# Poll: Pronunciation of chamomile
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [February 23, 2008, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831 "2008-02-23T07:56:37Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/21 "2008-02-23T14:22:55Z")
Cam (rhymes with jam)
Oh
meal
…from New England, USA.
I’m surprised at all the “uh” pronunciations for the middle syllable. Hmm. Perhaps I’ve been wrong all these years.
---
### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/22 "2008-02-23T14:33:38Z")
CAM
Oh (blurs into Uh when talking fast)
meal
I’m originally from So Cal. Wife from New England has the same pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/23 "2008-02-23T14:37:39Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict]
KAM oh meel. So Cal.
[/QUOTE]
Ditto. Dit toe.
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### Author:  [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/24 "2008-02-23T14:43:30Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy]
CAM
Oh (blurs into Uh when talking fast)
meal
[/QUOTE]
Same here. I’m a native Floridian (second generation).
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/25 "2008-02-23T16:38:23Z")
[QUOTE=CairoCarol]
Cam (rhymes with jam)
Oh
meal
…from New England, USA.
I’m surprised at all the “uh” pronunciations for the middle syllable. Hmm. Perhaps I’ve been wrong all these years.
[/QUOTE]
Ditto. Old New Englander
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### Author:  [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/26 "2008-02-23T16:45:37Z")
KAM-oh-meel. California, central and central coast. Now northern, and I’ve only heard people say it like I do.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/27 "2008-02-23T17:03:36Z")
CAM-o-mile.
I was raised all over the place - spent an equal amount of my childhood in both Detroit and Atlanta with a couple years in Chicago for good measure.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/28 "2008-02-23T17:45:57Z")
KA-muh-mile.
The “muh” isn’t really accurate, but it’s as close as I can get with normal characters. Using proper notation, it would be “ka-mə-mīl”, I think.
I’m from central Louisiana.
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### Author:  [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/29 "2008-02-23T17:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=LSLGuy]
CAM
Oh (blurs into Uh when talking fast)
meal
[/QUOTE]
Same here. North New Jersey.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/30 "2008-02-23T18:45:05Z")
CAM-o-meal.
South Carolina
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### Author:  [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/31 "2008-02-23T19:05:51Z")
Wow. In my travels around the U.S., I’ve never heard it pronounced any way other than KAM-uh-meal (that “uh” is more of a schwa sound).
I live in Montana.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/32 "2008-02-23T19:49:27Z")
Huh. Apparently, I am the only native Ohioan who says “kam-oh-mile” rather than “meal”–but then I haven’t lived there in over 20 years, and perhaps picked up the “mile” pronunciation somewhere else since. Here in Maryland? Denver? The UK?
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### Author:  [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/33 "2008-02-23T19:58:40Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict]
KAM oh meel.
[/QUOTE]
Same, central California.
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### Author:  [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/34 "2008-02-23T19:59:18Z")
A quick glance over the thread reveals that “mile” seems to be more common for British English and some parts of the southern US, while “meal” is favored in most of the US. I know it’s a very small sample size, but it’s interesting.
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### Author:  [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/35 "2008-02-23T20:14:31Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog]
KAM-uh-meal
Sydney.
[/QUOTE]
That’s mine. Midwest prairie raised.
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### Author:  [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/36 "2008-02-23T20:56:13Z")
[QUOTE=RedRosesForMe]
KAM-uh-meal.
Raised in Florida by Yankie parents.
[/QUOTE]
Same, but mom was a Hoosier.
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### Author:  [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/37 "2008-02-23T22:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=TheLoadedDog]
KAM-uh-meal
Sydney.
[/QUOTE]
Ditto that. Wisconsin born and bred.
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### Author:  [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)
#### Post date: [February 23, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/38 "2008-02-23T22:48:10Z")
[QUOTE=Northern Piper]
cam-o-mill (hard c, no “ch”, no units of distance, no meals)
Saskatchewan
[/QUOTE]
Same here. (South Louisiana)
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### Author:  [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/39 "2008-02-24T00:35:18Z")
Kam - oh/uh - Somewhere between -meal and -mill.
Tennessee mostly. Virginia is creeping up in the ranks. Florida, Texas, and New York besides.
Parents from Ohio and Michigan.
/kam-ai-mēl/ is probably the “correct” pronunciation.
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### Author:  [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)
#### Post date: [February 24, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-pronunciation-of-chamomile/438831/40 "2008-02-24T00:48:05Z")
Unsurprisingly I pronounce it like fellow New Englanders CairoCarol and Annie-Xmas do. I’m a little surprised, however, that some would pronounce the “h” like in the examples the OP offers.
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