Recently, my colleague and Dining Out’s editor, Emily Crisman, shared a book with me.
“You’re Saying it Wrong,” by Ross and Kathryn Petras, is a guide to the 150 most commonly mispronounced words. It was an eye-opening read, to say the least.
After collecting the pieces of my shattered world (who knew “spit and image” is the correct form of the expression meaning “exact likeness,” rather than “spitting image,” which is more commonly heard today? Or that the accepted pronunciation of the acronym GIF is “jiff”?), I decided to share some of what I learned. Here, dear reader, are a few food-related words that you’re probably saying wrong.
Bruschetta, an Italian dish made with grilled bread topped with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, salt and pepper
Pronunciation: broo-skeh-tah
Croissant, a French crescent-shaped roll
Pronunciation: kwah-SAHNT or kwah-SAHWN
Calzone, an Italian, oven-baked folded pizza
Pronunciation: cal-ZOH-nee
Gnocchi, a thick, small, soft-dough dumpling made with potato
Pronunciation: NYAW-kee
Iced tea, tea that is iced
Pronunciation: ICED-tee (not ICE-tee)
Pho, Vietnamese noodles served in broth
Pronunciation: fuh
Provolone, an Italian cheese
Pronunciation: proh-vuh-LOH-nee