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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhy did the pronunciation of caramel change over the years?
Growing up in the 80's, people pronounced it car-mel. Then in the early 90's or so, I started hearing people calling it car-a-mel, and it became the norm. Today, the car-mel pronunciation is all but dead. I rarely hear anyone call it that anymore, except for the occasional senior. But why did it change?
Words that change pronunciations are extremely rare. The only other one that I know of is the planet Uranus. Today, it's pronounced Ura-niss. I won't say how we 80's kids pronounced it.
Skittles
(153,160 posts)Last edited Wed May 5, 2021, 05:40 PM - Edit history (1)
CAR-MEL was always incorrect
Polybius
(15,411 posts)Everyone pronounced it "giff" in the 90's, but the creator said it's "jiff" lol!
hlthe2b
(102,267 posts)SergeStorms
(19,201 posts)in the past, whether because of colloquialism or ignorance. The latter pronunciation is the correct one. At least that's what I was always led to believe.
bottomofthehill
(8,329 posts)She always had a bag of the Kraft Carmels in the bottom drawer in the kitchen.
bottomofthehill
(8,329 posts)Kraft Fudgies. They were amazing.
Mopar151
(9,983 posts)What gives cheap whiskey that fuel oil taste note.......
Coventina
(27,119 posts)Rollo
(2,559 posts)JustABozoOnThisBus
(23,340 posts)In Palestine, the name is changed to al-Karmil. It's an old place.
Carmel, CA, is a more likely destination for me, someday.
Liberty Belle
(9,535 posts)MerryHolidays
(7,715 posts)Buckeye_Democrat
(14,853 posts)... that even I don't pronounce it the same way each time! If someone gives me a funny look after I use one pronunciation, then I just switch to the other.
Laffy Kat
(16,377 posts)We pronounced it like it's spelled: cray-on (or krei-ann). Now I hear so many people pronounce it "crown'.
Leith
(7,809 posts)but then, I have always pronounced clothes and close (the verb) the same way.
Never heard "crown," though.
msongs
(67,405 posts)WHITT
(2,868 posts)They are two different things.
* A carmel is a small cubed-shaped candy wrapped in a cellophane-like wrapper
* Caramel is a flavor or type of [fill in the blank, like sauce, filling, topping, etc]
Now I'm well aware there are companies and probably even dictionaries that use or define differently, but that's it.
whathehell
(29,067 posts)for resolving this critically important issue!
Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)Last edited Wed May 5, 2021, 03:02 PM - Edit history (1)
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/carmel-caramel/Carmel and caramel are not different spellings of the same word. Caramel is the correct spelling if youre talking about food or colors. Carmel is a misspelling when used in those contexts, but it is a word that can be used as a name for people or places."
Never in my many years have I seen "carmel" as the spelling for the candy itself. It's use in that manner is a misspelling of "caramel".
What do you cite as your source?
WHITT
(2,868 posts)they referred to the candies as carmels, and toppings, drizzles, frostings, as caramel.
In the intervening time, corporate amerika has bastardized both in both directions, but they would call a dog a cat if there was enough money in it for them.
Metaphorical
(1,602 posts)From the article:
Salted caramel flavor became a staple in the U.S. first debuting in fine-dining and gourmet stores, and then eventually appearing in popular chain establishments, high-end supermarkets, and finally superstore shelves. But who initially had the idea of adding salt to caramel? According to Debra Ronca, author of the article Who Invented Caramel?, it all started in France with an innovative chocolatier. In the 1960s Henri Le Roux attended candy school in Switzerland, later returning to France to open a store in Brittany a region known for its salted butter. In an attempt to offer something different while using the regions key ingredient, he came up with a salted butter caramel with crushed nuts. For this culinary creation, Le Roux was awarded Best Sweet in France by the Salon international de la confiserie in Paris in 1980.
Salted caramel was then popularized by French chef Pierre Hermé in the 1990s when he invented a salted caramel macaron. American chefs quickly adopted the concept and began combining sea salt with a variety of sweets, including caramel and chocolate. Nonetheless, 2008 was the year salted caramel catapulted into mainstream culture, going from an elite culinary obsession to the American mass market. During this time, Häagen-Dazs introduced salted caramel ice cream and shortly after Starbucks began selling salted caramel hot chocolate. Today, retail giants such as Walmart carry products including sea salt caramel truffle ice cream, salted caramel nut protein bars, salted caramel sweet and salty pretzel pieces, salted caramel biscotti, salted caramel brownie brittle, and much more.
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Caramel, being simply melted sugar, has been around for a long time, but the pronounciation shift likely came about because of the introduction of salted caramel from France, where the word was pronounced Cara-mel, in the 1990s. Prior to this, the word was a staple in the Southeast, which has a history of dropping intermediate schwahs (the uh sound that both a and e sometimes make in the second syllable).
Fla Dem
(23,666 posts)LisaM
(27,811 posts)My mother tried and tried to get me to say care-a-mel, so I thought the 'carmel' variation was what you thought it had changed to.
True Dough
(17,304 posts)but it's an awfully sticky topic.
Scrivener7
(50,949 posts)Paladin
(28,257 posts)It's still "car-mel" for me, I'm too old to change it.
Aristus
(66,349 posts)I think it's mostly regional.
OriginalGeek
(12,132 posts)and he named her that because he loved carmel apple dumplings so much and he made good ones so I say Carmel.
Harker
(14,018 posts)Totally Tunsie
(10,885 posts)Harker
(14,018 posts)GINMF!
Carmel corn, yes.