Italians are greatly amused by Americans who say "pro-shoot" and "mana-got" and think they're being authentically Italian.
The one that bothers me most is bruschetta, which is invariably pronounced "broo-shetta." I can't tell you how many times I've said "broo-sketta" (the actual Italian pronunciation) and been gently corrected.
Dear denydenydeny,
Well, Italians may be amused, but this is how our grandparents and parents spoke.
If I say "manigott," it isn't because I'm feigning being Italian. It's because that's how my American-born Sicilian father says it, and that's how he learned it from his Sicilian-born father and grandparents. It's because that's how my mother said it, as she learned it from her Sicilian-born mother.
"Nowadays in nearly all of Italy the final vowel is always pronounced, even in the south, thanks to the homogenizing influence of Italian television."
That's kind of interesting. Maybe folks like my father will be the last speakers of the Sicilian dialect.
sitetest
I never pronoun-a-it...I eata it....