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I didn't think of it in time to update my previous comment, so I'll add another! Decades ago, I knew people who pronounced "Italian" as eye-TAL-yun. They were
by quesera 7mo ago
I didn't think of it in time to update my previous comment, so I'll add another!
Decades ago, I knew people who pronounced "Italian" as eye-TAL-yun. They were usually older, sometimes WW2 veterans. This was in an area of the US that has a large Italian immigrant population, FWIW.
I don't know if it was due to historical disrespect of Mussolini-era Italy, some contemporary xenophobia, or just simple ignorance.
They all pronounced "Italy" in the normal way though.
- thewhitetulip 7mo agoThis is hilarious. I don't think this is xenophobia. Otherwise why is Idaho called eyedaho? Maybe its a regional thing or just ignorance.
- quesera 7mo agoI agree that ignorance is the most likely explanation. But it's not like these folks didn't grow up with "Italy" and "Italian" being on the radio/TV all the time, spoken correctly by newscasters. So there's a disconnect there, and it's also undeniable that there was an anti-Italian sentiment in the then-previous waves of naturalized immigrants. So I can't say for sure.