Pecans and apricots

[elaby]

Tonight we got our Graze boxes in the mail, and we were discussing the contents and whether to keep one with Brazil nuts in (neither of us are big on Brazil nuts).

Rachel: I'll take it. I'll just pick the Brazil nuts out.
Katie: On the bright side, it has pecans. *pronounces it PEE-cans*
R: Do you mean pecans? *pronounces it pick-CAHNS*
K: No, I mean pecans!
R: Is this like that apricot thing? *pronounces it AY-pricot*
K: It's APP-ricot.
R: You're wrong and you know you're wrong so you should feel wrong.
K: *aghast*
R: I… I'm sorry. But you're still wrong.
K: You're just a FOREIGNER.
R: I was BORN here!
K: But you didn't grow up here! Nobody from here says "pee-CAHN" or "AY-pricot".
R: Okay yeah but YOUR FAMILY COME ON. Don't be setting linguistic norms by your weird-ass family!
K: ...You have a point.

Comments

[skittish-derby.livejournal.com]

haha, Your both wrong. Its 'pick-cans' and 'app-ri-cayt'

[skittish-derby.livejournal.com]

The second one is a joke, btw. I pronounce apricot, like you, app-ricot. pick-cans for pecans.

[caitirin.livejournal.com]

XD FURRINER!!! *HUG SQUISH*

[willow-cabin.livejournal.com]

Ha! :) I pronounce "pecans" (and "apricot") like Rachel, and every time I order anything with pecans in it (like the pecan tart at Tim Hortons), the person taking the order has *no idea* what I'm talking about... ;P

[caitirin.livejournal.com]

*DOES THE WINNING DANCE* Jenn says it like meeeeeeeee :) Win :3

[sugarmaplelife.livejournal.com]

I'm pick-CAHNS and APP-ricot. I'm not sure how regional stuff factors into it. My first ten years, I was living in the Midwest and then I moved to an area of Florida with a mixture of Southern and New York City cultural majorities. I'm all sorts of mixed up. :D

[caitirin.livejournal.com]

I love this stuff! It's so neat to see how different people say things and guess at where and why they learned to say it that way.

[coastal-spirit.livejournal.com]

As a member of the weird-ass family in question, I generally consult the dictionary to settle this type of dispute. ;)

From Dictionary.com:

pecan
[pi-kahn, -kan, pee-kan]

apricot
[ap-ri-kot, ey-pri-]

So basically, you're both right, although Rachel's pronunciation of pecan is preferred, and Katie's pronunciation of apricot is preferred.

However, I have to say that the only people I know (besides you) that pronounces "pecan" the way you do is my uncle, who comes from Mississippi, and other southerners. I have NEVER heard anyone say AY-pricot in my life, but then, I've lived a sheltered life. ;)

However, my grandfather and my aunt both pronounced "a-gen" as "a-gayn", and I've never heard anyone else do that, either (ee-ther, or eye-ther?)

*giggles*