How do you say "Otto"

[GordonCooks]

Gordon -- does that mean that all this time those guys on Sopranos who said "gabagoo" were actually saying capicola?

Bada-Bingo !

[cabrales]

Porcini => I have to admit that I only deduced that porcini are cepes less than five years ago.

Edited January 16, 2003 by cabrales (log)

[La Niña]

"It's hard enough convincing people that swiss chard and artic char are different."

And what about arctic char?

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[La Niña]

Porcini => I have to admit that I only deduced that porcini are cepes less than five years ago.

Oh Cabby, how can you live with yourself?

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[tommy]

it seems the people who opened places like montrachet and les halles weren't all that worried about how people might mispronounce, god forbid, their restaurants. perhaps their energy was better spent on other matters.

[La Niña]

I suppose using foreign words for names of restaurants has been shown to be successful as a marketing gimmick. More power to 'em. No such thing as bad publicity, as they say.

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[tommy]

I suppose using foreign words for names of restaurants has been shown to be successful as a marketing gimmick.  More power to 'em.  No such thing as bad publicity, as they say.

would you consider the naming of montrachet, le cirque, lespinasse, chanterelle, cafe des artistes, et al, marketing gimmicks?

[La Niña]

I am sure that no restaurant names itself without consideration for marketing.

[Ron Johnson]

Pig is porco.

Nope.

Porco is Italian for pork.

Pig in Italian is Maiale.

I think Mario was worried about people being able to pronounce that word.

Edited January 16, 2003 by ron johnson (log)

[tommy]

I am sure that no restaurant names itself without consideration for marketing.

"marketing gimmick" is a rather loaded phrase, and is probably not, to most people, read the same as "consideration for marketing."

[La Niña]

Not according to both of my Italian dictionaries.

From the bigger dictionary:

From English to Italian:

pig n. (zool.) porco, maiale, suino

from Italian to English:

por-co m. pig, swine; pork; boar

maial-e m. pig, swine; pork

Also called Dominic (of DiFara fame) - who said porco, porci, and confirmed pronunciation of same.

I'd be interested to know what the difference is between porco and maiale when used by Italians. I'll check it out.

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[Wilfrid]

I just checked three dictionaries. One has it Ron's way, one has the complete reverse, and one says both mean pig.

Glad to feel we're making progress here.

[La Niña]

I am sure that no restaurant names itself without consideration for marketing.

"marketing gimmick" is a rather loaded phrase, and is probably not, to most people, read the same as "consideration for marketing."

I might be inclined to believe that all marketing efforts are "gimmicks," in fact.

[Ron Johnson]

Maiale is the word people who live in Italy use to refer to the animal that we call a "pig".

Porco is the word they use to refer to the piece of meat on their plate that came from the pig.

[tommy]

I just checked three dictionaries.  One has it Ron's way, one has the complete reverse, and one says both mean pig.

Glad to feel we're making progress here. 

i have friends who live in Nutley, NJ. that's a big i-talian town. i'll ask them. they'll know.

[Wilfrid]

Maiale is the word people who live in Italy use to refer to the animal that we call a "pig".

Porco is the word they use to refer to the piece of meat on their plate that came from the pig.

If you say it three times, it will be true.

[La Niña]

Dominic tells me that maiale is more commonly used by northern Italians, and porco is more commonly used by southern Italians (referring to the animal). He also said that everybody would use porco, but southern Italians would not be inclined to use maiale.

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)

[Wilfrid]

They all use the same word for "eight", though, right?

[La Niña]

I bet that the second vowel in otto gets cut off somewhat in certain regions in the south.

[Ron Johnson]

Apparently, I need to call my college Italian professor and let her know that everything she taught me was wrong.

and she was from Italy and everything.

[La Niña]

I just checked three dictionaries.  One has it Ron's way, one has the complete reverse, and one says both mean pig.

Glad to feel we're making progress here.  

i have friends who live in Nutley, NJ. that's a big i-talian town. i'll ask them. they'll know.

Ah - but would we then be talking about American-Italian, or Italian-Italian?

[mikeyrad]

Correct pronunciation for Otto:

Ashkenazy: Aw-taw

Sephardic: Ah-tah

[La Niña]

Correct pronunciation for Otto:

Ashkenazy: Aw-taw

Sephardic: Ah-tah

Good one.

[tommy]

Ah - but would we then be talking about American-Italian, or Italian-Italian?

the same as whatever dominic is i suppose.

[La Niña]

Dominic was born and raised in Italy, and came here in his 20's. His parents (who are dead now) never left Italy, and he spent a month every summer in Italy until fairly recently. His brother still lives in the same town. So I'd venture to say that his Italian is Italian-Italian.

And then of course there are regional differences, colloquial differences, class differences, educational differences, age differences - all of which affect this stuff.

Edited January 16, 2003 by La Niña (log)