I need a gyro!
 

The bruschetta post reminded me: as much as I pride myself on proper food terminolgy and pronunciation, the word "gyro" has always had me stumped.
I grew up in Northern Virginia saying j-eye-ro, as in the word "jive". Then, I learned that it should be yee-ro, which is where the term "hero" for a sandwich comes from. Fine by me, but occasionally, when I ask for a yee-ro, the guy behind the counter will look dumbfounded, and say "Oh, you mean j-eye-ro?"
So--is this a regional issue? Should I stick with yee-ro?

I've always pronounced it YEAR-o :-D

Use the pronunciation "jy-ro" unless you are in a genuine Greek restaurant. Then you can use the correct pronunciation. These days, I find that most establishments simply use the english word "hero" because it is so common.

Most call it 'JY-ro' but the correct pronounciation is YEER-ro.

What's in gyro meat, anyway?

Lamb.

For what it is worth, I've always heard the correct pronounciation is Jyro but most call it year-o.

We say "yee-ro" and I doubt they would know what you are asking for if you say hero by us. Hero is a sub sandwich in Chicagoland.

And where I get these delicious entities, they are a mixture of processed lamb/beef roasted on a spit and carved from the outside, sliced very thin and served in great quantity on a pita. There is always cucumber sauce, fresh tomato, and messes of sliced onions on each- plus you can order them with feta on the top.

Cholestrol disaster, but I allow myself one about twice a year. Ymmmmmmmmm!

Suddenly, I want a YEE-row myself!

There must be some regional factor in this. Everyone around here seems to pronounce is "gearo", g sound rather than j. However, according to something I read in a restaurant near us that's owned by a Greek family (the type of restaurant which, around here, is called a hotdog stand), the correct pronunciation is "yee-ro".

Oh, and in response to the question about what's in gyro meat...For what it's worth, my husband used to work with an older Greek gentleman who said he never eats it because he knows what's in it! Probably similar to the way some people feel about hot dogs or sausage.

I got one today from a Turk who pronounces it JY-ro. When I first ordered from him about a year ago, I asked for a Year-ro, and he looked at me like I was nuts and said something like, "You want a JY-ro?" and ever since, that's the way I pronounce it regardless whom I get it from. I figure, if someone serving it calls it Year-ro, and I say JY-ro, they'll understand because they get that version all the time from people whom otherwise don't know. And this way if it is a Turkish thing, and I'm ordering unbeknownst from a Turk, he won't look at me like I'm crazy. So I hedge my bet with JY-ro.

Did you guys see that Candid Camera segment where they asked people coming out of a supermarket what is "Gyro", pronouncing it properly as "yeero"?

The best answer they've got was "It's the new European currency".

In Michigan, it's a "gear-o".

CAPH52, you are reminding me of my Philadelphia sister-in-law. She will not eat scrapple, she refers to it as "the hairy meat".

From Joan, a Former Scrapple Lover

Jell-O. We pronounce it Jell-O. Are we all talking about the same thing here?