# Pah-TAH-Toe?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946 "2009-05-28T17:10:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/1 "2009-05-28T17:10:33Z")
For those who don’t know there is a song You say tah-may-toe I say tah-mah-toe You say pah-tay-toe I say pah-tah-toe And ends…“Let’s call the whole thing off.” Now I’ve lived a long time and I’ve never heard anyone say “Pah-Tah-Toe.” So my question is in the history of the world has ANYONE ever said “Pah-Tah-Toe,” I mean other than when they sing that song. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/2 "2009-05-28T17:56:24Z")
Well, I certainly never say it, nor have I ever heard it pronounced that way by anybody. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/3 "2009-05-28T18:00:05Z")
Has ANYONE EVER said “Pah-Tah-Toe”? Almost certainly. Has it ever been considered a standard pronunciation?\* No. It’s what’s called “a joke.” ETA: \*in modern English, as defined by recognized authorities on standard pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Earthworm\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f07891/32.png) [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/4 "2009-05-28T18:01:46Z")
What’s tah-ters, precious? I’ve wondered the same thing. I’ve lived in many places & heard many different accents, but I’ve never heard anyone call it a po-tah-toe. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/5 "2009-05-29T17:53:16Z")
I think it’s just a joke by analogy to “tomayto, tomahto,” both of which do in fact exist. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/6 "2009-05-29T19:11:37Z")
I’ve always thought that it was a send up of an affected northeast country club sort of speech pattern. You know, like the Howells on Gilligan’s Island. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/7 "2009-05-29T19:42:13Z")
How did Julia Child pronounce it? ---
**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:** [May 30, 2009, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/8 "2009-05-30T08:34:06Z")
Dan Quayle? ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/9 "2009-06-01T20:30:53Z")
My wife does, in fact, pronounce “vanilla” van_ah_lla. It makes me laugh just about every time she says the word, which then pisses her off. If there’s baking going on in our house, you can pretty much bet I’m not getting laid that night. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/10 "2009-06-01T20:39:08Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > My wife does, in fact, pronounce “vanilla” van_ah_lla. It makes me laugh just about every time she says the word, which then pisses her off. If there’s baking going on in our house, you can pretty much bet I’m not getting laid that night. Heh. Someone I work with is constantly talking about sonnometers. It took weeks for me to figure out that she was talking about a unit of measurement. I can laugh at her all I want for it, because you can pretty much bet that I wouldn’t lay her even if you put a gun to my head. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/11 "2010-02-01T01:17:14Z")
I had to bump up this thread On _the Simpsons_ tonight (January 31, 2010), Marge and Homer are singing the song “Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off,” and after they’re done Bart says: “Who the hell says ‘pah-tah-toe’”? I guess the writers of _the Simpsons_ read these forums 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/12 "2010-02-01T13:20:11Z")
You say _celli_, I say _cellos_ Cellos, cellos I don’t know why you say _celli_ , I say _cellos_ ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/13 "2010-02-01T13:28:19Z")
Actually (possibly inspired by this thread), I mentioned this to my dad recently, and he said that when he was a boy (20 years after the song was written), it was an occasionally heard upper class pronunciation. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/14 "2010-02-01T14:27:10Z")
Does anyone say _er_sters instead of oysters? ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2010, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/15 "2010-02-02T22:43:49Z")
I occasionally pronounce it “Pah-Tah-Toe,” if I am not consciously thinking about what I am saying. I have to remember that there are certain words that sound funny if the long “a” is not used. At least people understand when I say “Pah-Tah-Toe,” it is when I talk about those big cyclones called “Tor-Nah-Does” where they start to look confused. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/16 "2010-02-03T01:00:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Someone I work with is constantly talking about sonnometers. It took weeks for me to figure out that she was talking about a unit of measurement. That seems to be the standard pronunciation among medical personnel. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pah-tah-toe/497946/17 "2010-02-03T02:39:02Z")
Christopher Walken (IIRC) once did a funny rendition of the song on SNL, where he sang both words the same way: “You say tomay-to and I say tomay-to, you say potay-to and I say potay-to”, etc. and didn’t quite understand when people tried to explain the “correct” pronunciation.