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Fred Scheider of The B52s mentions Orgeat on his 'Party Out of Bounds' show on Sirius Radio

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D

He was reciting a recipe for a drink that I didn't catch the name of. He didn't know what Orgeat was or how to pronounce it. He pronounced it Or-GEE-AT, and thought it had something to do with orgies. Poor Fred. He's still cool, but you would have though that a guy like him would know what's in a Mai Tai!

K
Kono posted on Sat, Dec 3, 2005 7:20 AM

I'm not afraid to ask: So what is the correct pronunciation? I always thought it was or-ZHOT (zhot sounding like the zsa (in Zsa Zsa) + ott. I've heard about a good half dozen different pronunciations used. Maybe or-ZHIT?

This reminds me of an old cracker I used to know who loved to use the phrase faux pas but he always pronounced it fah poo. No, we never did correct him. :lol:

F

I'm curious too. I assume it's pronounced or-Zhat, but I'm probably wrong.

M

I was actually going to post this as a threat the other day! What the hell is the exact pronunciation? I have always said or-ZHA as that's how I've always heard it, and seems to jibe with what little I remember of high school French. I've also heard all the variants.

Can you confirm or deny Virani?

-martin

H

I've also always pronounced it or-ZHA. Here's a link to orgeat's entry at dictionary.com:

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=orgeat

The pronunciation specified there matches martiki's & mine, looks like there's a sound file of the pronunciation you can play, but I haven't played it yet (it's quiet time at Monolux right now).

You just gotta walk into Trader Vic's and query, "Hey, where's the orgie at?!!"

K
Kono posted on Sat, Dec 3, 2005 1:37 PM

To muddle things up even more I checked with Merriam-Webster online and they have the pronunciation as: Pronunciation: 'or-"zhä(t)

The "t" is in parentheses but if you click on the listening icon the guy pronounces it with a definite "t" on the end.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/orgeat

H

virani can do a better job of this than I can -- I took French for four years in school, but I can't speak the language worth a darn. If memory serves, a consonant at the end of a word is often not (or barely) pronounced, unless the word coming after it starts with a vowel. So, in the sentence "orgeat est tres bon!" the "t" would be pronounced, but in the sentence "j'ai un petit peut d'orgeat" it is barely pronounced. (Pardon my crappy French. :) )

K
Kono posted on Sat, Dec 3, 2005 2:02 PM

That makes sense. Perhaps that's why m-w has the final "t" in parentheses (I could find no key for the pronunciation symbols). Waiting to hear from Virani... What time is it in Paris anyway?

D

It is in fact pronounced Or-Zhat, the 'zhat' like Zsa Zsa Gabor, but I THOUGHT you all knew that already! :)

V
virani posted on Sun, Dec 4, 2005 4:01 AM

On 2005-12-03 13:37, Kono wrote:
To muddle things up even more I checked with Merriam-Webster online and they have the pronunciation as: Pronunciation: 'or-"zhä(t)

The "t" is in parentheses but if you click on the listening icon the guy pronounces it with a definite "t" on the end.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/orgeat

That listening is not exactly the correct prononciation. You don't have to say the "t" at the end. And the zhä is more soft than that, but I'm sorry I can't find an english prononciation for it. The zhä is something more like "jah"

Invite me to your tiki party, and I'll teach you how to say it :wink:
And I'll bring the syrup...

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