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

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!

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:

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

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

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?!!"

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

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. :) )

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?

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

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...