# OK: Where did I pick up this (US regional) pronunciation of "almond"?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 20, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093 "2012-08-20T20:39:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Sebastienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sebastienne)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/41 "2012-08-21T17:59:10Z")
> [@nofloyd](#):
>
> Another Jersey-ite, but never with ‘l’, ah-mund
My accent is maybe more Philly than Jersey, but I eat a lot of ah-munds.
Actually, come to think of it, I don’t pronounce the d very strongly at all-- It’s almost closer to ah-munns. My favorite chocolate bar has dried churries and roasted ah-munns.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/42 "2012-08-21T18:01:05Z")
All-mun. The “d” is silent (at least the way _I_ say it).
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### Author:  [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/43 "2012-08-21T19:13:27Z")
I was embarrassed when I realized that the real amm’nd farmers pronounced it differently than ahlmond, the way I’d always heard it. I attributed it. I figured it was an Okie thing. Central Valley agriculture is dominated by Okies and Meskins. Except for dairying, that was always the province of the Portagees.
They all talk funny.
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### Author:  [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/44 "2012-08-21T19:15:31Z")
I realize that WAGs and the way you grew up pronouncing a word really should be the last say, but [dictionaries](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/almond?s=b) provide 3 pronunciations
al·mond /ˈɑmənd, ˈæmənd; spelling pron. ˈælmənd/ or alternatively [ah-muhnd, am-uhnd; spelling pron. al-muhnd]
noun
1. the nutlike kernel of the fruit of either of two trees, Prunus dulcis (sweet almond) or P. dulcis amara (bitter almond), which grow in warm temperate regions.
2. the tree itself.
3. a delicate, pale tan.
4. anything shaped like an almond, especially an ornament.
My wag on the pronunciation is that even within the Sacramento valley, the probability of it being pronounced correctly with the silent L goes up the closer you are to 99 versus I-5…
And if you get someone that’s really uppity about the right way to pronounce almonds, then the correct answer is nut.
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### Author:  [@Lazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazy)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/45 "2012-08-21T19:23:26Z")
I say “ah-mund” (Ontario). The dictionaries I checked all prefer no ‘l’, but some give with the ‘l’ as an alternative pronunciation.
> [@AHunter3](#):
>
> I pronounce the l in every single one of those words.
Are you sure you pronounce the ‘l’ in walk? I’ve never heard that, and am fairly sure I would have noticed it if I had.
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### Author:  [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/46 "2012-08-21T19:49:53Z")
I say almond, 'cause it’s got an ‘l’ in it. (Rather like my stance on the herb/'erb thing. And what is up with people talking about “an” historian? Anyway…) Southwest Ohio born and raised.
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### Author:  [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/47 "2012-08-21T19:53:27Z")
Misappropriations led to the “l” in “almond”.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/48 "2012-08-21T21:24:40Z")
> [@Kitty\_A](#):
>
> That’s funny because I do pronounce the L in alms, palm, calm, and psalm, but not in walk or talk. In keeping with that, I also say the L in almond. I grew up in the Midwest, not sure if that has anything to do with it.
The same, but I grew up in Southern California. For some reason, I used to associate a-mund with New England. Had no idea about the Central Valley pronunciation, and I’ve lived in Stockton for about ten years, now. I guess I just don’t get out enough.
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### Author:  [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/49 "2012-08-21T21:31:21Z")
There’s two different ways of pronouncing “almond” without the L.
“AH-mond” is more east-coast, pahk the cah in hahvahd yahd ish.
“AM-mond” is more the Central Valley way. The first syllable is the same vowel sound as lamb or cram. More nasal?
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### Author:  [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/50 "2012-08-21T21:48:33Z")
> [@Lazy](#):
>
> I say “ah-mund” (Ontario). The dictionaries I checked all prefer no ‘l’, but some give with the ‘l’ as an alternative pronunciation.
I’m Canadian too and I pronounce it that way.
I must say, this thread is educational. I never knew there could be so many different ways of pronouncing the word “almond.” Somehow, in my narrow-minded way, I thought my way of pronouncing it was the only one, but I was wrong.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [August 21, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/51 "2012-08-21T21:50:30Z")
‘a can a week. that’s all we ask.’
