This is the correct way to pronounce ‘gyro’
The gyro. It鈥檚 a delicious sandwich typically made with thinly sliced lamb, tzatziki sauce, and onion rolled in a warm pita. Something that simple shouldn鈥檛 be so complicated to order. After all, it鈥檚 only four letters. But what鈥檚 the proper way to pronounce 鈥済yro?鈥�
The word for this classic Greek sandwich was borrowed by the English language in the 1970s, but since then, Americans have butchered the pronunciation to the point we鈥檙e no longer sure how to say it. We can no longer order this classic Greek sandwich with confidence.
Most people agree that gyros are delicious, but they tend to disagree on how to pronounce g-y-r-o. Is it GUY-roh? ZHI-ROH? Or maybe JAI-roh? Some say GEE-roh or JEE-roh.
Luckily, this isn鈥檛 one of those situations where it depends. There is a clear right and wrong way.
And the right way: YEE-roh.
JAI-row is probably the most common way of mispronouncing the popular Greek food, but Merriam-Webster says that pronunciation is only correct when referring to gyro, as in a gyroscope or gyrocompass. Unless you鈥檙e talking about the tool that uses Earth鈥檚 gravity to help determine orientation (which is likely never), you shouldn鈥檛 be saying JAI-roh.
If you鈥檙e really looking to tighten up your gyro ordering skills, you should also know that technically 鈥済yros鈥� is the singular, but in English the final 鈥榮鈥� is often interpreted as a plural. If you are ordering one sandwich you should say, 鈥淚 would like a gyros (YEE-rohs),鈥� or 鈥榚na gyro鈥� in Greek.
Greek doesn鈥檛 make plurals with the letter 鈥榮鈥� like English and Spanish, but rather, changes the end vowel like Italian. So if you were looking to order two or more gyro, you would say 鈥榙io gyra鈥� or two gyra.
So there you go. You鈥檙e equally prepared to order this tasty snack whether it鈥檚 at the local fair or on your next trip to Athens, Greece.
Meghan Rodgers is editor of Everybody Craves. Reach her at 412-380-8506 or mrodgers@535mediallc.com. See other stories, videos, blogs, recipes and more at everybodycraves.com.