Ramen noodle pronunciation thread

[StaggerLee]

inspired by Romantico's Coupon thread.

I pronounce it Rah-men. Some folks pronounce it Ray-men.
It hurts my ears when I hear it pronounced that way.
How do you pronounce it?

(no I don't eat them - too much sodium)

[GOPisEvil]

1. Only uneducated troglodytes say "RAY-men"

The correct pronunciation, according to my Japanese mother, is RAH-men.

[Az]

2. Native pronounce it

RAH-men. Been there. Ordered it. If I had said Rayman they would have stared at me.

[Interrobang]

5. If it were pronounced "ray-men," it would be spelled...

're' 'i' 'me' 'n', and it's not; it's spelled 'ra' 'me' 'n'. That's just Japanese phonics.

I even have a t-shirt that says "Ramen to Soba" (Ramen and Soba, two kinds of Japanese noodles) on it in kana. :)

[Az]

8. Have to say

Being a 6' tall guy with long blonde hair I got stared at anyway. Took about a week to find another blonde guy and we waved at each other happy for some variety.

[pnorman]

3. You got it right.

Assuming that by "right", you mean the Japanese pronunciation. The other person can claim that he's giving the "Americanized" version, but that would be a cop-out. There's really no justification for "nationalizing" a foreign word unless there's a pronunciation or other such problem.

[SmileyBoy]

4. I've NEVER heard "RAY-men". ALWAYS "RAH-men".

I'd like to meet the isolationist rednecks who pronounce it "RAY-men".

[TNDemo]

6. Hmm. Sounds like Rahmeen around here.

Of course we're not cultured.

[trotsky]

7. RAH-men here

One of those cheap foods that gets you through college, but you know I still like the stuff for the occasional snack. But don't make the soup - just cook the noodles, drain, add a dab of butter, and stir in about 1/3 of the soup mix. Way less sodium, but still great taste.

[StaggerLee]

9. great idea!

Thanks!

[ClintonTyree]

10. Rah-men.............

I've corrected several people on this subject myself. I too hate to hear it mispronounced.

[KamaAina]

11. In Hawai'i it is pronounced...

"saimin" (sigh-MINN). Very popular here, and served with unusual toppings like green onions and fish cake (it's got red swirlies!!)

Actually some Japanese restaurants do serve it as "ramen" (always RAH-men), often in the Sapporo style with a miso stock. Ono! (yummy)

[GOPisEvil]

12. You can get saimin at McDonald's in Hawai'i...

...or at least you could back when I lived there ('77-'80).