One of your favourite high-street stores has been playing a cruel, cruel joke on you.
OK, so it’s unintentional, but that doesn’t take away the shame we feel about all the times we’ve bragged about our latest purchases from Zara — and unknowingly butchered our pronunciation of the brand’s name in the process.
You’d think it would be straightforward. Four letters, two syllables, one easy word pronounced just like the girl’s name — ‘Za-Ruh’.
Alas, no. A store employee recently revealed to Refinery 29‘s Rachel Besser the ‘proper’ way to say the brand’s name, and we weren’t even close.
Comfortingly, Besser also struggled to get it down pat.
So how should we be saying it?
According to the video, instead of ‘Za-ruh’, ‘Za-raah’ or even ‘Sara’, the proper way to say it is “thaa-ra” or “thaa-da”, softening the ‘Z’ into a ‘th’ sound, as you frequently see in Spanish with words like ‘Ibiza’ or ‘Barcelona’.
Watch: Nine other words that are impossible to pronounce. Post continues after video.
#Cultured.
Will it take off in Australia? Look, probably not. But as an interesting titbit to impress your friends with or laud your fashun knowledge over fellow shoppers? You betcha.
Featured image: iStock
Did you know this pronunciation already?
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All Spaniards pronounce 'z' and 's' as 'th' - here is a bit of a background:
"A persistent urban legend claims that the prevalence of the sound /θ/'th' in Spanish can be traced back to a Spanish king who spoke with a lisp, and whose pronunciation spread by prestige borrowing to the rest of the population. This myth has been discredited by scholars for lack of evidence.