New York City restaurant pronunciations

[Fat Guy]

There's a good piece in the latest Zagat Buzz e-newsletter by Kelly Dobkin titled "NYC's 10 Most Mispronounced Restaurant Names."

Her list, with correct pronunciations (the full article goes into more detail):

Bice "bee-chay"

Millesime "mill-eh-zeem"

Nha Trang “na-t’chang”

Oaxaca "wa-ha-ka"

Sfoglia "folia"

Sripraphai "see-pra-pie"

Txikito “chic-kee-toe”

Ushiwakimaru “oo-shee-wok-a-mah-roo”

Xai Xai "shy-shy"

Xi'an Famous Foods "shee-an"

Any additions?

[Mjx]

I've heard a lot of people mispronounce 'tarallucci' in 'Tarallucci e Vino' as 'tara-lucky' or 'tara-luksi', which would be painful, if it weren't for the fact that I'm fairly certain I mispronounce the names of most Asian places.

'Sfoglia' is actually pronounced 'sfol-ya', unless this is some special dialect-related pronunciation, since Italian doesn't run to silent lone esses (plus, if the 's' is silent, it turns it into the word for 'leaf' (plant part), while 'sfoglia' is a thin layer).

[slkinsey]

There's a good piece in the latest Zagat Buzz e-newsletter by Kelly Dobkin titled "NYC's 10 Most Mispronounced Restaurant Names."

Her list, with correct pronunciations (the full article goes into more detail):

...

Sfoglia "folia"

...

I suppose it's a bit predictable that an article picking nits as to pronunciation should contain a mispronunciation.

The proper Italian pronunciation of "Sfoglia" would be [sfɔʎʎa] in the International Phonetic Alphabet. The letter combination "gli" in Italian has a special pronunciation that doesn't exist in English, and I suppose can best be described with the spelling "lyi." A reasonable approximation of this phoneme for English speakers would be "li," which is what she has above. What I don't understand is where she gets the idea that the "s" is silent. It is not. The correct pronunciation for English speakers would be "sfaw-lya." (ETA: I see Michaela beat me to the punch on that one.)

Another often mispronounced restaurant name is Così. It is correctly pronounced "coh-see" and not "cozy." Also acceptable would be "coh-zee" -- this is technically a mispronunciation even in Italian (così is a contraction of "come sì" meaning "like that") but most Italians pronounce the "s" as a "z" anyway.

Edited October 20, 2011 by slkinsey (log)

[ScoopKW]

Xai Xai "shy-shy"

Is Xai Xai some strange way of spelling the word for "Thank You" in Chinese?

If so, then "shy-shy" is way off. It's more like "sche sche" where the "e" is the same "e" in "shed." In fact, just drop the "d" from shed and you're most of the way there.

[ambra]

Slkinsey, an old Italian teacher once told me that the 'gl' in Italian could be equated to how Americans say the middle of 'million.' It works if you're saying mill-yun.

[emannths]

Here are a couple of Italians saying pasta sfoglia. Google Translate does a good job too. Both sites also do a respectable job with così.

Edited October 20, 2011 by emannths (log)

[Fat Guy]

I believe Xai Xai is named for a town in Mozambique (it is a South African wine bar).

[ScoopKW]

Ahh...

I don't know why anyone would open a restaurant with a name that's hard to pronounce. The day I open my own place, it's going to be easy to say, and easy to remember, and guests will know EXACTLY what goes on. (Along the lines of "Pork and Beer" -- that kind of name.)

Why make things harder for yourself as a restaurateur?

[slkinsey]

I believe Xai Xai is named for a town in Mozambique (it is a South African wine bar).

Why would a South African wine bar name itself after a town that is not in South Africa? It's like having a French restaurant and naming it "Milano."