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Dumb question but need answer so I don't sound silly! - How to pronounce "vegan"

SO how do you pronounce vegan?  Is it vEEgEEn or VAAgEEn?

Ha ha. Borat, that's funny! :D

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But then here raw foodists are called "crudivores". Crooooodivores, not "crud-ivores."

And crudivores eat crudités, no?  It's all making sense!

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But then here raw foodists are called "crudivores". Crooooodivores, not "crud-ivores."

And crudivores eat crudités, no?  It's all making sense!

Got it in one. Is crudivore humour rather crude?  ???

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I pronounce it vee-guhn.  Vee like the letter and gun but gentler and kinder than the weapon.  Sometimes the u in guhn sounds like an a but it depends.  I dislike it when people say Vahy-Gaan.  It just seems wrong to me.

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Ha ha. Borat, that's funny! :D

I'm happy someone noticed.
;)b

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I used to pronounce wheat gluten like glutton

And I still think it's weird that seitan is pronounced like Satan instead of set-in. Now smooch calls seitan ribs "devil ribs"

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How about tempeh?  I say "tem-pay."

I also say "say-tan."

And "toe-foo."  Because you know that's a tricky one!  I mean, is it "taw-foo" or "toe-fuh" or "taw-fuh"?  :-D

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oo how do you say casein? my mother says kuh see in. and that seems wrong haha.

and then acai? i always said uh-ky (rhymes with uh bye) but i saw a commercial for some juice and they said uh-sigh.

tempeh: i think it is tem pay.
as for seitan...i just say satan and then giggle.

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oo how do you say casein? my mother says kuh see in. and that seems wrong haha.

and then acai? i always said uh-ky (rhymes with uh bye) but i saw a commercial for some juice and they said uh-sigh.

tempeh: i think it is tem pay.
as for seitan...i just say satan and then giggle.

I'm pretty sure it's "Kay-seen," at least that's what Collen Patrick-Goudreaux (sp?) from "Compassionate Cooks" says.  Before I heard her say it, I always said "cas-ine" (with a soft "a" and long "i"). 

The only variation I've heard on tofu is "to-FU," with the accent on the second syllable.  I just say toe-fu and eat it up!

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Acai is pronounced "ah-sigh-ee." A local coffee shop around here came out with acai smoothies last summer, and on their menu board, it showed how to pronounce it... ;)b I looked it up later, and that is correct!

Casein... Hmmm. I think I say "cay-seen." Is that wrong? I guess I don't say it out loud too often, but that's what I hear in my head when reading it...

Seitan... I say "say-tan." I always make sure to really enunciate, even though people STILL say "Satan? What? What's that??" ::)

My uncle says "vay-gun." Drives me friggin' insane! I try to nonchalantly repeat it the right way ("Oh, really? Vee-gin?") to correct him without sounding like a brat, and then HE corrects ME by repeating, "Yeah, vay-gun." ;D But he also thinks vegans eat cheese, no matter how many times I correct him.

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My mom still says vay-gun, and I've corrected her about 87 times and even showed her where I made fun of her on my myspace page . . . didn't phase her.

Of course, this is the same woman that pronounces "feng shui" feng schway instead of fung schway.  I don't get it, how does she pronounce part of it correctly and the other part wrong??

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How about tempeh?  I say "tem-pay."

I also say "say-tan."

And "toe-foo."  Because you know that's a tricky one!   I mean, is it "taw-foo" or "toe-fuh" or "taw-fuh"?   :-D

Actually the local Chinese population pronounces it "doh-fuh" but then they live in Spain, they're probably confused...
Pronunciation has a lot to do with where you live, what languages you speak, etc. We went through a period in HS of asking all our friends how they pronounced "mayonnaise." Man-aise, May-naise, May-o-naise, and even one Mer-nase.

All in the same small town. Go figure.

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No, it's always VEE-gan.  People pronounce it "vej-uhn" mistakenly, including dictionary.com.  In my opinion.  :P

The nice lady at work (who's been training me to replace her as florist) once knew of a girl in our produce deparment who was vegan, who described herself as "vedge-un". In a sense, it makes sense... 'vedge' as in 'vegetable'. But 'veeg-un' is better known, especially among us veeguns.

In the UK it's Vee-gan. In the rest of Europe it's vay-gan. As in the star, Vega. Or Las Vegas.

Since "vega" means "plains" in Spanish, some people here in Spain think a "vegano" is a plains-dweller. ;D
But then here raw foodists are called "crudivores". Crooooodivores, not "crud-ivores."

I could do this all day... ::)

LMAO. I'm now actively trying not to think of crudites as CRUD-i-tes.  :-D

Also, (from the not-many people I've revealed my veganness to) it seems like folks who want to make fun of us say 'vay-gun' the most. It also makes it easy to make fun of them right back... "Yeah, 'vay-gun', because we're, like, aliens from the planet Vega..."  ::) :P

As for tempeh....... I kinda wondered whether it could be said as 'tem-pEH', like 'pest' without the 'st'. But that's difficult. The only time I've heard someone say the word was when I brought it up, with a knowledgable (omni) food enthusiast. *shrugs*  ???

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and then acai? i always said uh-ky (rhymes with uh bye) but i saw a commercial for some juice and they said uh-sigh.

Yup, I saw the same commercial and had the exact same thoughts about the pronunciation.  Their way matches what Jessacita said, so it must be right. 

The "vedge" sound, as in vegetable, does make sense, but then again, sometimes I lament that the "veg" root word is used to describe, well, veg*nism.  I love my veggies, I do I do I do, but "veg" also makes it seem like we only eat veggies.  Now what I'm saying?  Because veg*ns eat so much more than veggies.

(Annnnd, funny story, I just wrote "vaggies" instead of "veggies."  Which is more of a topic for the Diva thread.)

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