How Do You Pronounce Nutella?
Whoa. American fans of a certain chocolate-hazelnut spread just got some nutty news. Or should we say some newty news?
Are you sitting down? Turns out the first syllable of Nutella is not pronounced “nut” (with a soft “uh”) but rather “newt” (with a hard “oo”). Sure, take a moment to digest the fact that most of us Yanks have been saying the brand name wrong all our lives.
How do we know? Nutella, which is produced by the Italian firm Ferrero, has put out several commercials in which the product is clearly pronounced “Newtella,” and although those appear to have been around a while, the news has spread with a stealthy smoothness, blowing minds in its path.
Further proof (no, not pruhf) can be found in the FAQ section of Nutella USA’s website:
“Nutella® (pronounced ‘new-tell-uh’) is a tasty, unique spread made from the combination of roasted hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa. Nutella® has no artificial colors or preservatives.”
A representative for Ferrero recently told Buzzfeed that the company wasn’t “trying to encourage a common worldwide pronunciation on this” and that the American pronunciation was “just for them.”
I don’t even know what that means, but I can tell you I agree with those who argue, as this Twitter user has, that “it's pronounced NUTella coz it's made of nuts! If it was made of newts, then it'd be NEWtella.” That makes total sense to me.
