Shur bert. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/22 "2009-08-30T20:35:52Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Somebody explained to me that “shur-bert” and “shur-bet” and “sore-bay” were all three different but somewhat similar frozen deserts, which made me think the whole thing (I mean all those deserts, not the pronunciation question) was just stupid. Why can’t there just be “ice cream” and “some other kind of trick ice cream that has fruit but no cream (or whatever their deal is)”? That way, we could at least understand what we were eating, and the one with the completely unworkable name would goddam disappear. Well why then can’t we all have the same goddam language too! That’ll clear things up, won’t it!? ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/23 "2009-08-30T20:50:49Z")
sherbet as /ˈʃɜr.bɪt/ (SHUR-bit) sorbet as /ˈsɔr.bɪt/ (SORE-bit), as it comes from Turkish, not French. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/24 "2009-08-30T21:01:53Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Somebody explained to me that “shur-bert” and “shur-bet” and “sore-bay” were all three different but somewhat similar frozen deserts… “Shur-bert” is merely a mispronunciation of the word “sherbet,” not something different in any substantive way. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/25 "2009-08-30T21:13:22Z")
Mispronounced SHURburt my entire midwestern life. And no, I don’t warsh the deeshes in the crick… ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/26 "2009-08-30T21:32:20Z")
> [@StaudtCJ](#): > > The extent of my idiocy: I never really paid attention to the fact that there’s only one “R” in Sherbet. Sure-Bert is obviously wrong, and I’m going to make an attempt to remove it from my vocabulary. I never noticed it until I opened this thread just like I never noticed the Beatles weren’t spelled the same as the insect until I read it here. I am not changing my pronunciation though. Sherbet could be pronounced correctly in a charming British accent but it sounds downright tacky in lots of American accents. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/27 "2009-08-30T21:37:48Z")
A link to the online Merriam Webster mentions sherbet and a variant, sherbert; naturally, in the latter case, the r would be pronounced. > **[Definition of SHERBET](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sherbet)** > > a cold drink of sweetened and diluted fruit juice; an ice with milk, egg white, or gelatin added… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/28 "2009-08-30T22:16:19Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > Well why then can’t we all have the same goddam language too! That’ll clear things up, won’t it!? It would clear up a great many things, yes. Of course it would. That’s obvious, isn’t it? But you forget the ol’ “human element”. Billions of people like languages that would have to be eliminated to do this, no matter which one we settle on. How unfeeling of you to propose such an unseemly tactic! Not so many billions would care if we got rid of these deserts. Seriously, how many billions would care? How many know the difference? How many even tolerate somebody else explaining the difference without teasing them by pretending to misunderstand and getting them to repeat parts of it? You have to admit it would be kinder and more sensitive of us to run roughshod over the feelings of sherbet lovers, than to do as you suggest. ---
**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:** [August 30, 2009, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/29 "2009-08-30T22:45:28Z")
Sure-bet. I think “sure-bert” was started by some guy named Herbert. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/30 "2009-08-30T22:51:39Z")
ʃɝbǝt ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/31 "2009-08-31T00:29:36Z")
Throatwobbler Mangrove But seriously, I pronounce it sure bert. Even after I discovered that it’s spelled with only one r, I figured that since everybody else around me pronounces it like I do, why stop. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/32 "2009-08-31T00:56:55Z")
Sher b’t ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/33 "2009-08-31T01:01:24Z")
The stuff in my freezer is spelled sherbert, just like I pronounce it. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/34 "2009-08-31T02:05:48Z")
“Sherbert.” I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way, although I don’t have occasion to talk about it all that often. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/35 "2009-08-31T02:55:07Z")
I pronounce it the right way, without the extra R. In school, I would make fun of the less-educated kids who pronounced it the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/36 "2009-08-31T03:49:12Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > A link to the online Merriam Webster mentions sherbet and a variant, sherbert; naturally, in the latter case, the r would be pronounced. > > [SHERBET Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sherbet) That just means it’s a really _common_ mispronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Jerseyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@Jerseyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerseyman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/37 "2009-08-31T03:55:37Z")
Which R would be pronounced? Er=Uh or a long _vocalic Rrrr_. Sheuhb’t. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/38 "2009-08-31T04:31:11Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I pronounce it “sherbet,” just like it’s spelled. > > I suspect people who pronounce it “sherbert” of pronouncing “wash” as “warsh.” You partly lose that bet. No one says warsh here, but they _do_ say shurbert (Well, sort of. The r is there, but faintly), so commonly so that like **StaudtCJ** I never noticed that there’s only one R. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/39 "2009-08-31T06:11:10Z")
whatIreallywantedwasanicebowloficecreambutallMompickedupfromthestoreisthispalesubstitute-ert ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/40 "2009-08-31T09:55:46Z")
Orange freaking Sher-bert since I was old enough to ask for it…cause after that green crap…it was a necessity to be specific…even at 2. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264.md?page=3)