Laura Corin Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 This household is genially divided on the subject. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Three, and where I am I don't ever hear the other pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I don't really have an accent but I pronounce caramel the way my grandma and aunt did (east coasters): care - ah - mel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Another vote for three. I have heard it pronounced with two syllables as well, and it doesn't bother me to hear it either way. Mostly I just like eating it. If you want to give me some caramel, you can say it any way you'd like. :) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 3 The only difference I hear in pronunciations around here is in the first syllable. Most say KAR-a-mul around here. Sounds like car. A few say KAIR-a mul. Sounds like care. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I typically use two, but will use 3 if I am feeling flamboyant with my words that day. I think that 3 syllables sounds more delicious, but for brevity, I typically use 2. And yes, my brain really does over think things like this. LOL 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 I don't really have an accent but I pronounce caramel the way my grandma and aunt did (east coasters): care - ah - mel. Everyone has an accent: perhaps you speak 'standard American' and I speak 'British Received Pronunciation' but we each have those accents. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Three is standard. Two if I'm feeling lazy. Years ago two was more the norm in this area, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greta Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I hear it both ways, but I say it with three. Where I grew up, Oklahoma, if memory serves most people said it with just two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 one syllable ... because I say it "NOM" (more seriously, three) 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 one syllable ... because I say it "NOM" (more seriously, three) Around here it's 3. NOM NOM NOM! 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Ah - another question: CARE-uh-muhl or CA-ruh-muhl. This should be me: https://www.speakpipe.com/voice-recorder/msg/i66uidg16yshzvuh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 My boys voted for 3 syllables and they pronounce it as CARE-ruh-muhl. I do not like the taste of caramel unless it is Snickers/Mars ice-cream bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I pronounce it with two, CARE-ml. But it's almost 1 1/2 and 1/2, like there are apostrophes in there. CAR-mull and CARE-uh-mell are heard around here as well. Pecan is likewise done different ways. I hate words without an established "right" pronunciation and spelling, at least within a region. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Everyone has an accent: perhaps you speak 'standard American' and I speak 'British Received Pronunciation' but we each have those accents. Could you convert that to British movies and TV most Americans are familiar with? Sherlock Holmes played by Cumberbatch Eliza Doolittle before Henry Higgins Daisy in Downton Abbey someone else, maybe a Harry Potter character 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 It depends on how lazy I am when I say it. Three, usually. I usually hear "caramel corn" pronounced like CAR-ml, no matter who's saying it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 car-mull. 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 RP... think fancy schmancy Brit-speak, as heard in this youtube video. An explanation of the origin is given here. I googled, so if anybody has a better link, by all means, provide it! Laura is quite correct, of course. Everybody, everybody, everybody has an accent*. In the US it's common for Midwesterners to claim to be accentless, but the truth is that their accent is actually highly distinctive! (And plenty of people who swear up and down that they speak the perfect standard with no nonstandard usage in grammar or vocabulary are shocked to find that something they consider perfectly normal is, in fact, highly regional and nonstandard.) * Except for me. Everybody's English can be precisely judged by how far it diverges from my own personal idiolect which is, of course, the very pinnacle of human speech :P 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edithcrawley Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 2 syllables---car--mul, but that is pretty standard around here since there is a nearby city called Carmel, IN, so most people just pronounce the candy the same way. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Could you convert that to British movies and TV most Americans are familiar with? Sherlock Holmes played by Cumberbatch Eliza Doolittle before Henry Higgins Daisy in Downton Abbey someone else, maybe a Harry Potter character All I meant was that no one's speech is neutral. Benedict Cumberbatch speaks RP - that is standard middle class southern - which is just as much an accent as Eliza Doolittle's Cockney. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HS Mom in NC Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 All I meant was that no one's speech is neutral. Benedict Cumberbatch speaks RP - that is standard middle class southern - which is just as much an accent as Eliza Doolittle's Cockney. Yes, I understand everyone has a distinct accent. I wanted to know what RP sounded like. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Depends. If I were speaking of a "carmel apple," it would me two car-mull. If it were, "a delicious candy with a care-ah-mel center", three. Makes no sense, but there you have it :D Bill 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piper Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 2 syllables---car--mul, but that is pretty standard around here since there is a nearby city called Carmel, IN, so most people just pronounce the candy the same way. I'm curious - does the accent go on the first or second syllable when you name that city in IN? Because there's a city in CA that's called Carmel, only it's always pronounced "Car-MEL" as opposed to how I usually hear the name of the candy pronounced: "CAR-mle" (2 syllables). