S/O how do you pronounce foyer?

[BlueStarryHat]

I'm an other. I usually pronounce it "hall."

 

[Wendy31]

"FOR-yer"

And, when I'm trying to be fancy, it's "FOE-yay".

 

[mjkacmom]

Just saw a real estate piece on a 6 million dollar home (on Long Island, maybe?). Anyway, it had an imazing foyer, according to the person showing the home.

 

[xjillianpaige]

Like Lawyer in every day speech, but sometimes when I'm feeling fancy I'll say it like Chevrolet.

 

[Disneylover99]

It's always foy ay to me. I've never heard anyone call it a foy er.

 

[Kitty 34]

Four-yeah.

I know it's probally "foy-yay" but I pronounce ours "for yers".

 

[North of Mouse]

Maybe the 'foy ay' pronunciation is a Canadian thing mostly?? We have a foy er! Like some pp's said, 'foy ay' is intended as a snobby pronunciation where we live - no offense. It's like a lot of things we say - regional/cultural.

 

[ols386]

I say it like lawyer.

 

[Magpie]

Foy-yay. Definitely a Canadian thing, as it is a French word. Most Canadians are used to pronouncing French words in something remotely resembling a French way.

I sometimes cringe when I hear certain Anglicizations, like Mount "Peel-ee-er" because I want to say Mon-pell-yay. (Mountpelier in Vermont.)

On the other hand, my daughter and I managed to completely confuse people in London, when we were looking for Vauxhall Street and prounouncing it "Voh-hall". In that case, it's not from any French word, it's literally an old varient spelling of "Fox Hall", and pronounced "Vox-all". (Anyone into cars would know.)

As for "snobby"... I've been accused of being a snob, just for using Canadian spelling!

 

[E&Cmom]

Foy-yay

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

fo yay just cause I think it sounds cooler

 

[Gigi22]

Depends, if it's a hotel/apartment , I pronounce it "lobby". The rest of the time, I usually specify the location as "at the front door".

 

[blana]

"FOR-yer"

Glad I'm not the only one.

 

[Magpie]

Depends, if it's a hotel/apartment , I pronounce it "lobby". The rest of the time, I usually specify the location as "at the front door".

Our "foy-yay" is actually a distinct little room, between the front door and the rest of the house, where all the boots live. There's also a coat closet, and shelves for the recycling bins. A lot of houses here have them, since people always take off their shoes before entering the house (both guests and residents). The extra door helps to keep grit and salt from the street from getting in everywhere.

Foyers are in the front of the house. If the little room is off the back door (some houses have both), people tend to call it a "mud room".

 

[thepicklebee]

I say foy-yer, as the alternative sounds pretentious to me as it was never a word used commonly growing up. Like the ole vah-se vs vase thing (receptacle to hold flowers).

 

[Magpie]

I say foy-yer, as the alternative sounds pretentious to me as it was never a word used commonly growing up. Like the ole vah-se vs vase thing (receptacle to hold flowers).

It's interesting the cultural connotations that get applied to pronunciation. I'm entertained at the thought that most of Canada apparently sounds pretentious to the US, simply because we pronounce French words closer to the original.

Why does French equal "pretentious", anyway? Is it because of the stereotype of the snooty Parisian waiter?

To me, using French pronunciation or dropping French words into conversation (ie, "I'm taking the char and going to the dépanneur, y'want anything?") sounds like the complete opposite of pretentious. It brings to mind memories of listening to the French-Canadian cleaning ladies chatting on the bus, on my way to high school in the morning.

 

[thepicklebee]

It's interesting the cultural connotations that get applied to pronunciation. I'm entertained at the thought that most of Canada apparently sounds pretentious to the US, simply because we pronounce French words closer to the original.

Why does French equal "pretentious", anyway? Is it because of the stereotype of the snooty Parisian waiter?

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I think it's because here there is a distinct disassociation to the original French origin of the word. Sure, we have words that we know come from other languages - but their pronunciation has devolved into our own versions of them. While in some geographic areas of the US the pronunciation may be the French way, where I grew up it wasn't. And the only people who did didn't pronounce it the French way due to accuracy, but due to pretense, and I think that's where the difference comes in.

 

[Magpie]

I think it's because here there is a distinct disassociation to the original French origin of the word. Sure, we have words that we know come from other languages - but their pronunciation has devolved into our own versions of them. While in some geographic areas of the US the pronunciation may be the French way, where I grew up it wasn't. And the only people who did didn't pronounce it the French way due to accuracy, but due to pretense, and I think that's where the difference comes in.

Which raises an interesting question... is the disassociation from the original word deliberate or accidental?

Other borrowed words, from other languages, don't carry quite the same negative connotation, when people pronounce them accurately. Saying "jalapeno" with an "h" will generally not get you accused of being snooty. And, in fact, if you say it with a "j", you may get teased. Nukuler vs nuclear is contentious, but using nuclear isn't a sign of pretentiousness. And tomato/tomahto gets you barely a blink (or possibly will have people breaking into showtunes).

It'd be interesting to know if the "French equals pretentious" notion predates the mangling of the original pronunciation in the US. Probably something for linguistic historians to argue over.

 

[Gigi22]

Our "foy-yay" is actually a distinct little room, between the front door and the rest of the house, where all the boots live. There's also a coat closet, and shelves for the recycling bins. A lot of houses here have them, since people always take off their shoes before entering the house (both guests and residents). The extra door helps to keep grit and salt from the street from getting in everywhere.

Foyers are in the front of the house. If the little room is off the back door (some houses have both), people tend to call it a "mud room".

Oh, we called a foyer (pronunciation varies) a vestibule.