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### Author:  [@kcor1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kcor1953)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/52 "2012-08-22T01:45:20Z")
On the “Hot Dog” TV show, Woody Allen explained it should be pronounced to rhyme with salmon (thus ammun). Although every other thing he told us on that show was a crock I believed this and switched from awlmund to ammun.
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### Author:  [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/53 "2012-08-22T14:20:29Z")
> [@Shark\_Sandwich](#):
>
> I say all-mund.
>
> And for the record, I also say pist-AW-she-o.
Well now, that second one is going to cause confusion. You should really stick to the first pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/54 "2012-08-22T16:20:19Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#):
>
> I say almond, 'cause it’s got an ‘l’ in it. (Rather like my stance on the herb/'erb thing. And what is up with people talking about “an” historian? Anyway…) Southwest Ohio born and raised.
An historian is correct. The rule is that ‘an’ precedes a noun when it begins with a vowel sound, or when it begins with an h if the stress falls on the 2nd syllable of the word.
Historian has the stress in the 2nd syllable, so it gets an ‘an’ before it. Ex: I heard a story from an historian the other day that blew my mind.
Hipster has the stress in the 1st syllable, so it gets an ‘a’ before it. Ex: I saw a hipster the other day wearing skinny jeans.
That’s the rule as I learned it anyway.
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/55 "2012-08-22T16:34:42Z")
My Central-Mass born & bred husband pronounces it without an L.
The “a” vowel sound used is very New England, though. It sounds more like he is dropping an “r” than dropping an “l”
Kind of the same “a” they use in “aunt” Ahhhnt. Ahhhmond.
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### Author:  [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/56 "2012-08-22T16:36:34Z")
> [@kcor1953](#):
>
> On the “Hot Dog” TV show, Woody Allen explained it should be pronounced to rhyme with salmon (thus ammun). Although every other thing he told us on that show was a crock I believed this and switched from awlmund to ammun.
I don’t remember this show but Woody Allen is as old school New Yorker as they come (annoyingly so, even to another New Yorker). Did he give a cite as to why he pronounced it that way?
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/57 "2012-08-22T16:50:05Z")
From the word history I looked at in an online dictionary, it comes from something akin to Chink Eye Nuts. We could just call them that. :dubious:
J/K…please don’t pelt me with Brazil Nuts. 😃
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### Author:  [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/58 "2012-08-22T17:09:45Z")
Oh, and growing up (Arkansas) I noticed older folks pronouncing it like the nut growers in CA, which makes sense, since there were plenty of Arkies and Okies who migrated out there. My TV-tainted southern accent makes it sound like somewhere between that and awl, almost like owl.
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### Author:  [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/59 "2012-08-22T18:12:05Z")
> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I say something akin to “all-mund.” Although it might also be “aw-mund” in rapid speech.
This is me. Born & raised in SoCal, within 30 miles of Los Angeles.
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#):
>
> Pronounce _[“Al”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yow5HfIZNfA&feature=related)_ like Peggy Bundy and rhyme _“mond”_ with \*international children’s emergency fund. \*That’s how we hip people say it.
This is my mother sometimes. Same upbringing, but with a little wider area & a lot of east coast influence.
For the longest time I didn’t associate almonds the nuts with almond extract, the flavoring we’d put in homemade cake frosting. In my house, we always pronounced the nuts as “aw-mund” or “all-mund” (“all” rhyming with “wall”) but the extract flavoring is pronounced like the 2nd quote above, with the first syllable like the “Al” in “Alfred.”
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [August 22, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-where-did-i-pick-up-this-us-regional-pronunciation-of-almond/632093/60 "2012-08-22T22:38:38Z")
> [@Lazy](#):
>
> I say “ah-mund” (Ontario). The dictionaries I checked all prefer no ‘l’, but some give with the ‘l’ as an alternative pronunciation.
>
> Are you sure you pronounce the ‘l’ in walk? I’ve never heard that, and am fairly sure I would have noticed it if I had.
Umm, yeah. It’s my tongue 😛
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