Let's settle this once and for all: How do you pronounce "Gyro"? (Sandwhich)
I always used to think I was pronouncing it correctly by saying “hee-ro” and enjoyed correcting my oh-so-less cultured friends who pronounced it as “jie-ro”. But I had my mind blown today when a middle eastern man in front of me in line ordered a “jie-ro” (like the spinning motion).
So which is it?
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70 Answers
I always pronounced it “jie-ro” to be honest. And even then, I’m thinking of the spinning motion.
Some people say “gie-ro”, but more commonly I hear “hee-ro” as how the word is pronounced.
Wow! I’ve heard Euro. Like the money.
@ emily rose I always hear “Euro” too!
JIE-RO (like the spinning motion as well)
Yearo. (My best friend is Greek and speaks Greek and spends a lot of time in Greece.) She says “yearo.”
Are you talking sandwich or ***oscope?
@gailcalled Topics say food, so…I still think of the term ‘gyrating’ though. I never knew of a sandwich called the Gyro.
its a soft g (which is hard for many of us to pronounce) so i’d go w/ uberbatman and say JIE RO
I’ve heard it all the ways above except Euro. Around here people say Gie-ro not me though…I don’t eat lamb.
Thanks [again!] girlofscience…yes, I am really interested in answers from people who are either greek, middle eastern, or have friends/acquaintances who are. This wasn’t really a conversational “so how do YOU say it?” question, I’m just looking for the correct way to pronounce it so I can feel all culturally competent when I order.
Better to have phrased the question:
How is gryo correctly pronounced?
Though I’m kind of liking hearing how everyone personally pronounces it.
(I’m in the Euro/Yearo camp myself.)
Here’s the Greek; γύρος. Gamma, upsilon, rho, omicron, sigma.
I’ve never heard it pronounced anything other than “jiero” in New York City.
yee-ro, please!
no matter who stands in front of the line and says JI-RO or GUY-RO, order your lamb sandwich with grace and profession. YEE-RO!
Wait when I hear someone say ‘six foot hero’ do they really mean ‘six foot gyro’??? I’ve never seen the word before, just the sounds!
Hero is a regional term for a sub-sandwich. Gyro is a different thing altogether.
if you want a good one, say Year oh.. that is the correct pronounciation according to many greeks I have asked. I find if I say ji roh.. it’s not as good.
@queenzboulevard It’s not a hero, it’s a greek sandwich made of beef and lamb on a pita.
I’ve always said “year-oh”.
year-oh is good. i would eat that.
what novice lamb sandwich orderers need to know from now on is this simple rule. just don’t say the “G” like you learned in school. it’s a greek thing.
And don’t forget to put lots of tzatziki sauce on mine. If it drips onto my plate, I know I have a good gyro!!
@scamp! thanks for that sauce recipe. everytime i make homemade chicken gyros, i do the sauce too, but always seems like something is missing. it is the dill. GOT IT!
I’m hungry now – off to Chris’s Charcoal Pit tomorrow for a taste of the greek!!
Many moons ago, I worked at a Greek Cafe and we called them Yeer-ros. That was a great sounding tzatziki, Scamp. Try to find either the Mediterranian or Greek Yogurt to make it, it is much thicker. You can take regular yogurt and drain it for a couple hours in a cheesecloth lined strainer.
It looks like I can sleep tonight knowing that the true way to pronounce it is “yearo”. Thanks all!
Our Lebanese restaurant-owning friends who sell gyros call them JEE rohs.
I was drunk last Thursday and scarfing down a gyro, and I started talking to some Turkish guy. He said they are not even called gyros in turkey. I forget what they were called but they had the Turkish word for lamb in it. Anyways, in Columbus Ohio they are usually pronounced Euro, I also worked at a Lebanese restaurant and they told me it was pronounced Euro as well. Guess that settles it
when i was in greece i heard the “euro/yee-ro” but it is spoken in the back of the throat (if that makes sense…?)
it is hard for english speakers to do the sound in the back of the throat that most middle eastern languages do (like the gargle-ish sound).
