# Sauna pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 10, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221 "2010-07-10T15:26:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/21 "2010-07-10T19:58:04Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Read my posts. I’m in Michigan’s UP - the only area of the country where the predominant minority is Finn. Uff Da! I got interrupted between the time I started my post and hit the post button. Your posts weren’t up when I read the thread. I live outside Astoria, Oregon, which also has a rather large nummber of Scandinavians. They came here around the turn of the last century (1900) for the fishing, cannery, an logging industries. It was a boom town then and the Columbia River and the ocean were full of salmon. And the climate is very similar. The town just had it’s Midsummer Scandinavian Festival a couple weeks ago. \*\*note, Uff Da is not an insult, it means I screwed up. It’s Norwegian. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Hazel\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ms.Hazel\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Hazel_Ice)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/22 "2010-07-11T00:02:45Z")
As a long time lurker, I finally had to join to comment on this thread. I was born and raised in central Massachusetts, which used to boast a sizeable Finnish population. All of my grandparents were from Finland, and my parents have a sauna. I’ve grown up with them. My parents even have pictures of me in one when I was a baby. I always say “SOW-na”, even though I only know a few words of Finnish. I’ve had conversations with non-Finnish friends that go like this: Friend: What have you been up to this weekend? Me: I was at my parents. We had the sauna up to 200; it was fantastic. Friend: The what? :dubious: Me: Sauna. Friend: “Sow-nah?” 😕 Me: Er…_thinks of how to say it the other way_ “saw-nah”. But, it’s really a Finnish word… If I ever reverted to the Americanized pronunciation, I shudder to think of what my grandmother would do… ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/23 "2010-07-11T00:48:26Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Depends on where you are. Sow-na is the most common pronunciation in my area of the country, and if there’s any pretension, it’s for people who pronounce it saw-na, because it marks you as either an outsider who doesn’t know how to say it, or someone from here who wants to appear to be from elsewhere. That’s fair enough. But for you guys it’s an English word that your region pronounces sow-na; it’s not a Finnish word. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/24 "2010-07-11T01:43:23Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > But for you guys it’s an English word that your region pronounces sow-na; it’s not a Finnish word. Hmm. I think the Finns might disagree with that. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/25 "2010-07-11T02:04:14Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Sawn doesn’t rhyme with con? I can assure you that it does not. Con rhymes with Don, as in Don Cherry. Sawn rhymes with lawn, as in “Hey, Gordie. You’re lawn is gettin’ a bit tall. A boat time to mow it, eh?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Jake\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/26 "2010-07-11T02:13:34Z")
And of course, I screwed up “your” as “you’re”. I never do that, except when criticizing others. So as to give them ammo, being the friendly sort that I am. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/27 "2010-07-11T02:17:44Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > I can assure you that it does not. Con rhymes with Don, as in Don Cherry. Sawn rhymes with lawn, as in “Hey, Gordie. You’re lawn is gettin’ a bit tall. A boat time to mow it, eh?” 😉 Just out of curiosity, how old are you? ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/28 "2010-07-11T02:20:48Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Hmm. I think the Finns might disagree with that. Only the stupid ones. All languages borrow words from other languages and then make them their own. English pronunciation is complicated enough without us trying to pronounce every borrowed word in its ‘original’ form. ---
**Author:** ![Oooh\_Snap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@Oooh\_Snap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oooh_Snap)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/29 "2010-07-11T02:23:46Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ah. I see **Nzinga, Seated** is in Rochester, N.Y. Where “con” sounds the same as “can” or close enough to it. > > (I once had a friend who bought some shoes on the way through Buffalo. The clerk asked him if be wanted the “backs.” > > “The backs?” > “Yes, the backs.” > “What backs?” > “The backs. Over there. The backs!” > “The backs?” > > Ohhhhhhh… the BOX! Oh my… hahaha.. I was born and raised in Massachusetts, but now I am living in Virginia, and this is one of the ones my friends joke on me about so much! I definitely say Saw-na. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/30 "2010-07-11T02:34:26Z")
“Sow-na” is that thing they use for finding submarines under water. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/31 "2010-07-11T03:04:01Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > That’s fair enough. But for you guys it’s an English word that your region pronounces sow-na; it’s not a Finnish word. > [@Athena](#): > > Hmm. I think the Finns might disagree with that. I believe it was Artemis in the novel _The Three Musketeers_ who remarked that English was simply French badly pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/32 "2010-07-11T03:55:03Z")
My Finnish neighbors and friends make sure that everyone around them pronounce it “sow-na”. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/33 "2010-07-11T03:56:00Z")
> [@jasonh300](#): > > When you used “SOW-”, I assumed you meant the SOW that was pronounced like you’re SOWing seeds, which does not rhyme with COW. > > I really can’t imagine that anyone would rhyme the first syllable of sauna with COW. > > (I voted “SAW-na”) I didn’t think that, but I did realize that it could be ambiguous. You have to realize that phonetic spellings tend to use the most usual pronunciation of the letters indicated. Unfortunately, that also leads me to the AW, which, to me, implies a rounded sound, like when you say Awww about something sad or heartwarming. But sauna uses AH, the sound you make when you figure something out. But, as usual, we don’t use IPA around here–but I still could tell what was intended. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/34 "2010-07-12T18:11:48Z")
