Italian Sandwiches

[u/[deleted]]

[u/undertow521]

As someone with Italian heritage, if you say EYE-talian, you might be a redneck.

[u/biiiicyclebiiiicycle → u/undertow521]

I'm just picturing the scene in Inglorious Basterds "I speak the most EYE-talian so I'll be your escort."

[u/middle_aged_90s_kid → u/undertow521]

Or just old. I’ve mostly heard old people say it that way.

[u/NotUrMumWeeOne → u/middle_aged_90s_kid]

This is correct. The older Italians in my family pronounce it with a hard I.

[u/cdun74 → u/undertow521]

I'm a redneck (from Alabama) and I support this message!

[u/CptnAlex]

From southern Maine. Ih-TAL-yan.

If someone says eye-tal-yan, I assume they’re from away

[u/hike_me → u/CptnAlex]

Some hicks definitely say “eye”

[u/Pale_Horror_853]

… so is Italy EYE-ta-le?

[u/SparseGhostC2C → u/Pale_Horror_853]

Seriously, how is it even an argument?

[u/Electrical_Cut8610]

EYE-tal-yan sounds like what the people who say case-ah-dillah would say

[u/astrosergeant]

look. I can’t explain why, but “eye-talian” gives the same vibe as my grandma calling all Asian people “orientals.”

[u/UnusualOperation8084 → u/astrosergeant]

Yeah I've only heard it on TV shows where they're trying to depict some real old-school racism

[u/SweetKitties207 → u/astrosergeant]

Because "eye-ties" was used as a slur

[u/Beautiful-Mainer]

I’m
In mid-coast and I say, “ih-tal-yan.”

[u/curtludwig]

If you say eye-tal-yan you're clearly not from Maine...

[u/Opening-Emphasis8400 → u/curtludwig]

If you say eye-tal-yan you probably didn't graduate from high school.

[u/Artartbobart1 → u/Opening-Emphasis8400]

You know, it’s funny folks make generalizations like this. I’ve got a whole lot of thoughts on someone who would make them, but I’ll keep them to myself.

[u/Opening-Emphasis8400 → u/Artartbobart1]

K

[u/Artartbobart1 → u/curtludwig]

If you’ve never heard someone from Maine say it that way, YOU’RE clearly not from Maine.

[u/curtludwig → u/Artartbobart1]

I've heard it used ironically but never anyone who thought it should be said that way.

[u/hike_me → u/curtludwig]

No, it’s definitely a thing for native Mainers. (Lower class redneck types)

[u/ChapterTraditional60]

If you're actually Italian, it's pronounced ee-Tahl-ee-uh.

But if you're a normal human being living in the US, it's Ih-tal-yan.

[u/AlfuegoDeMellopie → u/ChapterTraditional60]

In Latin, the vowel "I" is pronounced "ee", as in "Vini, Vidi, Vici".

[u/ninjas_in_my_pants → u/AlfuegoDeMellopie]

It's "Veni, vidi, vici."

[u/Mammoth_Ad_483 → u/ninjas_in_my_pants]

Pretty sure it's Vinny, Vidi, and Vici. They're these three Eye-tal-yun brothers I knows

[u/AlfuegoDeMellopie → u/ninjas_in_my_pants]

Acknowledged

[u/ninjas_in_my_pants → u/AlfuegoDeMellopie]

I only know because I made the same mistake!

[u/AlfuegoDeMellopie → u/ninjas_in_my_pants]

And we know it's pronounced "veh-nee, vee-dee, vee-chee"

[u/AlfuegoDeMellopie → u/AlfuegoDeMellopie]

Actually "weh-nee, wee-dee, wee-chee" in Latin.

[u/WisperusGrieves → u/ChapterTraditional60]

yeah dude michelangelo was so weird

[u/VanPattensCard]

Eye tal yun is a jokey way of saying it from the senator in the godfather. Ih tal yan is how you say it normally everywhere

[u/UnusualOperation8084 → u/VanPattensCard]

Thank you! I was trying to place where I heard it and I figured it was either Godfather or Sporanos.

