It is not a sodding 'Expresso'

[TheDevilWearsPrimark]

Oh this makes me irrationally angry.

yeah yeah - just read the link

ok, thanks. I will call it chorizoo

me too pointy

YANBU in the least. Brushetta and latte' (with an accent at the end) also drive me nuts, esp when the lartay is not milk (=latte) but essentially milk and coffee (and so, if anything, is caffe' latte).

Other pet hates of mine include "proscuitto" mispronounced as well [proskiutto] and "Guiseppe" pronounced [Guiseppee] or [Joosseppee]. And "mozzarella cheese"- as opposed to what, mozzarella ice cream??

All of the above especially annoying when I pronounce the words correctly and the waiter repeats them back wrong or goes "A, you mean brushetta".

In any event, spelling mistakes in menus are usualky a good warning sign that the food might not be up to scratch either. If the chef cannot be bothered to check the menu carefully, who knows where else corners are being cut?

good point re croissant OMDB
how do all you non-pronouncers say croissant eh? eh??
and pain au chocolat?
and and pain au raisins
and um

but it's ok to say croissant/pain au chocolat ... it's just not asseptable to say espresso

well what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the forrin coffee and sausage, that's what I say

I'd also feel like a right tit asking for choreetho and am not about to work up half a gallon of phlegm next time I fancy a glass of Rioja.

I think I'd probably judge the proper pronounciation brigade as sounding like a bunch of w**kers, rather than judging the 'expresso' people. Am I allowed to say that on MN?

but the problem with expresso is a bit different in that there is no 'x' in the word so it represents a misreading as well as a mispronounciation

What, one syllable? Keev?

Mercy me!

Well, this chap rhymed it with peeve. But hey.

Would anyone dream of pronouncing the Ls in "tortilla"?

Or the J in "jalapeno"?

One would not, but loadsa people say "pie-ella".

Just an observation.

Good thread but I have to admit to feeling like a child listening to an adults conversation for much of it. I have spent half my time going eh whats wrong with that and the other half going a bollocks to it I am not saying panino or cappaccinis for anyone.

Will try to stop saying expresso though as I accept this makes me look like a plank who can't read so thank you for that DWP.

I'm reading a menu, I fancy trying something different and like the description of a meal but as I've never heard anyone pronounce the name out loud I'm stuck on what to call the damn thing.

Do I a) give it my best shot and risk MN humiliation or b) opt for the steak'n'chips?

It is obvious from this thread that I can't trust the waiters to help me.

So what do I do?

What REALLY annoys me is the stupid BBC who started off the mispronounciation of Morgan Tsvangirai's name.

It is pronounced as it is spelt - ts - van -gi - rai. Where this "Changirai" malarky came from, I have no idea. Obviously that highly thorough BBC research going on again.

What's really funny is when you're in Italy and see a tourist come into the coffee bar and ask for a 'lartay'. When their glass of milk without any coffee in it arrives they always look really bemused

Ulyanka - are you a Russian-speaker? Do you think that the tennis player, Elena Dementieva, actually pronounces her name Dementia-va? As in senile dementia-va? Cos I don't, yet a lot of the tennis commentators call her that.

My brother thinks that crepe (can't do the right accent on it) is pronounced "crap"; his exGF thinks that it's perfectly ok to massacre the pronunciation of foreign words when in England (and probably abroad but I have no idea about that) or the foreigners should just use English Words. Pancake Susan, anyone?

I have been sitting here saying kweechie out loud and wondering what it was supposed to be. LOL at quiche.

YANBU, expresso makes me shudder.

I live in a French speaking area and often get the pronunciation wrong. C'est la vie.

No real need to work up a phlegm ball when asking for Rioja just ask for "Rio - ha", cos even that still sounds miles better than a bloody Rio-ka,ka,ka,kahhhhh - ahhhh
(Sorry - -goes for lie down in dark room....

Expresso is obviously wrong, since there is no 'x' in the word.

But expecting people to get full into the accent is utterly, utterly pretentious and frankly just snigger-inducing. How seriously are we expected to take ourselves?! [grin}

I mean, do we send the police in when non-English speakers have trouble with the 'th' sound?

Good point Ziggurat. My MIL is , has lived here for many years, and still has some amusing pronounciations of English words. Nothing wrong with that if it isn't your first language.

is French

thumbwitch, it's demen -ti- ye- va

The commentators should really learn this stuff.

But there's no reason to go all guttural and pretentious. I mean do you say "Paris" or Paree" (for example)