Go to Starbuck's and order two cappucinos. Nobody uses the correct plural.

And the comment from Elaine about dropping letters from the end of words reminds me of what a waiter once said in Italy when I asked about antipasto. He said he only had "supesh." It took me a few seconds to realize he was talking about fish soup.

Chow! See ya tomorra.

For old-style South Philadelphians (mostly Italians, in the mold of late mayor Frank Rizzo), the only correct way to pronounce provolone is
proovaloon. Esp. when ordering a late night cheese steak at Pat's or Geno's. Assuming of course, they hadn't ordered the more common "steak with", meaning Cheez Whiz. (Whiz dripped too easily on a Krass Brothers suit.)

Wayne: I think maybe you're not quite following my explanation (a.k.a. rant). Saying "cappuccinos" (instead of "cappuccini") is like saying "pizzas" instead of "pizze." It's not the correct Italian plural, but in the US (and maybe in Canada and the UK and Australia), if pizza and cappuccino have become everyday English words, then adding an "s" to make the plural is normal in English and it doesn't really bother me.

But that's absolutely totally different from saying "a dozen cannolis" or "two paninis." "Cannolo" and "panino" are singular words, and "cannoli" and "panini" are their plural (in Italian), so using the ITALIAN PLURAL word as a SINGULAR and then ADDING AN "S" to it when you mean plural is just plain weird.

"Walla" always gets me, too. If you can't pronounce it, don't use the word, especially if you don't have to.

elaine, I have had waiters in snotty US restaurants tell me it was "brew-shetta." I just raise my eyebrows and smile.

What's "Walla"?

Voila.

There's a town in western PA named Versailles. Guess how it's pronounced - yup, VERSALES.

I don't mind the 'two cannolis' or "three biscotti" thing, because unless you know Italian, you're not likely to know that cannolli or biscotti are already plurals.
I'm more apt to inwardly smirk when, in an effort that comes across as pretentious to me, a restaurant server or menu will refer to 'brushetta' or Robespierre's 'with au jus'. That's not a matter of singular or plural, that's mangling a foreign word just because they haven't learned how to pronounce it or use it. Otherwise, 'with natural gravy' would work just fine.

By the way, people in my parents' generation (maybe currently as well) use to say Gon DOLE lah.

I do not know what walla is either, but I maybe I will find out Tuesday??

But cmt, I certainly understand what you are trying to convey.

see my one-word posting above. Voila!!

Oh elaine, missed your first post, LOL. Got it!!!!! Grazie!

Vienna, Ohio
is pronounced VY (rhymes with why) - anna

Westminster, Colorado
is pronounced "Westminister".

Crazy.

Elaine, if they don't even know that biscotti is already plural, they should "talk American" and and refer to them as biscuits. I think "three biscottis" is every bit as snobbish and stupid sounding "with au jus," since they could so easily just talk about meat with its own juice and some anise biscuits after dinner.

"Walla" is voilà? That's funny. Reminds me of a used clothing shop in downtown Trenton that used to be called "De-Ja Vous."

An English speaker adding an &quot;s&quot; to pluralize a noun of another language is <i>snobbish</i>?

How's that? Sounds more like a matter of familiarity than snobbery.

I had a young waitress once tell me the soup de jour was gestapo (gazpacho).

By the way, though pronouncing bruschetta incorrectly is incorrect, I just can't get too worked up about it. It's just a mispronunciation. Not everyone has studied Italian or has reason to know the relationship between Italian spelling and pronunciation, and really they have no reason to if they're not attempting to learn Italian. But mangling words by using the plural as a singular and adding an s to the plural is SO much worse in my view, ESPECIALLY when this is done on menus and in restaurant reviews, i.e. by people who making a living selling or talking about these foods, and who are trying to be fancy using a foreign word, but don't have enough interest or respect to learn what the word really is.

I guess we're saying the same thing, I don't expect the average person to necessarily know how to use the plurals or pronounce bruschetta, but if a restaurant is going to have these things on the menu listed that way, I think they ought to say it or use it properly, or else just call it 'gravy' or 'anise biscuits.'

Hi cmt, my Rome born and raised son-in-law agrees with you completely. He does not expect Americans to know the plural of words etc. He does not expect them to know how to pronounce Italian words correctly. But he does shake his head when restaurants take the liberties they do. He has made so many funny comments about items on menus.

Yes, Elaine, we agree. People who make a profit out of selling or writing about these things should get it right. But I don't have such high standards for waiters who are not making a career out of being waiters and are just pronouncing menu items the say they've heard them. I also don't think mispronouncing a word is nearly as outrageous as totally misusing a word or mangling the singular-plural.