# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/41 "2009-08-31T10:02:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I suspect people who pronounce it “sherbert” of pronouncing “wash” as “warsh.” I say “sherbert” & “wash”. So does everyone I know. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/42 "2009-08-31T10:24:12Z")
Sher-but. Probably a glottal stop on the t. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/43 "2009-08-31T13:23:27Z")
Sherbet. And I once had a big fight with my dad over the pronunciation of turmeric, which he thought was pronounced tumeric. I won. ---
**Author:** ![liberty3701](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@liberty3701](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/liberty3701)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/44 "2009-08-31T13:26:55Z")
I’m from New Jersey. I say “sherbert” but not “warsh.” (The “extra” r in sherbet is not in an environment where you would get an extra r like in “warsh” anyway.) And sorbet (which I pronounce “sorebay”) is a different thing. Sherbet has dairy, sorbet does not. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/45 "2009-08-31T15:33:26Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > _Sher Bert_ when I was in grade school, but _sher bit_ once I knew better. I’m surprised _sherbert_ is acceptable now. Same here. No clue where that second R came from. Then again, I grew up waRshing things (hell, I raised my hand in first grade and asked Sister Reparate if she hadn’t forgotten the R in the word she’d written on the board). I got better. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/46 "2009-08-31T17:52:44Z")
Sure bert. Sherbet is a misspelling IMO. They forgot to put in the “r”. That doesn’t mean that the word has to be pronounced incorrectly too. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/47 "2009-08-31T18:07:22Z")
I’m from Chicago and we always said “sure-bert.” I was an adult before someone ever corrected me and I was amazed that I had never heard it pronounced any other way. Of course that was in the 70s and early 80s before it became “posh” to pronounce things correctly 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/48 "2009-08-31T18:17:50Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I grew up saying _sher-bert_ but switched to _sher-bet_ a few years ago. I don’t recall why I made the switch. Same here when I was growing up. I switched the day I actually saw the word and realized there was no second R. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/49 "2009-08-31T18:31:37Z")
I used to call it sher-burt until I learned its proper spelling in grad school sometime. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/50 "2009-08-31T20:04:55Z")
Sherbet, but it probably sounds closer to sherbit. No second r. OP, do you say sahmon or sallmon? ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/51 "2009-08-31T22:02:15Z")
tee-a-wanna ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/52 "2009-09-01T03:54:53Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > OP, do you say sahmon or sallmon? Two things I’m forever telling Thais: The L in “salmon” is silent, and so is the S in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/53 "2009-09-01T07:16:21Z")
Sherbet, no second “R”; sorbet is pronounced in the French fashion, as it’s merely French for sherbet. Although we Americans usually mean something like Italian ice when we say “sorbet,” it’s legally interchangeable with “sherbet,” which contains dairy, but less than ice cream. And that’s “sammon” and “tee-huana” where I’m from. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/54 "2009-09-01T07:53:36Z")
Sammon and tee-a-wanna. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/55 "2009-09-01T08:00:11Z")
Count me in as among those who pronounced it “sher-bert” until they realized there actually was no second r. Grew up in Georgia, if that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/56 "2009-09-01T14:12:26Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Two things I’m forever telling Thais: The L in “salmon” is silent, and so is the S in Illinois. And it’s not AR-Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![LunarPlexus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/57 "2009-09-01T21:09:59Z")
In our house we say, “Schubert.” We are a little odd. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/58 "2009-09-01T21:50:10Z")
Just like it’s spelled: sherbert. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/59 "2009-09-01T21:55:42Z")
Shrbut. Rhymes with put, except not stressed on last syllable Shrbet if I’m trying to speak distinctly ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264/60 "2009-09-02T04:27:48Z")
I avoid saying it if at all possible, not that the locals would see anything wrong with my saying “sherbert.” It is bad enough that my dear sister mocks me for sticking an “r” in “wash” even though I very carefully do not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-sherbet/508264.md?page=4)