Enjoy your cross-ant kwah-SAHNT ” with some “Moay.” Moet !
Via NY Post.
Are you timid asking for the croissant at your local bakery, ashamed at your lack of French? (It’s pronounced “kwah-SAHNT” not “cross-ant” — and you should give it a try. It sounds prettier and you sound smarter saying it right.)
If certain words like bruschetta (correctly said broo-SKEH-tah with a k) make you hesitate, you’re not alone. Now, the new book “You’re Saying it Wrong” by Ross and Kathryn Petras (Ten Speed Press) will help you glide through your most awkward encounters at the food counter (and in other life situations, too)….
• gnocchi [NYAW-kee]: Online food delivery service Eat 24 puts gnocchi in their top-10 list of mispronounced food words. The problem is that the Italian gn actually has an ny sound.
• gyro [YEE-ro]: Most Americans pronounce gyro with an English soft g sound (as with gyroscope, which has the same origin). But to the Greek guy slicing your meat, that sounds very, very wrong….• Moët & Chandon [Mwett eh SHA-doh]: Want to sound like a true sophisticate? Pronounce the final t in Moët.
Many people don’t, thinking they sound more French that way. But Moët should sound more Dutch than French, because the founder of this famous French champagne company had a Dutch name. So it’s “Mwett” not “Moay.”….
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I drink Veuve Clicquot anyway. Though I wonder if “chutzpah” and “mizzled” are on the list.
Too tough to pronounce for me, especially after popping open the second bottle. I call it “the orange.” You have great taste, Chuck.
Moay, Mwett ? No way, Nyet!