@tone that's the point. The correct pronunciation is mahrio (it's an Italian name, and that's how Italians say it), not mehrio. Strip away the "fake" Italian accent and I think many (most?) Americans go for mehrio, like scenehrio, getting mehried to Kehran (Karen), etc
@Bohemian Hmm, I think I should probably clarify that, if I recall correctly, the other two actors were portraying Italian-Americans with a sort of Brooklyn accent though. Are any of those recordings incorrect?
@Bohemian I've only ever heard "Mah-rio" in the US, which may be the influence of Mario Kart, but I dunno. We do say "Mah-ria" across the board, afaik.
How do you all say Mary, Marie, Maria, and Mariah?
@MissMonicaE Yes, that is the one constant; "Mary" is always "Meh-ry" (to rhyme with "very"). But the other names are all a short "a" like in "about". "Ma-rie", "Ma-ri-a", "Ma-rye-a". Regarding "Mario", maybe I'm wrong about that. But I've heard "Scen-eh-rio" from lots of people including news readers.
That said, we say "contrary" like it rhymes with "airy" (not quite "-ery", but close). I'm sure there are other examples where we shift "a" to "e" when followed by an "r", but it's rare.
Discussion on question by Bohemian: W…
Discussion on question by Bohemian: W…