# Pronunciation of "Cache". **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514 "2007-11-15T09:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/1 "2007-11-15T09:30:40Z")
Everyone seems to say _cache_ like “Ka-shay”. But [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) says it’s pronounced like cash. Which is correct? Are they both correct? (my guess). It’s French in origin, right? So shouldn’t ka-shay be more Frenchy? Little help. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/2 "2007-11-15T09:34:14Z")
No French expert, but yeah, I’ve always said “cash”. Now, if it were written “caché”, the acute accent would change the pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/3 "2007-11-15T09:41:15Z")
Yes, it’s ‘cash’. ‘Ka-shay’, or ‘ka- **chez** ’ if you prefer, is incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/4 "2007-11-15T10:18:38Z")
[QUOTE=Bear\_Nenno] Everyone seems to say _cache_ like “Ka-shay”. [/QUOTE] Everyone who does this is wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/5 "2007-11-15T10:19:48Z")
I pronounce it cayshe, not cash. Didn’t realise I was saying it wrong all this time! ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/6 "2007-11-15T10:24:27Z")
“Cash” is roughly how the French pronounce it. Trying to sound more French by randomly throwing in “ay” sounds is an interesting approach. Another common mispronunciation is “caysh” [ETA - didn’t see **sandra\_nz** ’s post - that pronunciation does seem to be an antipodean thing]. I wonder why you never hear “caitch” or “cake”, though. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2007, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/7 "2007-11-15T10:34:14Z")
I say “caysh” which I think is how most people pronounce it here. The “cashay” pronunciation is for the similarly spelled word “[cachet](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cachet&r=65)”. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/8 "2007-11-15T11:42:24Z")
Bonjour mon amis! Malheuresement, je parle Francais seulement un petit peu, mais je dit cache ‘cash’. And so do the rest of us English chappies wot have had a few ‘annees’ of French ‘a l’ecole’. Guanolad is right about cachet (=‘cash-ay’). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/9 "2007-11-15T11:43:18Z")
There is a joke (from the days of the Soviet invasion) whose punch line is, “Can you cache a Czech?” which should be a good mnemonic. Another word that is usually mispronounced is “forte”. The Italian word used in music is correctly pronounced “for-tay”, but the French word for strength is “fort”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/10 "2007-11-15T11:42:38Z")
There is a joke (from the days of the Soviet invasion) whose punch line is, “Can you cache a Czech?” which should be a good mnemonic. Another word that is usually mispronounced is “forte”. The Italian word used in music is correctly pronounced “for-tay”, but the French word for strength is “fort”. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/11 "2007-11-15T11:46:31Z")
Mon Dieu, Hari … c’est deja vu! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/12 "2007-11-15T12:03:34Z")
I have always known it to be pronounced “cash.” But I did know one person who used to say: “cake” I could never tell if he was being facetious or if that is how he thought it was pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/13 "2007-11-15T12:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon] The Italian word used in music is correctly pronounced “for-tay”, but the French word for strength is “fort”. [/QUOTE] La pinaillerie: ‘Strength’, en français, c’est _la force_ (ou _la solidité_). ‘Fort’ (ou ‘forte’) en anglais c’est _strong_. ---
**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:** [November 15, 2007, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/14 "2007-11-15T13:16:08Z")
I’ve never, ever heard any _real_ person say “cashay,” although it was prevalent as hell in my military days (and drove me crazy as hell, too). (Okay, military people are real people too.) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/15 "2007-11-15T13:39:57Z")
“Cache”, meaning “stash”, a hidden or squirreled away store of supplies, is properly pronounced “cash” as it would be (more or less) in French. On the other hand, there is another French loanword in English that _is_ pronounced “Cash-ay”: _cachet_, most commonly meaning (in English) “mark of prestige”, “sellability”, “Q factor”. More archaically, it also refers to a physical stamp or imprint, a “maker’s mark”, from which the modern sense derives. I think few people even use the word “cache” very much, unless you’re in Special Ops or are a survivalist planning for a post-apocalyptic disaster scenario. What I think is that a lot of people are _misspelling_ “cachet” as “cache” thinking it’s a Spanish word frequently used in English, like _ole_ or _hombre_, since they hear “cash-ay” all the time and are more used to dealing with Spanish than French. Never mind that that would mean it should get pronounced “catch-ay” if that were the case; having seen the word “cache” in print and heard “cash-ay” verbally, once the two are linked I can see how it’s hard to unlink. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/16 "2007-11-15T13:40:17Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] I say “caysh” which I think is how most people pronounce it here. The “cashay” pronunciation is for the similarly spelled word “[cachet](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cachet&r=65)”. [/QUOTE] I have, however, seen people use “cache” when they mean “cachet”: “The brand is trying to give itself a certain cache.” :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/17 "2007-11-15T13:45:21Z")
[QUOTE=RealityChuck] “The brand is trying to give itself a certain cache.” [/QUOTE] In hopes of earning a certain amount of cash, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/18 "2007-11-15T13:51:42Z")
[QUOTE=Hari Seldon] Another word that is usually mispronounced is “forte”. The Italian word used in music is correctly pronounced “for-tay”, but the French word for strength is “fort”. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s debatable, and has been for many years. The French word isn’t “forte”, so why should we use the French pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/19 "2007-11-15T14:04:03Z")
I can assure you that everyone in [Cache, Oklahoma](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Cache,+OK,+United+States+of+America&ie=UTF8&ll=34.645354,-98.632851&spn=0.112979,0.145569&z=12&iwloc=addr&om=1) pronounces it “cash”. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2007, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514/20 "2007-11-15T14:04:36Z")
[QUOTE=Balthisar] I’ve never, ever heard any _real_ person say “cashay,” although it was prevalent as hell in my military days (and drove me crazy as hell, too). (Okay, military people are real people too.) [/QUOTE] I don’t hear it from the military. Where I often hear that mispronounciation is in IT, where cache is used for several different storage areas. Then again, I’m not sure IT people are real either. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-cache/426514.md?page=2)