# Other words like forte? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365 "2005-04-27T14:15:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/21 "2005-04-27T22:12:28Z")
Am I to understand that the “southern hick” word “vittles” is really “victuals” _and_ that it’s not even written “vittles” as it sounds? And I’m the one calling southerners “hicks”? Google gives a good definition for “victuals” and none for “vittles.” Additionally 137kHits for “vittles” and 151kHits for “victuals.” ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/22 "2005-04-27T22:13:59Z")
> [@](#): > > Rodeo. It’s either ROAD-ee-oh, so all the people who go watch cowboys ride bulls are right, or road-AY-oh, so all those people with the fancy cars on Rodeo Drive are right. They can’t both be right. Why can they not both be correct? The word has two separate meanings that are now reflected in the separate pronunciations. _roh DAY oh_ is the correct Spanish pronunciation that has carried over to the name of a street while _RO dee oh_ is the Americanized word for a specific display of skills involving tasks performed by cowboys. There is no reason for the two words to be pronounced the same and separate pronunciations allow us to identify which is being referenced. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/23 "2005-04-27T22:29:37Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > No way. Brits mangle French words so much it makes Americans look positively cosmopolitan. Listen to how they pronounce “garage” - they rhyme it with “carriage”! Actually both are used in the U.K., the version rhyming with “carriage” is seen as the more common way to say it, the alternative being used mainly by the upper-class and those who pretend to be posh. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/24 "2005-04-27T23:01:54Z")
If by “like forte” you mean “often mispronounced because people make the wrong assumption about which language it originated from,” how about “Porsche,” the German car, pronounced with two syllables, but people often try to pronounce it as if it were French, with one syllable (and the e silent). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/25 "2005-04-27T23:07:13Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > If by “like forte” you mean “often mispronounced because people make the wrong assumption about which language it originated from,” how about “Porsche,” the German car, pronounced with two syllables, but people often try to pronounce it as if it were French, with one syllable (and the e silent). It’s universally one-syllable in Britain. And it’s certainly not because anyone thinks the car is French. (And I remember a _Friends_ episode, where Joey (of all people) became critical of mispronunciation) ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/26 "2005-04-27T23:22:11Z")
> [@XWalrus2](#): > > Does cache qualify? > Properly pronounced the same as cash, popularly pronounced as “cashay.” Hmmm. I would have said that: cache = “cash” cachet = “cashay” Under what circumstances is the second pronunciation used for the first word? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/27 "2005-04-28T00:37:25Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Hmmm. I would have said that: > cache = “cash” > cachet = “cashay” > > Under what circumstances is the second pronunciation used for the first word? I don’t hear it in “common use” as was suggested by **XWalrus2** , but I have heard it pronounced such. Like fingernails on a blackboard… ---
**Author:** ![ReuvenB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@ReuvenB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReuvenB)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/28 "2005-04-28T00:40:40Z")
Really? I hear it most commonly pronounced as “cashay”. In fact, I didn’t learn the correct version until sixth grade. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/29 "2005-04-28T01:05:43Z")
There’s been a thread here before on the word _quixotic_. A reader unfamiliar with the Spanish origin of the word (from Don Quixote [key-HOE-tay]) would see it and pronounce it ‘kwicksotic.’ A slightly more enlightened reader would recognize the origin of the word and pronounce it “key-HOE-tic.” But that person is then stunned to learn in a Straight Dope thread that the proper English pronounciation is, in fact, “kwicksotic.” ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/30 "2005-04-28T02:14:09Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Am I to understand that the “southern hick” word “vittles” is really “victuals” _and_ that it’s not even written “vittles” as it sounds? And I’m the one calling southerners “hicks”? Google gives a good definition for “victuals” and none for “vittles.” Additionally 137kHits for “vittles” and 151kHits for “victuals.” I blame [Purina.](http://www.purina.com/products/products.asp?item=TenderVittles) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/31 "2005-04-28T03:11:54Z")
I still can’t decide about **herb**. As I understand it, it is equally acceptable to pronounce it with or without the ‘h’ sound at the beginning (with the former being the standard in the UK and the latter used in the US). My concern is that however I choose to say it, the person to whom I’m speaking will think I’m ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Elvez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Elvez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvez)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/32 "2005-04-28T03:34:27Z")
In the Bahamas (and maybe elsewhere), the islands are called Cays, (like [Staniel Cay](http://www.bahamasgateway.com/staniel_cay_exuma_bahamas.htm), where they filmed the cave scene in the James Bond film “Thunderball”), but people actually pronounce it “key”. People who are familiar with the regional pronunciation would say “key”, but someone not familiar would look at a chart and say, “No, man, it’s ‘kay’.” (From [here](http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/4a9c6/ba221/): "The origin of the word “Key” to refer to a small island is not really known. Some think that it began when the Spanish adapted the word “cayo’ from the Taino Indians of Hispanola and Cuba. The English used “Cay” or “Kay” such as Cay Sal Banks. In some places, Cay is pronounced as the letter “K.” In other places (like the Bahamas) Cay is pronounced like Key.” ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/33 "2005-04-28T13:37:14Z")
> [@XWalrus2](#): > > Really? I hear it most commonly pronounced as “cashay”. In fact, I didn’t learn the correct version until sixth grade. I heard it pronounced “cashay” once, by a military dude on TV, and the beginning of the Iraq conflict. Other than that, I’ve only heard the “cash” pronunciation. However, I also heard that the military tends to say “cashay,” like they say “depp-o” instead of “dee-po” like the resut of us (Americans). ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/34 "2005-04-28T14:06:42Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > Really? Childer was once a valid plural form of child? My grandma used to say that. I just thought it was the local dialect. Cool–I didn’t realize people still said it that way! I can’t find an online explanation of this process; I read about it in Stephen Pinker’s excellent _Words and Rules_. It’s one of those things that stuck with me as an example of how language changes, and how “ignorant” pronunciations are often following strict linguistic protocols and soon become the “correct” pronunciations. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365/35 "2005-04-28T14:37:15Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I heard it pronounced “cashay” once, by a military dude on TV, and the beginning of the Iraq conflict. Other than that, I’ve only heard the “cash” pronunciation. However, I also heard that the military tends to say “cashay,” like they say “depp-o” instead of “dee-po” like the resut of us (Americans). Like “raut” and “root” (“route”) or “creeek” and “crick”, I tend to say “depp-o” or “dee-po” depending on my mood of some other reason I can’t figure out. It’s _always_ “Home Dee-po”, though. In the military, I recall the majority of people saying “cash” rather than “cash-ay,” but on the other hand, the military’s the first place I heard “cash-ay.” I recall that because it was specifically jarring at the time. I think the guy I heard it from went on to become an aeronautical engineer after he got out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-words-like-forte/301365.md?page=1)