You say tchoritso...

[BrillianaHarvey]

...and I say khoritho. Because it's RIGHT. That's how ACTUAL SPANISH PEOPLE say it because it COMES FROM SPAIN.
So why do you look pityingly at me as though I'm some kind of illiterate imbecile, and get me to repeat it, several times, before you say, triumphantly, 'Oh, tchoritso!' like you've just cracked the fucking Enigma Code?
And it crosses my mind, fleetingly, that perhaps my life would have been easier if sometimes I'd chosen to be wrong instead of weird.

It's cho-ree-tho.

I get that it sounds a bit poncy but ok, say it the english way (cho-ree-zo) then - why add the 'itzo' thing? It's so wrong!

Actually I blame Delia Smith who says choritzo all the time and everyone thought if she says it it must be right.

tchoh/REE/soh would be how he pronounces it. He's from South of Spain.

Yes, I went to uni in southern Spain and go there now about 4 times a year. I've also travelled a lot in Latin America. So that is how I pronounce it too. It's fine in Spanish either way.

I think we can summarise it as what it isn't pronounced as is kori(whatever)o.

There are also a million variations for paella.

I think it's fine to adapt whatever name to local pronunciations. We certainly do it in other languages and has been done in English for centuries.
Just as long as you realise, when you go abroad, that locals may say it in a different way.

I might be spoiled because unlike many people I have native speakers of most European and lots of non-European languages within reach so whenever i want to check proper pronunciation of something, I just holler or trot over to where they sit.
They actually don't get anal about mispronunciation of words. Most Italians are very particular about their coffee though and the Germans about their beer and sausages.

I'm from Spain. Mother was from Castille and I've worked as a news anchor so my spanish is very neutral and crisp.

It's CHORIZO - a very strong TCHO - ree - tho. The th sound is also very strong, with the tongue placed between the front teeth.

In southern spain or south america it can be different (think more of a smoother tchoreeso, as PP mentioned).

There is only one one way of pronouncing paella, and sangria btw. 'PAYEYA' is completely wrong!

Beer (cerveza) can also vary a bit due to, again, regional accents.

I don't get annoyed about people mispronunciating spanish words, unless some smart ass tries to lecture me in how they should be pronounced. It's happened!

I can't stop thinking of Kath and Kim reading this thread.

"Actually, Oi've bin to Paris and Oi think you'll find it's pronounced Car-donnay"

I live in France so am constantly mispronouncing words to the amusement of all and sundry. My French teacher was helpless with laughter when I told her someone drove a Citroën but I didn't bother not to anglicize the pronounciation - she thought I said he drove round in a lemon. Sit-roy-un, not sit-ron

I don't get annoyed about people mispronunciating spanish words, unless some smart ass tries to lecture me in how they should be pronounced. It's happened!

Wow. How infuriating. I hope you put them straight! I would take great pleasure in it

I had a colleague once who was Dutch. The boss asked him to do a Dutch translation from English. He did so, despite not being a professional translator and this boss, who was an idiot, showed it to the Belgian sales manager, who corrected it according to his understanding of the language as a Belgian speaker of Flemish. The boss had my Dutch colleague in and had a go at him as if he couldn't speak Dutch and had tricked him! The guy was completely Dutch, an educated guy, a native speaker who had been born in the Netherlands and grown up there. Boss was such a massive twat.

"You're right, but as Europeans it would make sense for us to speak European/Iberian Spanish rather than Latin-American Spanish,"
There's nothing wrong with saying choreetho, it's not wrong.
But when not even everybody in Spain says it that way then claiming that it's the only right way is like an English learner saying that bath is always pronounced with a long A. Because it's just not, always, even in England.

venusinscorpio I do indeed take great pleasure

I don't mind being told how to properly use or pronounce a word (I had issues with "wood" for a while!), but it's the attitude that drives me nuts.

I

There is only one one way of pronouncing paella, and sangria btw. 'PAYEYA' is completely wrong!

How do you say it then, so I can tell the fighting children?

YouTube has spoken. War is over.

But when not even everybody in Spain says it that way then claiming that it's the only right way is like an English learner saying that bath is always pronounced with a long A. Because it's just not, always, even in England.

Quite. But there are only two ways the letter z is pronounced in Spanish. And what it really really isn't is "choritso".

I've just discovered Jamie Oliver says chore -reeth-oh, which makes me go with the other ways of pronouncing the word.

I'm sure I remember him saying it wrong before. Perhaps someone pointed out his error

Jamie Oliver is seen in spain as someone who needs to understand out cuisine a bit better. His "paella" made headlines in my home country!

Theonly the youtube video says it right!

This whole thread reads like a lisp convention

Do you lisp when you say the word "thread"? Is myth the speech impediment version of miss? Or are they, you know, different sounds, different words?

'PAYEYA' is completely wrong!

To me that video is saying how you said was completely wrong...pa-yay-yah?

You say tomato, I say tomato.

To me that video is saying how you said was completely wrong...pa-yay-yah?

He definitely says pa-é (not ya) and then quite close to the Portuguese sound for lha, not really ya either (although, apparently many Spanish speakers also say ya). This is one sound that English speakers have some trouble with hearing and pronouncing.
The equivalent in difficulty to th for most people whose mother tongue is a language of Latin origin.

'PAYEYA' is completely wrong!

To me that video is saying how you said was completely wrong...pa-yay-yah?

I think he says pah-eh-ya rather than pa-yay-yah i.e. there isn't the 'y' sound before the 'eh' of the second syllable. Not sure if that's what the poster is complaining about.

Gwen, that's correct :) There is no need to introduce an additional "y" sound.
Pa (like in partition, patrimony) - e (like in echo) - lla (this is the tricky bit. In spanish there is a very small difference between the "y" and "ll" sounds... so you could get away saying "ya" like in yankee).

By the way, I'm from northern Spain. It looks like Cornwall, rains lots, we love seafood and stews and play the bagpipe. Definitely not like Valencia!

I suspect going straight from pah to eh is difficult for many native English speakers an that's why the 'y' sound is introduced between them.

But if you're Argentinian it's pa-é-ja. Just thought I'd throw that in

This thread would put anyone off learning Spanish!

Student DD is in Brazil and was invited to go and see a film starring a lovely American actor called Bredgy Peachy.