Just order a souvlaki :P
most of the answers got it right-it’s yeero. Or actually yeeros. Though the “ee” is not all that long. Think of “hero”. But with the “gamma” sound instead of “h”.
Funilly enough the root is exactly the same as “gyro” (as in gyroscope), since “gyro” in Greek simply means “around”. The sandwich is made from meat that goes round and round on a spindle, and of course gyroscopes also turn round and round. But the former is a Greek dish and keeps its original pronunciation, whereas the latter has become an english word.
Kyle, the Turks call it Doner Kebab, but it’s actually a different thing. The turkish one, as you mention, is made of lamb meat and is a lot spicier. The bread is also different (or at least should be).
How is this gonna settle anything?
Just to muddy the waters, in Israel it’s called shuwarma.
And to make even more complicated, the shwarma I have had hasn’t borne any relationship at all to a gyro. It is marinated and roasted chicken served with garlic aioli, chopped tomatoes, and Middle Eastern pickles, either on a plate with salad or wrapped in a different sort of flat bread other than pita bread – something more akin to a large and very thin tortilla.
My family always said \gï’, rö\ until one day I figured out on my own that the proper way is \hë’, rö\
Now I say \hë’, rö\ all the time because I am Italian and hate when people say “prescutta” or “ragotta”
Annoys the crap outta me.
The Greek restaurants around here pronounce it gee-row, gee as in telling a horse to turn right (or is it left?)
No wonder horses never go where I tell them to!!
Did you forget to unlock the barn door?
Ha-ha. I must remember that. I have always been left/right dyslexic anyway.
How about port and starboard? ( Port and “left” have each four letters.)
Thanks, gail. That is a great way to remember. After all, people always say “port and starboard”, not “starboard and port,” and they always say “gee and haw” not “haw and gee.” By jove, I think I’ve got it!
No, I am strickly a tourist-rider.
Nice offtopicness…Fluther has PM by the way.
Sounds like somebody has PMS.
It’s just because gail is hypocritical.
90’s_Kid; You seem to be really disgruntled much of the time. Fluther might be more fun if you choose gruntled.
Charles Baudelaire
Hypocrite lecteur, – mon semblable, – mon frère !
So you are encouraging me to be “gruntled”?
Gruntled sure beats the alternative :)
The opposite of disgruntled. If being disgruntled means you are cranky, then being gruntled must mean you are chirpy and happy.
According to various dictionaries:
Gruntle (verb)
[Freq. of grunt.]
To grunt; to grunt repeatedly. [Obs.]
[by back-formation] to put in good humor [originally, to grumble, complain (or grunt)]; hence, gruntled: satisfied, pleased
Cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of
Synonyms: pacify, lenify, conciliate, assuage, appease, mollify, placate, gentle.
From
Dictionary. Webster 1913 Dictionary edited by Patrick J. Cassidy
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd.
Word Tutor. Copyright © 2004-present by eSpindle Learning, a 501© nonprofit organization. All rights reserved. eSpindle provides personalized spelling and vocabulary tutoring online; free trial.
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
So there you go.
I guess if we were cavemen, we’d grunt (repeatedly) when we’re happy :)
Although, grunting in happiness is consistant with Fluther pancakes!
obsessions Sounds like such a pessimistic word though.
“Gruntled” is not part of the common parlance and is neither in my 1979 Webster’s Collegiate dictionary nor on the online one in the Mac Dashboard. Frankly, I was surprised to learn of its existence, but see that it is obscure.
In my 1954 Webster’s Unabridged, it is described as obsolete or used in dialect.
Gailcalled….ok you are the person with the most amount of lurve and the biggest hit on fluther….but can just leave me alone? Stop nitpicking on me. I got the word “nitpicking” from richardhenry :D
@90’s kid- Please stop. The whole self-obsessive “you guys are picking on me” schtick is starting to grow old, my friend.
I am convinced that you are an intelligent person; and in that regard I seek to disinterest you in baiting members ad nauseum; not fun for all involved. Hope you understand.
on topic Are we convinced that Hhh-yeeer-o is the trick? I’m having Greek to-morrow…
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