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 CARE-uh-muhl I think. It is possible that I say the first bit different as in AUS we have 5 different sounds for the letter A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Everyone has an accent: perhaps you speak 'standard American' and I speak 'British Received Pronunciation' but we each have those accents. While working out of the UK office, I had an Irish co-worker once tell me the American accent sounds like a news anchor. I couldn't help but think, "Even in London?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 While working out of the UK office, I had an Irish co-worker once tell me the American accent sounds like a news anchor. I couldn't help but think, "Even in London?" Interesting that they use the phrase 'news anchor' in Ireland, as it's not used here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 California native here. Car-muhl, two syllables and a schwa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinE Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Interesting that they use the phrase 'news anchor' in Ireland, as it's not used here. I used the term off the top of my head. She probably used another term as it was more than a decade ago. What stuck out to me is the fact she thought the American accent sounded like a newscaster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Ivy Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Car-mull - definitely a result of my NW Arkansas/SW Missouri roots. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HRAAB Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 CARE-uh-mel - 3 syllables - is the way I pronounce it. I'm not sure why other than I like the way it sounds. It seems most people around me say CAR-mel. Either way, I'll eat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Car as in carry, rhymes with the first part of parrot, uh, mell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Depends. If I were speaking of a "carmel apple," it would me two car-mull. If it were, "a delicious candy with a care-ah-mel center", three. Makes no sense, but there you have it :D Bill No, no, it makes perfect sense, and is the one true way! I am not alone! Yes, caramel is three syllables: care-ah-mel. Unless it's a caramel apple, in which case it is car-mull because it's a car-mull app-ull. They have to match, see? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerileanne99 Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Depends. If I were speaking of a "carmel apple," it would me two car-mull. If it were, "a delicious candy with a care-ah-mel center", three. Makes no sense, but there you have it :D Bill This is us as well:) Car-Mull corn Car-Mull Apple Care-ah-Mel centers 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms.Ivy Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 This is us as well:) Car-Mull corn Car-Mull Apple Care-ah-Mel centers Yep. This is how I grew up saying it, too. Care-ah-mels are candy. Car-mull is what goes on popcorn or apples. I thought they were somehow different things until I looked up recipes in my early 20s. haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I pronounce it with two, CARE-ml. But it's almost 1 1/2 and 1/2, like there are apostrophes in there. CAR-mull and CARE-uh-mell are heard around here as well. Pecan is likewise done different ways. I hate words without an established "right" pronunciation and spelling, at least within a region. Yes. Carml. One-and-a-half syllables at best. Car like the car you drive. In my region, a final L after a vowel isn't pronounced with the tongue touching the front of the palate, as with most English speakers; the tongue stays down. So it's easy to shorten such syllables. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Other. I say it both ways, depending on context. Care-a-mel or car-mul 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Wait. Who voted for OTHER???!! Other than 2 or 3, what else is there? Please.Explain. :lol: (3, around here...) ETA: Ah, FraidyCat, we were posting at the same time. OK. I can see that. Sorta... ETA (2): Et tu, Violet Crown? Yah, OK, Texas. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 Yah, OK, Texas. Smile when you say that, pardner. :D 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wabi Sabi Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 2 syllables---car--mul, but that is pretty standard around here since there is a nearby city called Carmel, IN, so most people just pronounce the candy the same way. Yep, I grew up in Indianapolis, so the town of Carmel is the same way I pronounce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Three, and without the r-controlled vowel. Well, with the vowel, but r has no control over me. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pegs Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 3 syllables: short vowel a, schwa, short vowel e. I'm Australian and don't have an accent. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edithcrawley Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm curious - does the accent go on the first or second syllable when you name that city in IN? Because there's a city in CA that's called Carmel, only it's always pronounced "Car-MEL" as opposed to how I usually hear the name of the candy pronounced: "CAR-mle" (2 syllables). Accent goes on the first syllable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 It depends on ( a ) how expensive and/or fantastic the item is, and ( b ) how enthusiastic the person is about it. If it's extra wonderful, it gets an extra syllable. If it's a beige cube in a trick or treat bag, it gets the short form. Example: "Mmmm -- look at that car-a-mel white chocolate brownie with whip cream!" -vs- "I think the cafeteria pudding is car-mel today." 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 2 - From North Florida. Funny how the map upthread shows I should be saying it with 3. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I'm one of very few locally who say it with three. Most people use two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Car-mull. West Coast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 I pronounce it both ways. I live in a different region than I grew up in and I really don't know which way came first and never really know which one will come out of my mouth. So I chose "other" in the poll. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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