Many of us enjoy a meal with an exotic sounding twist. But ordering your chosen food can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare.
How many times have you been left rosy-cheeked in a restaurant after failed attempts to order a quinoa salad or gyros? And then there are the debates with friends over the correct way to pronounce everything from paella to prosciutto.
A study by language learning experts Preply revealed the most mispronounced foods and explains exactly how to pronounce each so you can avoid any tricky pronunciation predicaments. Amy Pritchett, Student Success Manager at Preply has shared her advice on ordering food and pronouncing it correctly:
She said: "Break up the words into small sounds. Don’t get overwhelmed. Look at each syllable and try to say it alone before putting the sounds together to form the word.
"Are there any particular sounds specific to the food’s native language? Some languages have certain sounds that come up a lot. For example, the ‘ç” in niçoise and açai is a soft ‘s’ sound and comes up a lot in food names.
"Google! The internet is your best friend when trying to learn new words or food names. You can easily find videos or sound clips of how to say each word.
"Ask the waiter. Waiters and servers will often know how to pronounce each dish on the menu. They will be able to advise you on how to pronounce the dish you are asking to order.
"Watch cooking shows or videos. Watching shows like Masterchef or the Great British Bake Off can help you learn food names and dishes. Whether they are baking focaccia or adding edamame to a pho, you can easily pick up some pronunciation tips.
"When you are not in the position to start googling at the table, your best shot is just to give it a go and laugh it off if you get it wrong.”
Preply looked at the most searched for food names and then checked their linguistic background to find the correct pronunciation. Here are the top 10 with explanations plus 10 more of those which can trick the tongue.
1) Quinoa - k een · waa
Many people try to pronounce this ‘pseudograin’ as the anglicised “Kwin-o-a”. However, this is incorrect. Keen-wa is the right way to say the food as per its South American Origin.
2) Gyros - y ee · ros
Confusion over the pronunciation is long debated, but ‘Gyros’ is in fact the singular of the greek dish. The Mediterranean background means the “Gy” is softened to give a “yee” sound.
3) Croissant - k wa · son
It's surprising to see that the staple french pastry’s pronunciation is so highly contested in 2022. Croissant, pronounced with “kwa” instead of the expected “cro” sound, and the silent T, gets its name from its shape, a crescent.
4) Açai - a · sai
The popular ingredient of Instagram-perfect smoothie bowls has long been contested for its pronunciation, since its surge in popularity, The berry is actually pronounced in the simple two-syllable “a-sai”. The circumflex on the ‘C’ means the sound is softened to an S.
5) Gnocchi - n o · kee
Just like a garden gnome, the ‘G’ in the popular Italian potato pasta is silent. The ‘cchi’ at the end of the word sounds like ‘kee’. Just like you’ve been locked out because you have no-key.
6) Lychee - l ai · Chee
The pronunciation of the Southern Chinese fruit is surprisingly phonetic given its long-term confusion. Americans are much more likely to pronounce the word “lee-chee”. However the British pronunciation “lie-chee” (rhymes with tai-chi) is much more popular globally.
7) Chipotle - chuh · powt · lay
The pronunciation of the popular Mexican seasoning has been largely Americanised, pronounced “chuh-powt-lay”. This isn’t too dissimilar from the Mexican origins of tchee-pot-leh”. Many people mispronounce the chilli pepper by saying “chee-po-til”, however, this is incorrect.
8) Worcestershire sauce - wu · stuh · shuh
The “cestershire” of Worcestershire sauce causes a lot of confusion, especially for non-Brits who are not used to the strange place names Leicestershire, and Gloucestershire. “Worcestershire” is anything but phonetic, and instead is pronounced in the three-syllable “wu-stuh-shuh”.
9) Pho - fuh
At first glance, it is easy to think the dish is pronounced phonetically pho, like toe, so or go. However, the most popularly accepted pronunciation of the Vietnamese soup is in fact “fuh”.
10) Jalapeño - Ha · luh · pee ·nyow
The Spanish origins of the word mean pronunciation is slightly different to what an English speaker would expect. In Spanish ‘J’ is largely the equivalent of an English ‘H’.
11) Focaccia - foh-cahtch-ah
12) Bruschetta - broo-skett-ah
13) Hummus - homm-us
14) Edamame - eh-duh-maa-may
15) Paella - pah-eh-yah
16) Poutine - poo-tin
17) Poke (bowl) - po-kay
18) Gyoza - gee-oh-zuh
19) Prosciutto - pro-shoo-tow
20) Foie Gras - fwaa graa
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