Pet Peeves

caseydog said:
Fill -ay is not pretentious in the USA. Everyone from old money to blue collar says it that way. It does not just apply to filet mignon, such as filet of fish.

There is a British YouTube cooking channel that I really like, but one of the stars insists on mispronouncing foreign words. Filet, taco, tortilla, paella -- mispronounced even when his co-stars pronounce things right. They did their show from Texas, where they spent at least a week, and he mispronounced taco and tortilla the whole time he was here. That came across as seriously pretentious to me.

CD
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I know its not pretentious in the US ;-) I meant that if a British person pronounced it the French way in a British restaurant it would sound pretentious.

What's the link to the youtube video? I'd be interested to hear how they pronounced filet/fillet, taco, tortilla, paella.
 
MrsDangermouse said:
I know its not pretentious in the US ;-) I meant that if a British person pronounced it the French way in a British restaurant it would sound pretentious.

What's the link to the youtube video? I'd be interested to hear how they pronounced filet/fillet, taco, tortilla, paella.
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There is not one video, it is a YouTube channel called SortedFood. Like I said, I really like the show. The five guys who do the show are close friends/mates, and they are very funny. Two of them are trained chefs, and the others refer to themselves as "Normals." The premise of the show is teaching ordinary people how to cook at home, and enjoy doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sortedfood

CD
 
caseydog said:
There is not one video, it is a YouTube channel called SortedFood. Like I said, I really like the show. The five guys who do the show are close friends/mates, and they are very funny. Two of them are trained chefs, and the others refer to themselves as "Normals." The premise of the show is teaching ordinary people how to cook at home, and enjoy doing it.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sortedfood

CD
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I wondered if it was that one - I started watching it a few weeks ago but I haven't watched any of their travel videos yet.
I haven't noticed any strange pronunciations from them so far though - in their fish taco episode they all pronounce taco and tortilla exactly how anyone would over here.
 
MrsDangermouse said:
I wondered if it was that one - I started watching it a few weeks ago but I haven't watched any of their travel videos yet.
I haven't noticed any strange pronunciations from them so far though - in their fish taco episode they all pronounce taco and tortilla exactly how anyone would over here.
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If they are from the UK one would expect that - just as I would expect American 'chefs' to pronounce things their way. One that I find odd is 'erb. In the UK we pronounce the 'h' in herb. I presume the American pronunciation with the silent 'h' is from the French. Although, in France it would be pronounced 'airb' rather than 'urb'.
 
Morning Glory said:
If they are from the UK one would expect that - just as I would expect American 'chefs' to pronounce things their way. One that I find odd is 'erb. In the UK we pronounce the 'h' in herb. I presume the American pronunciation with the silent 'h' is from the French. Although, in France it would be pronounced 'airb' rather than 'urb'.
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Totally agree, when travelling I'd always expect people to pronounce things their own way rather than trying to imitate the locals.
I find the American pronunciation of herb very strange too - but then probably the way I say some things would sound strange to American ears :laugh:
 
MrsDangermouse said:
I wondered if it was that one - I started watching it a few weeks ago but I haven't watched any of their travel videos yet.
I haven't noticed any strange pronunciations from them so far though - in their fish taco episode they all pronounce taco and tortilla exactly how anyone would over here.
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Ben is the one who is the worst. I am sensitive to taco and tortilla because of where I live. Those are our foods.

In the fish taco episode, they all pronounced taco wrong, except for one time, Barry pronounced it right, and then "corrected" himself to the British mispronunciation -- I'm guessing for the local audience. Ben called a tortilla a taco. A tortilla is an ingredient for tacos.

BTW, a tortilla is a different thing in Mexico than in Spain, which causes confusion itself. But, it is pronounced the same in Mexico and Spain. Tor-tee-yah. A double-L is pronounced like a Y in Spanish.

Americans mispronounce plenty of words, but some of us make the effort to pronounce foreign words correctly, once we hear it pronounced correctly. I care because I've had my Italian name mispronounced my whole life -- people read my name and mentally add letters that aren't there.

For other food words differences, like hob and stove, or aubergine and eggplant, I just see it as differences. We have our words, you have yours. No more, no less.

