# How to pronounce "quixotic" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 21, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562 "2003-11-21T20:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/41 "2003-11-23T01:30:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skammer \* > \*\*I don’t know if I’ve ever used the word aloud, but when reading it, I’ve always pronounced in my mind as the OP - kee-HOE-tik. Made sense to me – it’s derived from the word/name Quixote. > > Guess I was wrong. Won’t be the last time. \*\* Ditto Skammer. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/42 "2003-11-23T02:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moriah \* > So, then, does this mean you’ll join me in my crusade to update a pronunciation which has unfortunately been based on a linguistical convention that’s been abandoned in other arenas? Hmm. I’m not sure I’ve got time in my schedule for a pronunciation crusade, but if anyone asks me for a second opinion I’ll be sure to pass on your details. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/43 "2003-11-23T06:43:24Z")
The second book of Don Quijote was published in 1612, 7 years after the first, and the adjective ‘quijotesco’, our ‘quixotic’ was common enough to be used in the book. So, if ‘quixotic’ hadn’t entered English usage by 1612, it did as soon as the book was translated into English…Apparently Thomas Shelton did the first English translation, and one site lists book 2 as being translated in 1615, another in 1620, so I’m not sure ---
**Author:** ![Daver914](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@Daver914](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daver914)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/44 "2003-11-23T07:45:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Noone Special \* > \*\*\*\*Isn’t the French spelling (“Don Quichotte”) pronounced that way? \*\* FWIW, the Hebrew pronounciation is also (generally) KEE-SHOT. Hebrew is related to Arabic, so it’s probably a parallel transliteration process at work here… it would have been just as easy to pronounce KEE-KHOT or KEE-KHOT-EH, don’t know how that SH sound got in (and in two languages, yet!) And yes, _Quichotte_ would be pronouced KEE-SHOT in French. So that makes three. \*\* [/QUOTE] Spanish, prior to the 16th or 17 century, did not have the aspirated “h” sound that is represented nowadays by “j” or soft “g”. “J”, when it was used at all, was a variant form of the letter “i”. What Spanish did have was “x”, which was pronounced like the “sh” in English “shoe”. So when Don Quijote was written, it was spelled “Quixote” and pronounced “Qui-shó-te”. The “x” sound wavered, and eventually was absorbed into “j” (aspirated “h”). That is also why we have such alternate spellings as “México” and “Méjico” and “Texas” and “Tejas”. [Cite (in Spanish)](http://www.quezada.net/mexico_o_mejico.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/45 "2003-11-23T11:53:25Z")
On further search, it appears that the Hebrew version was made [from the German](http://dbgw.finlit.fi/fili/fi/toiminta/salzberger.html): > [@](#): > > We had Don Quixote, but that great translation (by the poet Bialik) was made from the German, so that we call him to this day Don Kishot. Can any German speaker corroborate this? Is it KEESHOT in German as well, as this source claims? ---
**Author:** ![Matchka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Matchka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Matchka)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/46 "2003-11-23T16:36:04Z")
FTR…the laughter was not at the Egyptian instructor’s pronunciation, per se, but at the unexpected utterance of “Donkey Shot” from an extremely religious Egyptian Christian. …guess you had to be there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/47 "2003-12-26T15:31:14Z")
Possibly one reason that the defenders of “kee-HOE-tic” are so adamant in spite of all the evidence that they are wrong is that, to my American Midwestern ear anyway, “kwik-SAH-tic” sounds ugly, awkward, and wrong. I first saw “quixotic” in print before I had ever heard of Don Quixote, so I assumed that it was pronounced the way it was spelled. My first though was “Gee, what an ugly word.” Then some time later I saw the play and though “Oh… kee-HOE-tee… kee-HOE-tic… that’s much better.” Turns out I was right the first time. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/48 "2003-12-26T16:39:32Z")
I say it “key oat ik”, but I’m a pun lovin’ guy:) . ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/49 "2003-12-26T16:52:34Z")
D-a-i-r-y Q-u-e-e-n ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/50 "2003-12-26T16:58:17Z")
Me, I’d say that Don Kee-hoat-aye behaved kwickzahtically. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_the\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Steve\_the\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_the_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/51 "2003-12-26T17:42:06Z")
The word would not be pronounced as in Spanish, because it is Anglicized. You would, of course, pronounce it in Spanish if it were a Spanish word (“quixotico”), but it is not. We pronounce words that we have directly borrowed form other languages as they would be pronounced in the language from which we borrowed it (“rendezvous”, “pizzicato”, etc.), but the suffix “-ic” is English, and therefore it is an English word and would be pronounced as in English. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/52 "2003-12-26T17:57:02Z")
