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Pedants' corner

How do YOU say it?

(145 Posts)
MawBroon Thu 14-Feb-19 08:17:00

It doesn’t bother me when people say “chimbley” or “skellington” (it can sound sweet from a child) but when 4 year old DGD said “marshmellow” the other day, it really grated.
I have noticed it in England and cannot for the life of me understand why some people pronounce it this way.
We say “fallow, shallow, mallow” so why on Earth should the vowel change?
In DGD’s case I suspect this is down to the nanny as I did not teach our DDs to say that.
Ducks behind sofa

BassGrammy Fri 15-Feb-19 11:11:41

These little girls can be adamant about a lot of things! We found that a lot of her alternative pronunciations changed when she started school. Although her brother who is 10 still calls the Prime Minister, Choriza May!

breeze Fri 15-Feb-19 11:09:35

You say poteyto I say potahto, let's call the whole thing 'orf.

And while I'm at it, who took the 'd' out of avocado!

I say 'mellow'.

Wonder where the 'marsh' comes from (soft and squashy?)

I'm from the South East

The Americans say 'mullow' so it could be worse shock

I've never heard it pronounced 'mallow' though. But then I rarely discuss them and don't eat them. Sickly things.

MawBroon Fri 15-Feb-19 11:09:31

I wasn’t annoyed at my DGD - just asking, the clue is in the thread title. hmm

MawBroon Fri 15-Feb-19 11:08:27

Sorry oldgoat when did I “tell you off”?
Apologies.

Baloothefitz Fri 15-Feb-19 11:08:18

I can't imagine being annoyed at how my four year old grandchild pronounced a word .Oh my days ....

annep1 Fri 15-Feb-19 11:05:23

I'm in Ireland.

annep1 Fri 15-Feb-19 11:03:58

I'm Ireland. Its definitely Preemark.
Marshmallow doesn't have an e. Why pronounce it mellow.

NotSpaghetti Fri 15-Feb-19 11:00:36

Regarding "the" - it looks as though it has several correct pronunciations - but the 1st one is "thuh"
en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/the

oldgoat Fri 15-Feb-19 10:58:57

winterwhite 'Thu' as in 'Thu apple' rather than 'thee' apple.
Better get off this thread though or I will be told off by the OP for going 'off thread' again

NotSpaghetti Fri 15-Feb-19 10:55:28

My family used to have Syrup of Marshmallow when we had a bad cough (as a throat-soother with olive oil and rum!) when I was a child. And as a young mum I did make a type of marshmallow confection from this plant. It's always therefore been mallow for me as the connection to the plant was very strong.
I think the "e" version is from America- maybe they also pronounce the plant that way over the pond?

MadeInYorkshire Fri 15-Feb-19 10:54:16

The one I struggle with is 'envelope'!

winterwhite Fri 15-Feb-19 10:50:00

Surprised that you all use or hear the word enough to notice! Not in my everyday vocabulary but maybe I don’t see my GC regularly enough. Don’t recognise this thu thing either (do you say eyether or eether??) Mallow anyway, and armond.

lovebeigecardigans1955 Fri 15-Feb-19 10:46:51

It's mallow in my book.

MawBroon Fri 15-Feb-19 10:44:26

Of course I have told her (gently) , her brothers (8and7) have told her, but she is adamant.
Not making a thing of it with her though, I wouldn’t be so unkind.

BassGrammy Fri 15-Feb-19 10:41:33

She's 4...does it matter? Have you told her the way you think it's correct? Sometimes children have problems with certain pronunciations. My DGD age 5 also says marshmellow, but probably because no one has told her differently. What really bugs me is when people say Tescos!

moleswife Fri 15-Feb-19 10:40:07

Thank you Oldgoat for that - I thought I was the only one getting uptight about thu/thee, even when explaining it to others who use 'thee' they don't always get it!

DotMH1901 Fri 15-Feb-19 10:31:40

Marshmallow for me - born in Liverpool, lived in North Wales, Kent and now West Midlands and not heard it pronounced as anything else.

MawBroon Thu 14-Feb-19 19:19:37

Nothing to do with accents though absent, this is effectively a different word (or mispronunciation, )
as I said before like “chimbly” and “skellington” or “mischeevious”

Framilode Thu 14-Feb-19 19:15:44

What about almond. I say armond but my husband says olmond.

absent Thu 14-Feb-19 18:54:37

Everyone has an accent of some sort – even received pronunciation is an accent. I have now got used to the vowel shift that has happened in New Zealand English, whereby the short e has shifted to a short i – hard-boiled iggs.

Bathsheba Thu 14-Feb-19 16:52:23

I love marshmallows - and I pronounce them mallow, not mellow. But I seem to recall that as a child our family pronounced them marshmellows; not sure when or why that changed with me. Have I become less or more posh? grin

Jalima1108 Thu 14-Feb-19 16:31:33

Me neither, but I must listen to DGD2 next time she has some!

Nonnie Thu 14-Feb-19 16:26:40

Yes Baggs

Actually I don't think I say the word, I don't like them! grin

Jalima1108 Thu 14-Feb-19 16:22:12

because it used to be made from marshmallow root.

Day6 Thu 14-Feb-19 16:19:23

It's m*a*llow for me. Like the plant. Always has been.

(However, I do feel at home when people speak of their garridge, rather than their garaaaage, so I'm not a southerner, or posh!) .