I'm sorry, but this is driving me nuts.

On a trip last week in two separate restaurants, I had the waitperson attempt to correct my pronunciation of "bruschetta." Both said it the same way, and both were wrong.

It's pronounced "broo-SKET-ta" not "broo-SHET-ta."

Thanks. You may now go back to your regularly scheduled travel programming.

And this was the restaurant's wait staff? What ever happened to "The customer is always right?" Did you leave a nice tip?

I found this very interesting and enlightening because I've been wondering about the correct pronunciation. I noticed a couple of years ago that Rachel Ray pronounces it with the k sound. While I've heard Rachel say things I know not to be true, given the fact that she's half Italian, I figured I could trust her on that one. So I've been pronouncing it that way. But when we ordered it last week in an Italian restaurant, I noticed that the waitstaff used the other pronunciation.

I in fact did leave a decent tip both times. I assumed the waitperson was tactfully trying to educate me, so I took no offense at their ignorance.

I lived in Italy for a year and have many, mnay Italian friends. The correct pronunciation is hands down with the K sound...broo-ske-ta. Ugh, it irks me to hear it the other way. Hmmm, is that snotty?!?!?

How do you say prosciutto?
How about mozzarella?
According to my daughter the most mispronounced of all is Espresso!
She works at Starbucks and it really gets to her that most people say EX-presso.

MOOOTZ-uh-rella

lizg14, I think it's human nature to feel irritated when you hear someone using a pronunciation you know to be incorrect. Just read the advice/advise thread! That's about written rather than spoken, but it's the same idea.

I certainly think that the waitstaff in an Italian restaurant should know the correct pronunciation. But, as for the general public, I think we have to take into consideration that they may never have had occaision to hear the correct pronunciation. At least I hope that's the case when I order something in an ethnic restaurant!

I've had the same experience many times in the U.S.; sometimes I actually correct the corrector, politely, and explain a little basic Italian pronunciation for them.

I wonder where the bru-SHetta thing got started; it seems like that mispronunciation is very common everywhere in the U.S.

I'll offer a general guideline for a couple of pronunciation issues:
-When "ch" occurs in a word, it is normally pronounced "K."
-When "sci" occurs, such as in prosciutto, uscita, or other such words, it is pronounced with the "sh" sound. When a vowel follows the "sci" as in prosciutto, the "sh" sound predominates and the vowel is pronounced. So you pronounce it PRO-SHOO-TO.
-If a consonant follows the "sci" as in uscita, the "i" is pronounced with the usual "ee" sound, followed by the rest of the word.

These guidelines have always helped me in my pronunciation of Italian words, especially when I see the word in written form but have never heard it pronounced.

Mozzarella: By Italian-Americans -- "MOOTS-uh-RELL-uh" (roll the 'R'). In Italy -- "MOTTS-uh-RELL-uh."

Prosciutto: By (some) Italian-Americans -- "Pruh-SHOOT." In Italy -- "Pru-SHOOT-oh." BTW, the "sh" sounds like "si" sound in the word "Asia."

OK, now really, I have work to do. Ciao!

While I agree with your hard k pronunciation, let's be honest here. If you're in the US and you're speaking English, it is not unlikely that most people would attempt an English, rather than a true Italian pronunciation.

For example in France, Paris is pronounced "Paree". But would you really expect an American sitting around in the US to say, "we had a wonderful trip to Paree"?

There are many foreign words that are readily acceptable in English with different pronuciations. I too have been "corrected" in the US from an Italian waiter who said "brooshetta" after I said "broosketta".

Wow brushetta is one of my favorites and I had no idea there it was pronounced with a K and I waitressed and a pretty decent Italian rest. for a year.

If I have never heard anyone pronounce something before I use my 1st grade teachers method of sounding it out. I'm sure that's house why so many words have been anglicized in our one language country... guess I should read up more on my pronunciations.

So how is Shiraz pronounced

I lied about getting back to work.

Disagree with the "Paris" comparison.

The more relevant comparison would be "hors d'oeuvres." If we used an American pronuciation with that, it would come out sounding like, well, you know.

In fact, ethnic food specialties are nearly always pronounced the way they are in their country of origin. For example: pizza. It's pronounced (roughly) the same in the US as it is in Italy.

So why shouldn't "bruschetta" get the same respect?

Wow I guess I should edit my reponses before I post! Talk about hacking up the english language... I didn't even make sense! I think quicker than I type

I have also noticed this problem with wait staff & the correct pronunciation of bruschetta. Another thing that irritates me is "paninis" being used for the plural when panini is already plural.

I think the pronunciation problem comes from American TV and commercials. The only American I have heard pronounce the work correctly is Mario Batali.

Patrick, thanks for the laugh!

I totally agree, the majority of the time in America trying to use the correct pronounciation makes one sound like a complete ass.

I'm not sure there is a polite way to correct anyone's pronunciation. Put another way, one will almost always cause offense and/or hurt feelings--only the most charming people can manage to do it sweetly. So I don't try to correct people, I just firmly stick to my own pronunciation. That way, if I'm the one in the wrong, I don't look like SUCH an ass!

Using the correct pronunciation makes one look like an a$$? Really?

Then I guess we really should be saying "whores de oovers." Or "piss-ah" for "pizza."