Grew up in Wisconsin, pronounced it sah-na or saw-na, whichever. However, SpouseO went to Michigan Tech (ja, in da UP eh) where I was introduced to sow-na. Now it’s pretty likely that I’ll pronounce it that way, just because. ---
**Author:** ![rayman5321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rayman5321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rayman5321)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/35 "2010-07-12T18:27:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Listen to the second pronunciation [here](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sauna). The correct pronunciation is sow-oo-na. In the Finnish language every syllable is pronounced. As Athena said, sow rhymes with cow. The word is spoken so that it sounds as if it has only two syllables. Native yooper and Finlander. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/36 "2010-07-12T18:32:02Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Saunas are very common in this area. I’ve rented college dives that have saunas, I have one in my house, and I’d say about 50-75% of the people I know have a sauna. It’s not at all uncommon for people to break in the middle of a social event and jump in the sauna, especially if the social event revolves around watching a sports game. “Come on over and watch the game - the sauna’s hot and the beer is cold” is pretty much what a large segment of the population here thinks of as a good time. I must lead a very sheltered life because I’ve never heard this before. It’s totally amazing to me. Do you all strip down and get co-ed naked? I’m trying to picture the scene. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/37 "2010-07-12T18:55:30Z")
> [@rayman5321](#): > > The correct pronunciation is sow-oo-na. In the Finnish language every syllable is pronounced. As Athena said, sow rhymes with cow. The word is spoken so that it sounds as if it has only two syllables. > > Native yooper and Finlander. Hey! Another yooper! _wave, eh_ > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I must lead a very sheltered life because I’ve never heard this before. It’s totally amazing to me. Do you all strip down and get co-ed naked? I’m trying to picture the scene. In my crowd, it’s normally the guys who jump in da sowna before/after the game, or at halftime, so yeah, they just strip down naked. Co-ed usually involves people in swimsuits, but as I get older, co-ed saunas involving people who aren’t married to each other are few and far between. In high school/college, it was no big deal for a group of us to jump in the sauna co-ed naked. But we were all 20 and gorgeous. 😃 It’s a lot different now that we’re 40/50/60 and saggy. Though that’s just us; I know plenty of groups of people who think nothing of jumping in the sauna together naked. And in truth, when you’re in there with a few 75 year old gramma/grampas who have no problems being naked, you have to wonder what you’re worried about. It’s about as non-sexual as you can imagine. Saunas get to be addicting; I’ve had my brothers call and ask to come over and use ours when theirs is broken, for example. My family has a cabin with no plumbing/running water, so very early on my dad built a sauna that is one of the few really utilitarian saunas that I’ve ever come across - if you’re staying at the cabin for more than a few days, if you want to bathe, you use the sauna as there is no other choice. It’s wood burning, not electric, and it really makes you feel like you’re in Finland in 1502 or something. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/38 "2010-07-12T19:17:28Z")
> [@rayman5321](#): > > The correct pronunciation is sow-oo-na. In the Finnish language every syllable is pronounced. As Athena said, sow rhymes with cow. The word is spoken so that it sounds as if it has only two syllables. I learned the sow-oo-na version from my grandparents, who were from the Michigan UP and who’s parents were from Finland (even if they did swear they were Swede-Finns and spoke Swedish). The middle syllable/vowel isn’t even a full syllable. It’s kind of tacked on the back of the sow part, with a slight pause or break to it. So maybe closer to sa-oo-na, but there are definately 3 vowels pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/39 "2010-07-12T20:26:34Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Saunas are very common in this area. I’ve rented college dives that have saunas, I have one in my house, and I’d say about 50-75% of the people I know have a sauna. It’s not at all uncommon for people to break in the middle of a social event and jump in the sauna, especially if the social event revolves around watching a sports game. “Come on over and watch the game - the sauna’s hot and the beer is cold” is pretty much what a large segment of the population here thinks of as a good time. That’s because it is a good time! 😃 I pronounce it properly, of course. When I lived in northern Minnesota, that was the common pronunciation as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221/40 "2010-07-12T23:37:37Z")
> [@St.Urho](#): > > That’s because it is a good time! 😃 > > I pronounce it properly, of course. When I lived in northern Minnesota, that was the common pronunciation as well. Sow-oo-na of course. Having two Finnish Grandmothers, I’m half Finn on both sides, (2 /4 Finn is how I say it so i don’t get "on which side?) and its definitely an “ow!” I hurt myself, then a kind of short “oo” as in food, and a na. In my town if you aren’t Italian or First Nations, you are Finn, or at least partly. Like old fashioned cars said “ah-ooo-gah” kind of sow-oo-nah. Saying “Sah-nah” is for wanabees. And I have one in my basement. But the timer doesn’t work, no one can fix the timer, or tell me who can, but the heater works fine. Maybe this winter I will get it fixed and can again freak out my French Canadian sauna naive boyfriend. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sauna-pronunciation/546221.md?page=1)