CD
 
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Morning Glory said:
One that I find odd is 'erb. In the UK we pronounce the 'h' in herb. I presume the American pronunciation with the silent 'h' is from the French.
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Oh, but it's become fashionable here the last decade or so to pronounce the "h" - we're trendy now. :wink:

Pronunciations of food terms don't really bother me too much, meaning I won't generally "correct" anyone, because the way they talk is the way they talk, and maybe it's ignorance, or maybe it's just their language or dialect. I may find some humor in it, or I may offer a suggestion if it's something they seem to be struggling with, but otherwise, I just leave it alone.

By the same token, I don't take kindly to being "corrected." If I don't know how to say a foreign dish, I'll usually ask someone on-the-spot, or if I have time, I'll track down a native speaker on YT and learn from that.

I have a smarty-pants know-it-all-I'm-more-worldly-than-you acquaintance who insists on correcting my (and every other American's) pronunciation of "crepe," using the French way, so it sounds like "crept" minus the "t" as opposed to the typical (in my experience) American way of rhyming it more closely to "grape" - it's subtle but it's there.

I finally (somewhat) shut her up by rattling off a half-dozen English-from-French words and asked why she wasn't pronouncing those the "proper" French way as well.

I do also get quite annoyed with celebrity chefs who speak in their "normal" plain-as-vanilla American voice...until they want to flex their ethnic credentials by pronouncing every Italian/Spanish/French word with flourish. It's just unsettling, like hitting a speed bump at 50mph.
 
TastyReuben said:
Oh, but it's become fashionable here the last decade or so to pronounce the "h" - we're trendy now. :wink:

Pronunciations of food terms don't really bother me too much, meaning I won't generally "correct" anyone, because the way they talk is the way they talk, and maybe it's ignorance, or maybe it's just their language or dialect. I may find some humor in it, or I may offer a suggestion if it's something they seem to be struggling with, but otherwise, I just leave it alone.

By the same token, I don't take kindly to being "corrected." If I don't know how to say a foreign dish, I'll usually ask someone on-the-spot, or if I have time, I'll track down a native speaker on YT and learn from that.

I have a smarty-pants know-it-all-I'm-more-worldly-than-you acquaintance who insists on correcting my (and every other American's) pronunciation of "crepe," using the French way, so it sounds like "crept" minus the "t" as opposed to the typical (in my experience) American way of rhyming it more closely to "grape" - it's subtle but it's there.

I finally (somewhat) shut her up by rattling off a half-dozen English-from-French words and asked why she wasn't pronouncing those the "proper" French way as well.

I do also get quite annoyed with celebrity chefs who speak in their "normal" plain-as-vanilla American voice...until they want to flex their ethnic credentials by pronouncing every Italian/Spanish/French word with flourish. It's just unsettling, like hitting a speed bump at 50mph.
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To me, it is a matter of effort. I've had some people ask me how to pronounce my name, instead of just guessing and getting it wrong. I like that. It tells me that the person cares about getting my name right.

When I met Fabrizio Giugiaro of Italdesign, I asked his assistant how to properly pronounce his last name. I wanted to get it right. My boss would have just blurted out what he thought it should be. I tried to teach my boss how to say "Mille Miglia" at least a dozen times, and he just kept saying it in his Iowa way. Drove me nuts watching him embarrass himself -- although he wasn't embarrassed at all.

CD
 
medtran49 said:
I used to have a friend, a much older man, that loved to go out to high-end restaurants, what he called hoity-toity places, and mispronounce words just to watch the waiters and maitre d' cringe. Like fill-et mig-non, horses du vers, cham-pag-ne, crep-e. He was fun to be around, had quite a zest for life and he loved my DD like a grandfather.
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I would get on with your friend very well, I too love winding people up.

Russ
 
medtran49 said:
He was a businessman on an expense account that had to wine and dine others. We're talking almost 40 years ago from the beginning. And just in case anybody is wondering, it truly was just a close friendship, he basically became family over time.
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I too have women friends, and there's nothing even slightly untoward. Just enjoy each other's company.

Russ
 
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