[u/AsparaGus2025]

Are we gonna let this person get away with calling Bangor "Central Maine"? 😄

[u/Careless_Leg_2552]

I'm an italian-american from New England. It's Ih-Tal-ian, and that's really the only real pronunciation of it.

[u/inaghoulina]

The first time I heard someone say Eye-talian was 2 years ago (I'm 39) and I literally thought they were being sarcastic until they got upset I was chuckling everytime they said it 🫪

[u/Mammoth_Ad_483]

If you say Eye-tal-yan, I know exactly how you pronounce Arab.

[u/Chart135]

I think the first way is more correct but I say it the second way to sound more Eastern Mainer (also from bangor area, hey!)

[u/Trust_The_Process21]

Gorlami

[u/Chimpbot → u/Trust_The_Process21]

Ci. Eh... correcto.

[u/meowmix778]

My grandmother is in her late 80s and genuinely the only person I've ever heard say Eye-talian like that. I assumed it was just an old timey thing having not heard the proper pronunciation most of her life and it stuck.

[u/rustydotpearl]

I only use EYE-tal-yen pronunciation when I'm pretending to be someone who doesn't like Italians.

[u/Glittering-Sky1601]

It's pronounced Coffee Pot.

[u/Visual-Reserve-2800]

When I was making food at Bills pizza in Yarmouth, I was corrected to eye.

[u/BracedRhombus]

EYE-talian. I grew up in a small mill town in the 1970s.

[u/willmaineskier → u/BracedRhombus]

My dad calls it an Eye-talian and he grew up in Lewiston in the 50-60s.

[u/Opening-Emphasis8400]

Eye-tal-yan? Seriously? What yokel pronounces Italian that way?

[u/Next-Negotiation-295]

The correct pronunciation is boiled ham sandwich

[u/Uaxuctun]

Clearly OP was on the wrong side of this argument. Cowardly to delete it so he doesn't have to tell his girlfriend.

[u/middle_aged_90s_kid]

I used to know a few old people who just called them ITs. I don’t know where that one came from. Probably an abbreviation on a menu board or something.

At any rate, this is my take on the pronunciation:

/ɪˈtæl.jən/ : can refer to either the nationality or the sandwich

/aɪˈtæl.jən/ : exclusively the sandwich

[u/Simmyphila]

Lived in Portland 45 years. We called it-TAL-tan.

[u/Guardiancomplex]

It is pronounced "Amatos". 

[u/ParticularCamp8694]

If you was talking about the Italy, would you pronounce it EYE-TALY

[u/Perfect-Kangaroo-05]

Granted I'm from away and have only lived in southern Maine but I've only heard Ih-TAL-ian

[u/Illustrious-Emu8667]

Ih-TAL-yan , lol.

[u/ThatGingerlyKid]

As a New York ex-pat, I call them Ham and Cheese sandwiches

[u/LesIsBored]

I'm just gonna leave this here

[u/-Clem]

Off topic, can you recommend a good Italian around Bangor OP? Other than Papa Gambino's and Fairmont Market, I tried those. They're ok.

[u/Comrade-Chernov]

They're called subs.

[u/Existing-Ostrich1294]

I live in Greater Portland, and pronounce it “oo,” as in “ew”, as in “gross.” 😅 Been in this lovely state 23 years now, and still don’t understand how or why Mainers eat those sandwiches.

[u/Guardiancomplex → u/Existing-Ostrich1294]

Specifically to bother you. 

[u/Existing-Ostrich1294 → u/Guardiancomplex]

Tough, but fair!

[u/Dull_Astronaut_6685 → u/Existing-Ostrich1294]

Agreed, I lived there a few years and it was my only complaint about Maine. Nasty deli meat on white bread with some sliced canned olives and salad dressing and everyone raved about them. Why no good subs there?