Grrr! Talkin' Like a Soprano - Mike Straka

I get a great kick out of Straka's "Grrr!" column even when I don't agree with it. Just found this one where he complains about people supposedly imitating the Sopranos actors in pronounciation:

Mozzarella cheese becomes Mozzarell, but it's pronounced "Moots-a-Rell," and all of a sudden they're speaking so loudly in a newly formed baritone they may as well call it "Moots-a-Yell."

Prosciutto di Parma becomes "prashoot-dee-parm," and "at $24.99 a pound, it better be da-best prashoot you ever seen."

Manicotti is "Mani-Got" — not sure where the G comes from there. Escarole loses its front E so it's "scarrrrole" — make sure to roll the Rs. And gnocchi is "neeyawk," naturally.

Antipasto? You got it, "antiPast" — don't forget to pop the P.

Needless to say Mr. Straka received lively feedback about this column—and acknowledged it, too—from Italo-Americans.

Initially I couldn't figure out what he was complaining about because that's always the way I heard the words pronounced. Italy is full of dialects—my Mom, whose parents was from the island of Ischia off the coast of Naples, said when she first met my Dad's mother, she had trouble understanding her even though they were both speaking Italian, since Dad's family was from "up north," Quarchina, near Rome—and the words are "chopped off" like that. I still feel silly going into Harry's Farmers Market and asking for a quarter-pound of "mor-ta-del-la," as in Rhode Island it's always "mooth-a-dell."

(The "Mozz" in "Mozzarella" is probably pronounced "Moots" because in Italian "Z" is not pronounced with that buzzing sound like here in the U.S., but like "ts" as in the sound at the end of "Mott's" like the apple juice.)

The most infamous of Italian swear words, "the Queen Mother of dirty words" as Jean Shepherd referred to it, is also similarly "mispronounced" as "ah-fangool" or "fangool-la." The actual word is "va fanculo" ("Go [va]...well, you know—the "La" is the "yourself" part of the phrase; Italian has two forms of "you," "tu" which is for friends and "La" which is for authority figures and older people). "Shut up" in Italian is properly spelled "sta zitto." I always heard it as "sta-tha zeeth." (All I know is that neither work on the dog...LOL.)

And there's of course "pasta fazool," which is properly spelt "pasta e fagiole" (or "macaroni and beans," which is what it is).

Incidentally, I don't watch The Sopranos—have no idea why people want to watch a show about criminals—but it drives me nuts when the television announcers talk about the "So-prannnnn-os." It's "So-prah-nos," guys. Get with the program. :-)

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:14:00 AM

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