A spanish pronunciation question and general observation

[Maister]

What is the correct way to pronounce that Mexican pop called "Jarritos"?
(I'm guessing yar-EE-tohs)

Is it silly to want to pronounce spanish food items correctly at an authentic mexican restaurant (most of the staff doesnt speak english) when one doesn't speak spanish and it's obvious they are a first-class gringo? or should they just spit out in their twangiest midwestern "Listen sonny boy, get me some of those TAA-coz and bir-EYE-toz with jil-AP-in-oh peppers and make it snappy!"

Anyone here from Lohz-Ahn-jeh-leez?

Anyone remember that silly SNL skit with the NPR reporters overpronouncing the hell out of 'foreign' words? (I think Jimmy Smits may have been guest star)

[ofos]

More like har-EE-tos but even that doesn't give it quite the right pronunciation because you have roll the double-r.

[Blide]

It's painful to hear many Americans pronounce the name Jesus... If you're not referring to the religious figure, it's pronounced Hay-soos.

Another one that amuses me is going into a Greek place and hearing someone order a gyro. The G is supposed to be silent if we're talking about a food item.

[Maister]

It's painful to hear many Americans pronounce the name Jesus... If you're not referring to the religious figure, it's pronounced Hay-soos.

There's a lot of words pronounced by english speakers that are no doubt painful. To return to my more general question, why is widely acceptable to anglicize certain foreign words/names but not others? Let's actually use Los Angeles as an example - who here does NOT say Loss-AN-jel-iz? or take a more subtle thing like 'chimichanga' most anglos don't pronounce the i's as ee's do they? yet, that's the proper way.

[Raf]

What is the correct way to pronounce that Mexican pop called "Jarritos"?
(I'm guessing yar-EE-tohs)

Har-Hee-toes

Anyone here from Lohz-Ahn-jeh-leez?

Lo-s-Han-ELS


pin-chee green-gos

[Gotta Speakup]

Maybe because I grew up with Spanish, I find it very easy to pronounce words I am not familiar with. Maybe a few Indian words from Mexico can be difficult but that's it. Everyone watches US tv at some point in their lives and is familiar with the anglicization of some words in the US. Not a big deal.

I think that with only an hour lesson, anyone can learn how to pronounce 99% of spanish words. Even so, most Latinos don't make fun of how Anglos pronounce Spanish words.

Their bad table manners, however, provide hours of entertainment, we joke about them all the time. So be very self conscious of how you eat.

[stroskey]

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi407542809/

[wahday]

Is it silly to want to pronounce spanish food items correctly at an authentic mexican restaurant (most of the staff doesnt speak english) when one doesn't speak spanish and it's obvious they are a first-class gringo? or should they just spit out in their twangiest midwestern "Listen sonny boy, get me some of those TAA-coz and bir-EYE-toz with jil-AP-in-oh peppers and make it snappy!"

Definitely try and pronounce correctly! Besides, its an opportunity to get it right. Instead of pretending you know the correct pronunciation, you can frame it as a question and get on-the-spot advice.

I’ve spent some time in Texas and that is one of the places that bugs me the most in terms of mis-pronouncing Spanish words. Amarillo, for example, is simply “yellow” in Spanish, but not the way Texans pronounce it. In Austin, people would give you directions down all these Spanish named streets but say them like “San Jackinto” (instead of San Ha-seen-to) or “Gwodaloop” (instead of “Gwa-da-loo-pay” – patron saint of the Americas, incidentally). Of course, Texans manage to find odd ways to pronounce English words, too. But with so many Spanish speakers living there, you’d think they could get it right. Here in New Mexico, there is a great emphasis on getting Spanish pronunciation right. Although New Mexico Spanish has its own peculiarities and other native Spanish speakers sometimes laugh at how folks speak here.

[otterpop]

It's painful to hear many Americans pronounce the name Jesus... If you're not referring to the religious figure, it's pronounced Hay-soos.

If Jesus was Jewish, why the Puerto Rican name? My Colombian wife hates that joke.

I also can't get her to stop calling those green citrus fruit "lee-mons." They're limes, dear

[Maister]

There seems to be a subtle difference ofos and Raf's pronunciations.....so I'll go with ofos' cuz he didn't try to make fun of me!

Ah wait, we live in the modern world, why not hear the word with my very own ears....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRXDu...eature=related

[kjel]

pin-chee green-gos

You rock!