# What is the proper way to pronounce Labatt Blue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 28, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585 "2004-05-28T22:27:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/1 "2004-05-28T22:27:17Z")
What is the proper way to pronounce Labatt Blue (the beer)? My friends say it rhymes with “splat” (La Bat) whereas I think it should sound like “robot” (La-bot). I don’t mean this as a poll but rather am hoping a Canadian will come along to answer. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/2 "2004-05-28T22:31:48Z")
In the few commercials I’ve seen, Labatt rhymes with splat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/3 "2004-05-28T22:32:16Z")
It’s lah-BATT, tabernac. In a Montreal bar, though, just say “bloo” and you’ll get your message across. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/4 "2004-05-28T23:18:16Z")
Take Off! I thought it was pronounced “Canadian Pisswater.” Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/5 "2004-05-29T00:09:39Z")
> [@aaslatten](#): > > What is the proper way to pronounce Labatt Blue (the beer)? The correct pronunciation is of course, “Kokanee”! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/6 "2004-05-29T00:12:17Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > The correct pronunciation is of course, “Kokanee”! 😃 No, no, it’s pronounced “Mohl-son Can-a-di-an”. 😛 But really, I can’t figure out how you would make it rhyme with “robot”! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/7 "2004-05-29T01:52:30Z")
Actually, it’s best pronounced “Sleeman”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/8 "2004-05-29T02:14:36Z")
Rube E. Tewesday is actually correct. Seriously though, I’ve always heard it pronounced La - Bat ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/9 "2004-05-29T02:23:49Z")
You’re all wrong, of course. It’s pronounced “Throat-Warbler Mangrove.” ---
**Author:** ![aaslatten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f14d63/32.png) [@aaslatten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaslatten)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/10 "2004-05-29T12:41:20Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > No, no, it’s pronounced “Mohl-son Can-a-di-an”. 😛 > > But really, I can’t figure out how you would make it rhyme with “robot”! 😕 I meant just the second part – so it would be La-bot instead of La-bat. But forget it, I was wrong anyhow. ---
**Author:** ![Lambo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lambo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lambo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/11 "2004-05-29T13:53:36Z")
Well, for some reason, I always pronounce it ‘La-bats’, slipping an ‘s’ on the end, there. Even when I say the full name: ‘La-bats blue’. Too late to change, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/12 "2004-05-29T14:18:53Z")
> [@Lambo](#): > > Well, for some reason, I always pronounce it ‘La-bats’, slipping an ‘s’ on the end, there. Even when I say the full name: ‘La-bats blue’. Too late to change, I guess. At one time it was called [Labatt’s Blue](http://www.mylifeisbeer.com/beer/bottles/bottledetail/230/) , but they’ve dropped the apostrophe – sometime in the last decade I think. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/13 "2004-05-29T20:04:33Z")
Funny Labatt Blue story: On one of our lacrosse trips, we went down to Northern Illinois University. One of our nights there, we went out to the bar as a team. One of my friends goes up to the bar and asks the bartender for “12 bottles of Blue.” The bartender looked at Nate with a confused look on his face and replied, “You want 12 bottles of SKYY Blue?!?” Jaws dropped. The bar went silent. Nate, a barkeep himself, just looked at this man, aghast at what he had just heard. The other bartender walks over, taps his coworker on the shoulder and says, “Dude, they’re from Michigan. They want Labatt.” And all was set right with our part of the world. ---
**Author:** ![peculiar\_hailstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/46a35a/32.png) [@peculiar\_hailstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peculiar_hailstone)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/14 "2004-05-29T20:15:52Z")
I was just down in North Carolina, at a huge bluegrass festival, and the guys camping next to us were from down south. I was drinking the cheap american piss to save money (blechhh), but these guys were drinking Labatt('s) Blue! Strange, eh? But they were pronouncing it Law-Bot. I didn’t bother correcting them. Good thing it’s hard to mispronounce Moosehead. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/15 "2004-05-30T00:19:57Z")
pisswater (rhymes with “piss water”) ---
**Author:** ![omni-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8dc957/32.png) [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/16 "2004-05-30T00:44:23Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > It’s lah-BATT, tabernac. > > In a Montreal bar, though, just say “bloo” and you’ll get your message across. And you could even get a similar result if you said Bleue, but only in the East end bars… 😃😉 ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2004, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-proper-way-to-pronounce-labatt-blue/247585/17 "2004-05-30T01:38:35Z")
They had a not-half-bad ad campaign a few years ago where they put “La” in front of everyday English words, to make them sound more French (and hence ‘exotic’ I guess). Of course each ad went something like: "La Chair… La Bar…La Hot Lady… La Batt’s…)