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How do you pronounce Perrier? (my dh is wrong!)



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spinkles




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 9:51 pm
Okay, so DH asked me to get him some "perry-air" water tonight. He claims that this is how Americans pronounce it, so it's correct *here* even though it's technically the wrong pronunciation. Come on, he's totally wrong, no?? I always say it the proper way and everyone I know did too, until tonight. LOL
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gp2.0




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:08 pm
Americans have a longstanding tradition of messing up pronunciation (and often spelling) of words to fit our accents. Think of any city in the U.S. that was originally French, Spanish or Native American.

Anyway, I think it's better to say words with an American accent than attempt to say them in French, Spanish or whatever and just mess up the pronunciation anyway. Unless you're doing it for fun. But please try to do it seriously with a French person in the room and see how they react.

I mean, I don't know how it should be pronounced. I'm not a native French speaker. But chances are, if you're pronouncing it 'perry-ay' the French people will laugh at you as much as they laugh at people pronouncing it 'perry-air.'

Most likely it's something like 'pehr-ree-ay' with the 'pehr' having that delicate pitch somewhere between 'eh' and 'ai.' And, of course, you should be rolling the r's with your throat. LOL Twisted Evil
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newbie28




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:25 pm
do NOT pronounce the last R in 'Perrier'

pronouncing it 'perry-ay' is fine.
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fiddle




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:30 pm
perry-ay
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:43 pm
fiddle wrote:
perry-ay


Rhymes with Merry Day. Umm, no, I've never heard an American call it Perry Air. Doesn't your dh listen to the radio ads? "Never say water, say Perry-ay; never say seltzer, say Perry-ay..." OK, it's an old ad. Your dh may not even have been born when it aired.Or ayed.

I just order sparkling water, and even that feels affected. "Sparkling water" is what makes up the sea to shining sea. But if I say seltzer, the twenty-something I'm-not-really-a-waiter-I'm-really-an-actor/artist/writer pretends not to know what I'm talking about. "Excuse me? Seltzer? Do you mean sparkling water?" Sigh, yes, sparkling water, if you insist. The fancy name doubles the price with zero value added.


Last edited by zaq on Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
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zaq




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 08 2012, 10:48 pm
Privately my dh calls it "Derriere water". Ever one to poke holes in pretensions, he is. It's rather amusing the first three times you hear it. After that, not so much.
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kb




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 12:56 am
OP, how do you pronounce hors d'oeuvres?
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alwaybhappy




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 1:02 am
horse- devours! and so do ppl.
au-derve
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smilethere




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 2:42 am
perry eh.
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Tamiri




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 2:44 am
Pear-YEH
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imaima




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 4:39 am
chana_f wrote:
Okay, so DH asked me to get him some "perry-air" water tonight. He claims that this is how Americans pronounce it, so it's correct *here* even though it's technically the wrong pronunciation. Come on, he's totally wrong, no?? I always say it the proper way and everyone I know did too, until tonight. LOL


Perrier is supposed to rhyme with Aryeh, as in Aryeh Leib.
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elf123




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 5:35 am
imaima wrote:
chana_f wrote:
Okay, so DH asked me to get him some "perry-air" water tonight. He claims that this is how Americans pronounce it, so it's correct *here* even though it's technically the wrong pronunciation. Come on, he's totally wrong, no?? I always say it the proper way and everyone I know did too, until tonight. LOL


Perrier is supposed to rhyme with Aryeh, as in Aryeh Leib.


But there is no "ah" sound in it, as there is in the beginning of Aryeh...
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 7:39 am
Exactly Tamiri. No yay because it doesn't end in -I.

click on the audio thing http://translate.google.com/#fr|yi|Perrier
Though most people make a short I
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spinkles




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 10:16 am
Thanks for proving me right, guys! I'm going to send this link to dh. :-)

(FTR, the correct way to pronounce it in America is different from the true French pronunciation. French people say it like Tamiri said, along with an "r" sound in the middle that's all throaty and French sounding. Perrier knew that Americans would never be able to pronounce it properly, so they marketed it in TV ads as "perry-ay.")
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 10:59 am
alwaybhappy wrote:
horse- devours! and so do ppl.
au-derve


Really?? why?
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bigprincess




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 12:55 pm
alwaybhappy wrote:
horse- devours! and so do ppl.
au-derve


It's or the h and s are silent De_uv_re
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morah




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 1:00 pm
As a French-American, I am on your side Very Happy
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imaima




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 1:03 pm
elf123 wrote:
imaima wrote:
chana_f wrote:
Okay, so DH asked me to get him some "perry-air" water tonight. He claims that this is how Americans pronounce it, so it's correct *here* even though it's technically the wrong pronunciation. Come on, he's totally wrong, no?? I always say it the proper way and everyone I know did too, until tonight. LOL


Perrier is supposed to rhyme with Aryeh, as in Aryeh Leib.


But there is no "ah" sound in it, as there is in the beginning of Aryeh...


Stress on the last syllable in both.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Mon, Jul 09 2012, 1:16 pm
No one asks for a perfect accent. But horse devours? really, just say starter. For your own sake.

http://translate.google.fr/#fr|en|hors-d%27oeuvres (though I don't think she pronounces it right either, the "huh" sound is just wrong)
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