# How is Decal pronounced? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538 "2023-11-22T15:51:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/41 "2023-11-22T20:25:17Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Ugh. In the Hitchcock movie _Marnie_, Tippi Hedron says “Pih-KHAN pie” about a million times. In that early-sixties Holywood style of overenunciation, it’s unbearable (IMHO). Avoid pecan desserts in New Orleans – this is strongly “puh-CAWN\*\*” country down here. \*\* _and yes, “Don” and “Dawn” **don’t** rhyme here, making the “CAWN” part all the more inscrutable._ ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/42 "2023-11-22T20:42:33Z")
I didn’t realize this was a difficult question. I probably haven’t heard it pronounced in decades, but it always was [/dikæl/](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet). I think the stress was pretty even, but heavier on the first syllable if not and never heavier on the second syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/43 "2023-11-22T21:10:13Z")
I’m 55 from SW Michigan and I’ve only ever heard it as dee-kal. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/44 "2023-11-22T21:17:20Z")
Now I have the image stuck in my head that I’m assembling a model in the middle of a stadium and the entire crowd is chanting “DEEEEE-CAL!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/45 "2023-11-22T21:31:28Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Ugh. In the Hitchcock movie _Marnie_, Tippi Hedron says “Pih-KHAN pie” about a million times. In that early-sixties Holywood style of overenunciation, it’s unbearable (IMHO). I don’t even like the damn dessert, but it’ll always be “PEEK-an” to me. I’m in Arkansas, and my mother was visiting. At a restaurant, my mother asked the waitress if one of their pies had any pee-cans in it. The waitress looked puzzled and when my mother repeated herself said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what pee-cans are.” I had to let the waitress know my mother was asking about puh-kaans. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/46 "2023-11-22T21:45:53Z")
I’m guessing you’re most likely from the Northeast or Atlantic Coast. That’s where that pronunciation is most prominent. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/47 "2023-11-22T21:49:13Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I’m in Arkansas, and my mother was visiting. At a restaurant, my mother asked the waitress if one of their pies had any pee-cans in it. The waitress looked puzzled and when my mother repeated herself said, “I’m sorry, I don’t know what pee-cans are.” I had to let the waitress know my mother was asking about puh-kaans. ⁢ That’s so bizarre to me! I’ve heard people saying PEE-cans all the time here in Arkansas. Sure, I don’tusually say it that way, but many people do. The more rural they sound, the more common it is. I’ll use it when I’m trying to sound more hillbilly. ---
**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:** [November 22, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/48 "2023-11-22T22:31:30Z")
DEE-cal. Grew up in Chicago, now in NY state. Never heard it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/49 "2023-11-22T22:42:06Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Now I have the image stuck in my head that I’m assembling a model in the middle of a stadium and the entire crowd is chanting “DEEEEE-CAL!!!” Go DEEEEE-CAL RIPKEN! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/50 "2023-11-22T23:17:27Z")
It’s funny that I hadn’t used or heard decal in at least 20 years. Then Youtubers started selling them to support their channels. I hear it used frequently now. I don’t mind supporting my favorite channels. Merch is a good way to donate. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2023, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/51 "2023-11-22T23:46:02Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The alternate pronunciation is in the dictionary as Canadian. It sounds so wrong. Come up and live in Canada for a few years and let us help you to see the error of your ways. The first pronunciation given in Merriam-Webster is “dee-cal”, which makes it sound like “decal” is a verb representing the opposite of a “cal”, as in “laminate”, “delaminate”. Whereas “di-'kal”, with the emphasis on the second syllable, sounds like a pre-Revolutionary French nobleman: “Le Compte D’Equalle”. I tells ya, the Canuck pronunciation is the only correct one! 🦫 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/52 "2023-11-23T00:18:57Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > The first time I heard it pronounced “deck-al” was an episode of _Corner Gas_. That’s the ONLY time I’ve heard it (mis)pronounced so as to rhyme with freckle. Took me a while to realize what the heck they were talking aboot. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/53 "2023-11-23T03:39:39Z")
Born and raised in So Cal. Lived in 3 of the 4 corners of the USA, plus the very middle. I’ve always said DEE-kal. I’ve been aware for years that the the “deck-'l” pronounciation exists. I’ve never heard it in the wild. Not once. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/54 "2023-11-23T04:20:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I tells ya, the Canuck pronunciation is the only correct one! Isn’t the Canadian pronunciation, “Di-eh?-'kal”? ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/55 "2023-11-23T04:48:28Z")
DEE cal. (Texan) Bob pronounced it deckle. I always had to stop and figure out what he was talking about ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/56 "2023-11-23T05:18:49Z")
Youtube, etc says “dee-cal” ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2023, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/57 "2023-11-23T05:30:49Z")
I’ve lived up and down the west coast. DEE-cal is all I’ve ever heard or used. I first heard the “deckle” variant on a YouTube video and I was certain that that YouTuber was pronouncing it wrong. I was very surprised to learn that another pronunciation existed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/58 "2023-11-24T18:49:38Z")
Dee-cal is the commonly accepted pronunciation. That includes “decal” (decalcifying solution) used in histologic tissue processing to soften bone before sections are cut for glass slides. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/59 "2023-11-24T19:05:25Z")
I guess I’m the only one to put the emphasis on the last syllable deh-KAL, rhymes with canal. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538/60 "2023-11-24T19:13:46Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Dee-cal is the commonly accepted pronunciation. In the United States. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-decal-pronounced/993538.md?page=4)