Posted on 12/20/2017 1:07:03 PM PST by Red Badger
See this nut? Weve posted about how pecans are grown, their nutritional benefits and our favorite pecan recipes, but weve never really discussed a popular topic of debate: Are they pee-KAHNs, pee-CANs, PEE-cans, pick-AHNs or some other pronunciation? How do YOU say pecan?
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Turns out, it depends on where youre from. Joshua Katz, a doctoral student studying statistics at NC State University, recently created interactive dialect maps using data from Bert Vaux at the University of Cambridge. For example, check out the map showing how people pronounce pecan:
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It shows that pee-KAHN is dominant nationwide, but in areas of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi, pick-AHN reigns supreme. PEE-can is popular on the East Coast and in New England, while folks from Wisconsin, northern Minnesota and Michigans Upper Peninsula go with PEE-kahn.
The linguistics department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee just also shared a pecan pronunciation map that gives another option where people may say pee-KAHN by itself, but then say PEE-can when using a compound word, like pecan pie.
We found this research fascinating, so weve compiled a few of these dialect maps related to food. We had no idea that some people never refer to coleslaw as simply slaw, if other people also use caramel and carmel interchangeably, or if there really is a difference between frosting and icing. We did, however, know that The Great Soda/Pop/Coke/Soft Drink Debate will never be resolved.
Take a look at these maps, and learn if you pronounce mayonnaise like the masses, which syllable gets the emphasis in Thanksgiving, or if youre the odd one out who says something not even provided as an option. Then, leave us a comment to let us know how you say pecan. (For the record, my parents are from Texas and Oklahoma, so I stand firmly with pick-AHN.)
Khan s/b Kahn
You had it right the first time, dumb ass.
We always said PEE-can, which I admit sounds pretty awful. I'm trying to re-train myself to say puh-KAHN. :-)
Say-Pul-Veeda.
La-Joll-ah
Those are foreign words. Why cant most people pronounce “Green Bay”?
In New Orleans its Pah kahn. A Pee can is a port-o-let you urinate in.
Mississippi raised for 230 years DNA there
I say PUH-KAHN
Funny we all said the same complaint ...puh kahn
Study done by a Yankee at chapel hill I reckon
Don’t forget Poydras or Farbourg Marigny
Whew.....old timers almost say Per Drass.....
I say Poy like soy -Drahs
Or Burgundy is Bur Gunn Dee ....accent on gunn
In Mississippi we screw with Indian names from dead languages like the Natchèz or Biloxis idioms
Nobody knows the Natchez tribe language
The Biloxi on the gulf coast were an out post of Souix Language group and the farthest from their home in the northern Great Plains
...or if there really is a difference between frosting and icing.
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Or stuffing or dressing in a turkey?
I say puh-KHAN
... it is funny to watch the local newscasters, who are not from around here, mispronounce the names of local places. Many of them cannot pronounce any Spanish words correctly.
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Same here in Texas! Several years ago, I recall a news reader on national TV referring to Waco as Whacko and I’ve seen others saying MeXia instead of Me-hey-a, et al.
I do too but I am a NW FLORIDA native.
I say pee-can like a real American says it. Puh-kahn sounds like how some pretentious Brit would say it. Just kidding.
Root password on super-computer at work was......route66
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