# Pronounciation of "Caramel" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 31, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488 "2012-10-31T21:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/41 "2012-11-03T03:59:51Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I use _kar-mel_ for caramel apples, but _care-a-mel_ when referring to the candy itself. > > Why limit yourself to just one pronunciation? 🙂 Ditto. kar’mel corn and salted care’-uh-mels ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/42 "2012-11-03T04:11:43Z")
kar-mel is a city. Like Carmel CA care-a-mel is the candy. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/43 "2012-11-03T04:22:49Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Carmel is a city somewhere in California. As long as we’re talking pronunciation: Carmel, California (full name Carmel-by-the-Sea) is pronounced (locally, at least) _car-MELL_. But Carmel, Indiana is pronounced (locally) _CAR-mul_. Fascinating stuff, I know. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/44 "2012-11-03T04:29:24Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > What the hell? I’m from Oregon and now live in Texas and I have no idea what you’re talking about. > > Caraway and carapace, the first syllable of these two words are pronounced exactly like “care” to me. I don’t think I’ve ever heard them any other way!!! > > And what the heck? Care and air rhyme exactly to me! Is there some different way to say it??? The “they sound exactly the same to me” is part if the problem that is solved by using the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is exactly what the post you’re responding to did. Learn IPA. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/45 "2012-11-03T05:39:47Z")
ka-ruh-mel. But car-mel is the little squares wrapped in celophane that you melt to put on apples. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/46 "2012-11-04T04:58:49Z")
It’s just you’re typical American laziness. It’s obvious (at least to me) that caramel was originally a three syllable word. It’s been bastardized to a two syllable word by a wide swath of people. A good local example is the town of Lovilia. EVERYONE here pronounces it “Lovilla” even though it’s pretty obvious that is not the original pronunciation. The shining all-time example is of course Worcestershire, pronounced “Wooster-sheer”. The town of Worcester in my home state is similarly stunted to “Wooster”. Even as a local, it always annoyed me. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/47 "2012-11-04T05:01:18Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > Cara-mel I voted something else and this is it. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/48 "2012-11-04T07:00:05Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > kara-m’l This is the correct answer. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/49 "2012-11-04T10:26:07Z")
I do both. It depends on context. I’m more inclined to use carmel as an adjective and caramel as a noun. It’s a carmel sundae, but it’s topped with caramel. And, by caramel, I do mean CARE-ih-m’l, and not CARE-uh-MELL as some people do. That never fits. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/50 "2012-11-04T10:42:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The “they sound exactly the same to me” is part if the problem that is solved by using the International Phonetic Alphabet, which is exactly what the post you’re responding to did. Learn IPA. Except it doesn’t. For one, the sound indicated as /æ/ still sounds different when placed before an /r/ sound, even without the Mary, merry, marry merger. For another, the poster did not indicate how they pronounce care. And there still are other methods of relating the same information in a way that does not need a whole new alphabet. The exact same information would have been expressed if the poster has said it’s like the a in cat (even if that, still, is not exactly correct). I never understand this idea that people need to go out and learn something far more complicated than necessary to understand something simple. Just express it simply and save people the frustration. ---
**Author:** ![Coustralee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Coustralee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coustralee)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/51 "2012-11-04T13:13:43Z")
karramool as in pull ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/52 "2012-11-04T14:06:40Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Except it doesn’t. For one, the sound indicated as /æ/ still sounds different when placed before an /r/ sound It might be true in your accent that it changes before an _R_, but this is not some kind of universal truth. > [@](#): > > For another, the poster did not indicate how they pronounce care. This is _part_ of the problem that I identified, not something separate. > [@](#): > > And there still are other methods of relating the same information in a way that does not need a whole new alphabet. Thread after thread after thread after thread on these message boards prove that these “other methods” are not only inferior to I.P.A., but that they lead to endless rounds of misunderstanding and repeated conversations. Pronunciation is a different language. If you’re going to discuss it, you need to learn a different alphabet. Furthermore, it takes no more than a minimal level of time and effort to learn it. > [@](#): > > I never understand this idea that people need to go out and learn something far more complicated than necessary to understand something simple. Just express it simply and save people the frustration. Using I.P.A. _is exactly_ what saves people the frustration of endless, circular conversations. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/53 "2012-11-04T22:03:35Z")
> [@nion](#): > > The shining all-time example is of course Worcestershire, pronounced “Wooster-sheer”. The town of Worcester in my home state is similarly stunted to “Wooster”. Even as a local, it always annoyed me. True that some words/places in the US are messed up. The Midwest can be bad, for places like Cairo (kay-ro), Milan (my-lan), etc. But Worcester is hardly America’s fault. The English have interesting pronunciations for a lot of things. -St. John Featheringstonehaugh ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/54 "2012-11-05T03:04:35Z")
I pronounced it “carm’l” until I went out into the world and noticed a lot of people pronouncing it as spelled. Now I sort of flip-flop between the two pronunciations. It makes me slightly uncomfortable to have to pronounce the word in front of people I don’t know. When my wife was in med school she did some rotations in a Mount Carmel Hospital. One dimwit in her class asked, “Why would they name a hospital after caramel?” I always thought the cafeteria there should have served a big ice cream sundae called Mount Caramel. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/55 "2012-11-05T18:39:23Z")
Or you could be like the local “famous” restaurant\* sign along the interstate highway here: “World Famous Carmel Rolls”. That sign has since been changed. \*Tobey’s in Hinckley Minnesota, if you’re curious ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/56 "2012-11-05T19:31:57Z")
Let me guess, they changed it to “World Famous Carmel Roll’s”? ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488/57 "2012-11-06T12:17:00Z")
It’s car a mel. And it pains me greatly every time I pass by this shop in Easton, PA [http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Overview/3038/carmelcorn-shop](http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Overview/3038/carmelcorn-shop) [http://betsyrubiner.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/easton.jpg](http://betsyrubiner.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/easton.jpg) (sigh) UT~ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-caramel/639488.md?page=2)