The oldest Marx Brother: Cheeko or Chicko?

I happen to know that Little Nemo always requests extra mayonnaise on his chicken sandwiches.

Maybe; but how many light-years away is that ? :wink:

I would’ve gone, but I was washing my hair.

But always on the side. So I can dip my french fries in it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I can just see Exapno curling up into himself, like a slug in salt.

FWIW, I have sometimes dipped fries in ranch dressing.

Dude, that’s just wrong.

His stage name was Pinko.

Wait… You people are telling me that it’s pronounced “Chick-o”?!

What…the…what?!

I pronounce it Cheeco. And if he doesn’t know how to pronounce his own name, that’s his problem.

I became a fan at such a young age, and started reading the biographies so early, that I got used to the idea of “Chick-o” and didn’t have to unlearn the Spanish pronunciation*. It does help, as mentioned earlier, that he was “Chick-o-lini” (Chicolini) in Duck Soup, as well as “Chick-o” (Chico) in The Cocoanuts and Monkey Business.

*That said:if you listen to people talk about the Marx Brothers–even relatively authoritative people, talking about pop culture on television, radio, etc.-- then you hear the Spanish pronunciation SO often that you have to kind of fight it off.

Well, the controlling criterion is taste. Try it sometime. :stuck_out_tongue:

I WILL! It sounds really, really yummy!

Cocktail sauce, and BBQ sauce, and hot mustard sauce, and… Dang, french fries are good with nearly anything! How about a nice pesto, or an alfredo?

They both sound good to me…:slight_smile:

Even though I eventually learned it was supposed to be Chicko, I still say it the wrong way.

Just as I know baseball’s greatest shortstop was HAH-nus Wagner, but still say HOE-nus, because the correct pronunciation sounds wrong!

The laugh’s on you. That’s my natural state.

As I mentioned in the other thread that led to this one, I always pronounced it Cheeko until I started reading biographies. None of my Marx Brethren friends ever corrected me.

You’re right that he was Chico on the movie version of The Cocoanuts, but that’s only because they wouldn’t use the name he had in the stage version. Which was Willie the Wop. Maybe the only time in the 1920s a slur wasn’t used.

cheek-o Here is a period guy pronouncing his name.

Another one that’s usually mispronounced is Ikea. Pretty much everyone pronounces the first part like eye. But it’s supposed to be like ick.

…what…

YOU PEOPLE ARE TEARING MY WORLD APART

It’s easy to remember if you know where the nickname comes from.