So many ways to pronounce it: chivalrous, chimerical, idealistic, utopian, visionary, benevolent, bold, brave, courageous, courteous, gallant, gentlemanly, heroic, noble-minded, sublime, valorous, romantic, absurd, high-minded, honorable, intrepid, knightly, lofty, magnanimous, manly, ---
**Author:** ![Lucretius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Lucretius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/53 "2003-12-26T21:23:19Z")
I like the sound of kwik sah tic. It always makes me think of words like quick, exotic, and quirky. The word is a poet’s word, filled with implications and connotations. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/54 "2003-12-26T21:36:07Z")
But how do you pronounce “Panzatic”? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/55 "2003-12-26T21:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\*Me, I’d say that Don Kee-hoat-aye behaved kwickzahtically. \*\* As are those who are trying to get “quixotic” pronounced differently. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/56 "2003-12-26T21:59:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moriah \* > \*\*In general (of course, there are exceptions to the rule), British English speakers take a foreign word, keep its foreign spelling, and then pronounce it as if it were an English word. > > E.g., in Byron’s poem _Don Juan_, ‘Juan’ is pronounced _JEW - ahn_ (it has to be pronounced that way in order to make the rhymes work). > > American English, on the other hand, is more inclined to keep the foreign pronunciation and spelling, even if we mangle the foreign pronuncation, because, by God, we 'merkins will make it sound foreign! > > So, it’s not surprising that Americans, when encountering _Quixotic_ and realizing that it is eponymously from Don Quixote (_key-HOE-tay_, or, as Americans mangle it, _key-HOE-tee_) will attempt to pronounce it _key-HOE-tic_. > > However, being more commonly used in the literary halls of England, the common pronunciation is _kik-SOH-tic_ (rhyming with exotic) from the English pronunciation of Quixote as _KWIK-suht_. > > Being an American, I most purposely, knowing full well it is ‘wrong,’ say _key-HOE-tic_, and eschew the hegemony of Britishisms. \*\* I think you’ll find the only instance in which American-English adopts a more foreign pronunciation than the British is when the word has its roots in Spanish. I assume this is because the US is right next to Mexico, Latin America, etc. I doubt that American-English, when encountering words that should carry their original weight in French, German, Dutch or any other language, would take in general a more foreign pronunciation than English-English. Then again, it’s possible I’m entirely wrong. I’d pronounce it ‘quick-SAH-tic’ (well, quick-SOH-tic), but if the word is really derived from Don Quixote, it would make more sense to pronounce it ‘kee-OH-tic’… ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_the\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Steve\_the\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_the_elf)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2003, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/57 "2003-12-26T22:07:42Z")
> [@](#): > > but if the word is really derived from Don Quixote, it would make more sense to pronounce it ‘kee-OH-tic’… Yes, but as I wrote in my post, “quixotic” is NOT a Spanish name. it is an English word derived from a Spanish name, and as such, is pronounced as in English. ---
**Author:** ![Carpane\_Mado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4da419/32.png) [@Carpane\_Mado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carpane_Mado)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/58 "2003-12-27T00:55:02Z")
FWIW, the OED of 1979 lists the correct pronunciation of Quixote as Kwi ksot (with a long O and an abrupt T), but also allows as ot, iot and otte are acceptible. Quixotic is rendered as kwiksotik. Curiously while quixotic didn’t make it into print until 1815, Quixotry has been around since 1718 ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Ed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Just\_Ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Ed)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/59 "2003-12-27T01:33:48Z")
Wow, go figure I’d have just come back to the boards after a long time away. For the record (and for whatever it’s worth), I’d only heard the “kwik-SAH-tik” pronunciation myself, until I met some people from another site who knew me by the same user name and pronounced it “kee-HO-tik”. Either way works for me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2003, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562/60 "2003-12-27T01:39:24Z")
Let’s not forget that a lot of languages will adapt a word to make it easier to say if its origins make it a little tough. The ê in French for example is from (IIRC) when the Latin based words like “fenestre” became a little tough to pronounce in the French dialect so it became “fenêtre” with the “e-with-the-hat” pointing out that “es use to be here.” Or for that matter, liaison in French - pronouncing words that start with a vowel _with_ the word before it. So “les ânes” is pronounced “layzahn” instead of “lay ahn” which is sloppier and makes the flow of speach bumpier. (Or “uglier” as my teachers would say.) Kee-hot-ic flows out like a hork. Quick-zotic at least is like “exotic” and more familiar and more readily speakable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-pronounce-quixotic/214562.md?page=4)