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Pedants' corner
Original poster

Marshmallow / Marshmellow?

16 replies

Hangingbellyofbabylon · 09/02/2013 18:12

I've just heard a children's TV presenter talk about 'Marshmellows'. Surely this is not correct? Ever. Or am I mistaken and it is correct in some regions? Need to know as have just threatened dh with a big fork if he ever says marshmellow again.

This link would appear to concur.

OP posts:
OverlyYappyAlways · 09/02/2013 18:13

Always been a mallow in my house. marshmallow! Is it a chilled out version perhaps?

WMittens · 09/02/2013 19:32

Is it not simply down to a regional accent? What accent does the presenter have?

cardibach · 09/02/2013 23:34

Definitely should be marshmAllow. MarshmEllow is really irritating, and irritatingly common.

FellatioNels0n · 09/02/2013 23:36

It's mallow. Marshmellow is said by people who just don't speak properly.

Original poster
Hangingbellyofbabylon · 10/02/2013 19:11

The presenter was Jane Horrocks but my husband is a southerner and I don't know anyone else around here who says 'Marshmellow'. I've managed to beat his habit of saying 'haitch' for 'H' out of him so will now work on marshmallow.

OP posts:
Numberlock · 10/02/2013 19:12

This annoys me to an irrational level too!

Bluestocking · 10/02/2013 19:15

This really annoys me too. Years ago, I had an American boyfriend who used to say marshmellow - that was the first time I'd heard it. Is it possibly American in origin?

LunaticFringe · 10/02/2013 19:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GrimmaTheNome · 10/02/2013 19:22

I think 'marshmellow' is an Americanism. Unlike some such, this one is plain wrong - it is definitely 'marshmallow' because originally they were a medicinal remedy for sore throats made with Althaea officinalis, the marshmallow plant.

If you search for 'marshmellow' in wikipedia it redirects you to the entry for marshmallow which is surely proof that the former does not exist Grin

NorbertDentressangle · 10/02/2013 19:33

Its a real bugbear of mine and I have to bite my lip when people say marshmellow .....apart from once when FIL (a real stickler for language and someone who is always right, or at least he likes to think he is Wink) said it wrongly and I just barked "Its marshmallow!" at him. He looked quite stunned by my reprimand!

FellatioNels0n · 11/02/2013 03:55

Yes Grimma, that's exactly what I was going to say. the Marsh Mallow is a plant. The sweet is named after the plant.

FellatioNels0n · 11/02/2013 03:57

OK, Mr Yahoo says that originally the sap of the Marsh Mallow root was used as a thickening agent, later replaced by gelatin.

I know I really should learn to lighten up but I get irrationally irritated by things like this. Grin What's the matter with people? Why can't they just learn to open their lugholes so they can be right, like me?

MarjorieAntrobus · 11/02/2013 04:04

Yes to all the above irritation.

What about mischievous then? Why do so many people put another i in that word? Makes me very tutty.

babiesinslingsgetcoveredinfood · 17/02/2013 21:51

lunatic you could be me. The other day I refused to put one in her hot chocolate until she said it properly. She's 3 Blush

hurley5000 · 07/09/2018 18:01

Dictionary.com has the first pronunciation as mahrsh-mel-oh www.dictionary.com/browse/marshmallow

Whether that's a grudging acceptance of popular usage or the way it's always been, I don't know.

ErrolTheDragon · 07/09/2018 18:15

Zombie thread - is that an American website?

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