I set up the day's posts the evening before. But last evening I enjoyed the whole time with the lovely and now-in-Austin Mrs. Borepatch. A romantic pasta dinner followed by a whole evening at the pool here at FOB Borepatch left no time for blogging.
Sorry, but it was awesome. And that word has a specific, technical meaning:
Oh, and Lychee fruit must be from outer space. And it's pretentious to pronounce them LYE-chee, unless you went to school in Her Britannic Majesty's Scepter'd Realm. LEE-chee, people.
Awesome.
6 comments:
Excellent!
"Leach-ey" is how we (and the local dusky hues inhabitants) pronounced it in Her Britannic Majesty's South Asian Sub-Continent Former Colony. Comes in tins it does, and the juices
make a good non-high-fructose sweeter in Mai-Tais. Have you tried the Velvet Falernum yet? Gingery!
Hmmm, well, in Hong Kong, it is pronounced like lai6-jee1 (those numbers are tone marks) (and to allow English speakers to get close: lie jee).
The Chinese is: 荔枝 (lai6 zi1 in Cantonese, li4 zhi1 in Mandarin)
Since each syllable is pronounced separately with few exceptions in Cantonese and none in Mandarin, and they do not have ch finals in Cantonese or Mandarin, "leach-ey" can not be the pronunciation and does not sound like either Cantonese or Mandarin.
Also, given the influence of Cantonese on Malaysia I would imagine that the pronunciation in Malaysia is close to that of Cantonese.
They said LYE-chee in Hawaii, which is the only place I've ever seen them sold fresh, so LYE-chee is how I say it.
Well, indeed.
If I am speaking to English speakers then I use lie-chee (which is a reasonable approximation of the Cantonese). However, if I am speaking to Chinese people then I use the correct pronunciation :-)
My 95-year-old grandmother introduced me to this delectable fruit years and years ago, and she says LYE-chee. Don't mess with Japo :)
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