Several times recently I've heard people pronounce "niche" as "neesh." In fact, I even heard the AWWW puzzle guy or the other puzzle guy say that. At least I'm not hearing anyone pronounce it as "nee SHAY."
Anyone else notice this?
I only heard it pronounced "nitch," except in French class, for decades. It's just in the last few years that I started to hear "neesh," and thought it pretentious. A fairly recent discussion (on AWWW?) led me to believe that it's a valid pronunciation in English, nothing pretentious (usually) about it. Just one of several, including "nish."
The dictionary on my computer only shows "nich," but checking another one, "neesh" is also shown. I guess "neesh" has gotten some traction.
I used to pronounce it "nitch", too. But five or ten years ago I ran across "neesh". I don't remember whether I read it in French, or heard an Anglophone pronounce it in the French manner, but whichever it was, I decided that "neesh" is the correct pronunciation and "nitch" should be abandoned along with "nave" (for "naïve"), "CHAFF-er" (for chauffeur) and "swayve" (for suave). I don't bother to correct "nitch" in others, because I don't think of it as being actually wrong; I just prefer the original pronunciation of the word we borrowed from French. And yes, "neesh" does seem to be gaining traction, no doubt because I threw my own weight behind it. You're welcome.
It seems to me that in English—and maybe it's because we borrow so very many words from other languages—we try a little harder to give those words their native pronunciation and also their idiosyncratic plural forms. We say "cacti" not "cactuses", "seraphim" not "seraphs", "crises" not "crisises". I admit that the Brits do this less than we do, at least with regard to pronunciation (I still remember flinching incredulously when I heard a BBC reporter signing off from "man-AGG-youah, nicker-AGG-youah"), but still. So maybe that's why "neesh" is gaining momentum.