Pronunciation of Apricot

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Katie. I’m calling from Fort Worth.

Hi, Katie. Welcome to the show.

Hello, Katie. Fort Worth, Texas, I take it.

Yes.

Great.

What’s up?

Well, I have had a running debate with any friends I make and just random people from the street about the pronunciation of a certain fruit.

Going back at least 10 years.

I was going to say it’s the same thing.

No, I’ve always pronounced it apricot, but over the years I’ve met people who said apricot, and we would argue, and all of my friends were very stubborn.

So we’ll just go back and forth over it until the end of time if we had the opportunity.

So I thought I would just call and maybe settle the debate once and for all.

Oh, good luck. Good luck with that.

And I have this mental picture of you walking up to random people on the street and asking them how they pronounce.

Poking your finger in their chest going, listen here, mister.

With a fruit in your other hand.

It’s tricky, though.

We have to write the word out and we’ll both, like, whoever the opposite person with me will both be like, how do you pronounce this?

And show them the piece of paper and then wait with very intense expressions.

Really?

Yes.

No, seriously, you’re actually doing this?

Oh, yeah.

What?

Wait, all right, so let’s clear.

Let’s unpack this.

And Texas is a, you can carry arms in Texas, right?

Yes, yes.

Open carry speech.

And it’s either apricot or apricot carry as well.

Wait, so you say what?

I say apricot, but my parents, I was born in Texas and raised here,

But my parents are both from Colorado and Kansas.

So I didn’t know if maybe it was a regional thing.

Because most of my friends down here whose parents were born in Texas

And they were born in Texas, they apricot.

I do have a friend who uses them interchangeably,

Like depending on the situation, kind of like neither-neither.

But she doesn’t know why she does it.

And where did your friend grow up, the one who does that?

Well, Texas, and her parents are from Texas.

Texas as well. And it’s interesting because your comments are pretty consistent with the dialect

Map that was created by Josh Katz from North Carolina State University. You may remember when

This was a really big deal on the internet a couple of years ago. People were taking quizzes

To see what kind of dialect they had, and there were these red, white, and blue maps. Do you

Remember seeing these on the… I do vaguely, yeah, I remember that.

And one of the terms that he researched was the pronunciation of that fruit.

No.

And you can actually find a picture of that map.

And sure enough, all across the northern part of the country, and including Colorado, people are more likely to say apricot.

And farther south, people are more likely to say apricot.

Now, there are variations.

It’s sort of like what you were saying about either, either, neither, neither.

But it’s a pretty dramatic map, and you can find it online.

You might want to take a look at that.

Is there a background on which way is correct, though?

Which way is correct?

If I wanted to perhaps be right and then rub my friend’s face in this, how does that?

Okay, now you’re in the app camp, right?

Yes, I am, firmly.

Well, you know, if you look at the Oxford English Dictionary,

The one pronunciation that they have in there is apricot.

When was that last updated?

First published in 1885.

So the entry has not been updated in more than 100 years.

Oh, no.

Not fully updated.

Let’s see.

Previous version, O-A-D-T.

Well, anyway, the point being that some dictionaries will tell you it’s one way,

And other dictionaries, like Merriman-Webster, will tell you that it’s either way.

So I’m afraid there’s not really a right or wrong.

It just sort of depends on where you are.

All righty-bye.

Yeah.

So where you are right there in Texas, you’re on pretty firm ground saying apricot.

Okay.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So what I think you should do is just print out a copy of this map and carry, you know,

Laminate it and carry that with you for the next time you’re talking to engaging some stranger in the pronunciation question.

Well, I will do that.

All right.

We’re happy to help you.

Good luck, Katie.

Thank you so much.

All righty.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Well, if you’re walking up to strangers and asking them about a pronunciation or a point of grammar,

Maybe you should talk to us, 877-929-9673, or send us an email. That address is words@waywordradio.org.