# Parler is apparently pronounced /parlor/ now **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153 "2021-01-10T01:26:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olfatbut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a183cd/32.png) [@Olfatbut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olfatbut)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/1 "2021-01-10T01:26:19Z")
Parler has been in the news lately and when I heard NPR pronounce it “Parlor” I was like wtaf? And then another podcast pronounced it that way. According to wikipedia: > The name was originally intended to be **pronounced** as in French (/pɑːrleɪ/, PAR-lay), but is now **pronounced** as the English word “parlor” (/pɑːrlər/, PAR-ler). When did this happen and why? If conservatives hate French so much why did they name it that? ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/2 "2021-01-10T01:27:47Z")
> [@Olfatbut](#): > > When did this happen and why? If conservatives hate French so much why did they name it that? More likely they didn’t know the correct way to pronounce it (or the crowd who uses it didn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Olfatbut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a183cd/32.png) [@Olfatbut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olfatbut)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/3 "2021-01-10T01:32:53Z")
I suppose it is generally easier for smart people to learn incorrectness than the other way around. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/4 "2021-01-10T01:45:19Z")
This is 'Merika dammit!! Of _course_ you pronounce the “ler” part as “ler”. What the hell else didja expect? Damn frenchy libruls!! 😉 Slightly more seriously … FWIW, I’m a reasonably well-educated, well-read, well-spoken sort. Though with zero classes in French and no ability to speak it or understand it. It never occurred to me before this very thread that the word “parler” had any connection to French. Yes, “parl” is French for “talk”, but English speakers have been holding parlays and parlees for centuries now. Given “-er” as an English suffix for “one who does”, “parler” is “the site for one who talks”. And one who talks straight turkey, no PC BS. So of _course_ the name is pronounced just like it’s spelled. Thinking it’s pronounced like the French word that happens to be spelled the same is silly. ---
**Author:** ![Olfatbut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a183cd/32.png) [@Olfatbut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olfatbut)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/5 "2021-01-10T01:52:31Z")
ok not to be THAT GUY but there’s no French word “parl” afaik. Parler is the base form of the word, and it can be conjugated a bunch of ways [Conjugation parler | Conjugate verb parler French | Reverso Conjugator](https://conjugator.reverso.net/conjugation-french-verb-parler.html) IMO they should have just owned it with the tagline “It’s French, b\*tch!” but what do I know about marketing. [ETA sorry if I didn’t catch which level of irony your post was on] ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/6 "2021-01-10T05:58:24Z")
They should have named it ‘Parlay’ and be done with it. An ex-GF from years ago, formerly apolitical but jumped on the neocon bandwagon and latent Trump worshipper, I’m guessing is no doubt bailing from Facebook and to Parler. During her slide into wingnuttery, I used to piss her off by referring to the big-box store ‘Target’ as “Tar-jhay”…and it did piss her off. I’m now snickering with schadenfreude with whatever cognitive dissonance there might be with the Parler thing. ( Impish smirk ) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/7 "2021-01-10T06:07:12Z")
Um, what? I had assumed the name was a cross between the French “parler” (je parle, vous parlez, ils parlent, and damn autocorrect if it effed up the spellings) and “parlor” in English, which according to the esteemed Merriam Webster means “[a room used primarily for conversation or the reception of guests](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parlor)” In that case either pronunciation would be fine, but given that it’s an English-speaking initiative I would expect the “parlER” pronunciation to be the main one. I’m over intellectualizing this, most likely. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/8 "2021-01-10T06:34:02Z")
I thought to pronounce it par-lay it needed to be spelled “parlez”. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/9 "2021-01-10T06:35:09Z")
It has been decades since my college French classes, but I believe the infinitive form, _parler_, is pronounced “par-LAY.” ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/10 "2021-01-10T06:35:22Z")
The point is now moot. This is an ex-app. It’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain, and gone to join the bleeding choir invisible! > **[Amazon Is Booting Parler Off Of Its Web Hosting Service](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/amazon-parler-aws)** > > Amazon's suspension of Parler's account means that unless it can find another host, once the ban takes effect on Sunday Parler will go offline. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/11 "2021-01-10T07:06:36Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I thought to pronounce it par-lay it needed to be spelled “parlez”. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > It has been decades since my college French classes, but I believe the infinitive form, _parler_ , is pronounced “par-LAY.” It’s French. Two thirds of all French words are pronounced alike. ---
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/12 "2021-01-10T07:11:24Z")
They marketed it as “parlay” at first, but everybody seemed to pronounce it “parlor,” so they switched. Now that I think about it, they were promoting it as an alternative to Twitter, so just as a parallel the -er ending seems to fit. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/13 "2021-01-10T12:13:44Z")
Could they find another host at this point? ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/14 "2021-01-10T12:37:34Z")
They can, but with another hosting service, they will need to update their app. The current app won’t work. And Google and Apple won’t allow the app in their app stores, so they will have no way to distribute the new version of the app. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/15 "2021-01-10T12:54:37Z")
I didn’t notice until this thread that the app is spelled with an e and the room is spelled with an o. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone speak its name ever, just seen it in headlines and here. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/16 "2021-01-10T13:49:19Z")
The Canadian in me finds it grating when pronounced ‘Parler’, instead of ‘Parlay’. I sort of cringe a little, each time. But then, I remember hearing my friends in Asia call IKEA, ‘Icky a’, and trying to correct them, only to be told that’s actually closer to how it should be pronounced! Yikes! ---
**Author:** ![Olfatbut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a183cd/32.png) [@Olfatbut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olfatbut)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/17 "2021-01-10T15:46:56Z")
depends on whether they have hard-coded IP addresses or SSL certs in the app. If not they can just update DNS to point to the new host. ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/18 "2021-01-10T16:06:53Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Um, what? I had assumed the name was a cross between the French “parler” (je parle, vous parlez, ils parlent, and damn autocorrect if it effed up the spellings) and “parlor” in English, which according to the esteemed Merriam Webster means “[a room used primarily for conversation or the reception of guests](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parlor)” > > In that case either pronunciation would be fine, but given that it’s an English-speaking initiative I would expect the “parlER” pronunciation to be the main one. > > I’m over intellectualizing this, most likely. That was my take exactly. Though with far less actual knowledge of French except as spoken by Bugs Bunny 50 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/19 "2021-01-10T16:08:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That was my take exactly. Though with far less actual knowledge of French except as spoken by Bugs Bunny 50 years ago. - All the French I know I learned from Pepé Le Pew ---
**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:** [January 10, 2021, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153/20 "2021-01-10T16:38:08Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Um, what? I had assumed the name was a cross between the French “parler” (je parle, vous parlez, ils parlent, and damn autocorrect if it effed up the spellings) and “parlor” in English, which according to the esteemed Merriam Webster means “[a room used primarily for conversation or the reception of guests](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parlor)” > > In that case either pronunciation would be fine, but given that it’s an English-speaking initiative I would expect the “parlER” pronunciation to be the main one. I agree, and would add that an English word or proper name that is based on a foreign word does not have to be pronounced the way the foreign word it is based on is pronounced in its original language. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parler-is-apparently-pronounced-parlor-now/930153.md?page=2)