Jump to content

Menu

How do you pronounce the word syrup (as in maple syrup)?


Veritaserum
 Share

Syrup (what you put on pancakes)  

302 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you pronounce the word syrup?

    • SEER-up
      65
    • SIR-up ("sir" as in "Sir Lancelot")
      200
    • Something between the two.
      27
    • Other.
      10


Recommended Posts

Canadian born and I pronounce it somewhere between the two, not quite so a long vowel sound as 'seer' and not 'up' but 'ip'. Clear as mud? :lol:

This is me also. I kind of say it "sehr-ip" or maybe "sair-ip". I have a blend of an east coast accent and Ontario. I can't find the best way to write it out phonetically. This is the best I can come up with.

 

I've just said syrup out loud so many times, it's losing its meaning lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is me also. I kind of say it "sehr-ip" or maybe "sair-ip". I have a blend of an east coast accent and Ontario. I can't find the best way to write it out phonetically. This is the best I can come up with.

 

I've just said syrup out loud so many times, it's losing its meaning lol.

 

:seeya: Another Ontario-born here

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grew up in the Mid-Atlantic region and we said "Seer-up." Found correct pronunciation is "sir-up," which is how it's pronounced where I live now. Maybe it's one of those "niche" words that can pin down where you grew up!

 

ETA: Posted before I saw the map. That pretty much explains it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Grew up in the Mid-Atlantic region and we said "Seer-up." Found correct pronunciation is "sir-up," which is how it's pronounced where I live now. Maybe it's one of those "niche" words that can pin down where you grew up!

 

Definitely—at least for those who say seer-up.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That explains it. Dh's parents are both from that tiny blue area in SE NY and NJ.

Dh just used the word and I showed him this thread. He grew up in CA, so I was curious about who picked each pronunciation in the OP.

 

Turns out dh's father is from NJ, so that may be the explanation :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Seer-up here. I was born and lived the first 7 years of my life just outside NY city. My dad was a native New Yorker,and my mom was a native-born German. I've lived in the South since I've been 7, but I still say Seer-up. I never did learn to talk as a Southerner, though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, Saskatchewan born and raised.

 

As far as I can tell from all of these pronunciation questions around here, Manitoba and west speak very true/close to phonetic rules.

 

This is not true for Eastern Canadians. ;)

 

We always bug our eastern relatives about their accents. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We always make fun of my parents for saying "SEER-up", but they are as southern as southern can be, middle Alabama.  Don't know WHERE they got that pronunciation from.  I'll have to look on that map someone posted--my dad also says, "Dorters" for "daughters" and "Srimp" for "shrimp"--wonder where he picked those up???

 

My kids and I are "SIR-up" kind of people.  DH says "GIT-tar" for "guitar" and "THEE-AY-ter" for "theater" so I need to track down those too.  Probably just Alabama--he's from the backwoods :)

 

Betsy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We always make fun of my parents for saying "SEER-up", but they are as southern as southern can be, middle Alabama.  Don't know WHERE they got that pronunciation from.  I'll have to look on that map someone posted--my dad also says, "Dorters" for "daughters" and "Srimp" for "shrimp"--wonder where he picked those up???

 

My kids and I are "SIR-up" kind of people.  DH says "GIT-tar" for "guitar" and "THEE-AY-ter" for "theater" so I need to track down those too.  Probably just Alabama--he's from the backwoods :)

 

Betsy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dh says "Sear-up" is for the real maple stuff and "sir-up" is for the corn syrup fake stuff.  :p

 

I'll admit, sir-up annoys me when I hear it.  I make fun of dh when I hear him say it, and he makes fun of me for saying "bayg" for bag.  That map is confusing partly because in my travels (and I'm a big fan of pancakes), I almost never hear it except in rural midwestern areas-OR, CA, CO, AZ, NC, NY, KY, wherever, I must've found kindred sear-upers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes...yes I am.  I was wondering the same thing.  Like where the hell is the green?!  Why do they have green if there is no green???

 

Well...  They obviously should have included central Canada on the map - then you'd have your green. :)  I'm from Northwestern Ontario - born, raised, and now living here again - and I would pronounce it half-way between "sir-up" and "sear-up" which is how I'm reading the map's "green" pronunciation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is anyone else profoundly bothered by the fact that there is a green option in the legend but nowhere on the map is green?

 

I am a SEAR-up. But I never hear others as pronouncing it "wrong" like I do with often or pajamas.

The green is there, zoom in on New York City.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm.. grew up in upstate NY along the Canadian border with one Canadian parent and I pronounce it "sear-up"

 

Of course my mom said bagel like "Bag-l" instead of 'Bay-gel', which got me a LOT of odd looks growing up. Finally in high school a friend corrected me. My mom still says "Bag-l" which always makes me think of 'Bag End" from The Hobbit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dorter for daughter, worter for water, worsh for wash, etc. seems to be a PA thing because both my MIL (who grew up near Harrisburg) and my FIL (who grew up near Philly) say those.

 

Oh, my dad is so much not PA--his family is long time rural Alabamians--but he joined the military and traveled the world so maybe he picked it up somewhere :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...