Say What
 

You know what you're talking about, but I may not, if you don't pronounce it right. ;)

There's more here.

Buffet (boo-fay)

I disagree with this one. Unless you're talking about a kid I knew in high school.

"We say Herb (herb), because there's a fucking "H" in it."
E. Izzard

Velveeta (in-fuk-in-ed-ib-ull)

The new HBO show: Treme (treh-may)

Me too, but they're The Village Voice, New Yorkers, so take it with a grain of grit. ;)

what?

They're nuts. That word is "broo-SHEH-tah."

Basil (bay-zill): Yeah, unless it's someone's name, then it's bah-zil.

Bruschetta (broo-SKEH-tah): No, broo-shetta.

Buffet (boo-fay): No, buff-ay.

Coq au vin (co-ooh-vin): I was taught to say "cocoa-van." Heh.

Gnocchi (NYOH-kee): Our linguistics prof said it was "nyock-ee" LOL

Guacamole (wah-cah-moe-lay): I've always said "gwock-ah-mol-ee"

Habanero (Hah-bahn-air-oh): Actually the n has a ~ over it, I believe, which makes it hah-bahn-yer-oh

Mole (MOH-lay): Yes, causing my daughter to FREAK when I took her to the mexican restaurant and she thought they were actually serving sauce made from blind rodents. Ewwww!

I agree with the alternatives suggested above, but also:

Bouillabaisse (booyah bahss) to me has always been bwee-oh-bahss. It's close, but no fishy cigar.

Basil is ALWAYS bah-zil. Silly.

Filet is fee-yay and fillet is, well, fill-it.

What made me smile, watching Queer as Folk was that Americans pronounce paella correctly (pie-aya). Years of tourism to the Spanish costas have not broken the Brit tradition of calling it pie-ella. I blame Vesta.

Yah. That listmaker was as innocent of French as of Spanish; somewhat tin of ear. The Q in coq should be pronounced, though for the true French sound, not as powerfully as a final consonant would be en anglais. Et cetera. Unless you're maybe Canadian.

Fi-lay, SG. Not enough L's to give any Y sound; that takes a pair. English tends to wobble between both spellings, and use both pronunciations depending on whether you Englishicate or Frenchify.

The poor fellow hadn't the huevos to tackle Au Jus.

Dulce de leche.
Last night I heard a chef say "dulse de laychay" where as I was under the impression it's pronounced "dullchay de laychay".
So which is it?

Actually, though I have alays pronounced dulce as dullchay, I believe originally Latin pronunication would have been dulkay

Can't corroborate this any, but I had a conversation with a latin teacher (an old friend) some years ago who told me that the phrase Veni Vidi Vici, would actually have been pronounced Weni wedi wiki

May have misremembered .... but I think that's the case.

Like the Vnemployment Office:

Dole Office Clerk: Occupation?
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher.
Dole Office Clerk: What?
Comicus: Stand-up philosopher. I coalesce the vapors of human experience into a viable and meaningful comprehension.
Dole Office Clerk: Oh, a *bullshit* artist!
Comicus: *Grumble*...
Dole Office Clerk: Did you bullshit last week?
Comicus: No.
Dole Office Clerk: Did you *try* to bullshit last week?
Comicus: Yes!