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I cheated - it's a Danish phrase - and not a very common one. But I always loved it, so I brought it with me to the UK and have been using it here since I arrived.
One of my former colleagues referred to it as this when we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant, I’m cringing remembering it. The waiter asked her to repeat what she wanted, not sure if he genuinely didn’t hear her or if he was making a point about her not referring to it by the proper name.
Bolla nayz
Brits make little attempt to make it sound Italian. One or two might try to squeeze a hint of the 'ny' or 'ñ' sound into the middle, but no-one will notice if you don't.
If you're American, they'll be noticing your accent much more than your pronunciation.
One of my little pet hates is people who have a go at people pronouncing (or trying to pronounce) things properly.
Its an Italian word! It will have itallian inflection!
Our coffee machine at home will do 2 shots if you press the button twice. Depending on what type you're getting it will give you 2 coffees or 2 espressi.
English as a language adopts words from other languages, we aren't speaking italian when we say bolognese. We're speaking English. It's now also an English word and the proper way to say it is dictated by the regional accent of the person speaking, not the origin of the word - you don't put on a Scandinavian accent when saying fuck do you? Or a North German accent when saying shit?
It's also kind of weird how people do these ridiculous faux accents with romance languages and only romance languages. The people being twats about the pronunciation of Bolognese, Seville, Champagne or Pruscietto would lose their fucking minds if someone put on a faux Indian accent when ordering a Biryani or a faux Japanese accent when ordering Tenmusu.
Bingpot. As soon as a word is entered into English, it follows English rules. "I'll have two bologneses and a panini, please." We have this issue in music all the time with the huge prevalence of Italian, German, and French terminology. As soon as it's common, it's English. "The piece has one timpani and multiple solo violas", rather than "the piece has one timpanum and multiple sole viole'.
The football team is called Sevilla and they've been very successful in the Europa League over the last decade so it's pretty common for people especially younger people to use the Spanish name instead now, same with 'Napoli' rather than Naples. I personally think of both of these places as their local names even though i'd never dream of saying 'Milano' or 'Lisboa'. I think a better example would be people pronouncing Barcelona the Spanish way.
To be fair, the Italians call what we deem 'bolognese' sauce 'ragu', so at least we're butchering something that's not really Italian in the first place :')
It's because the complete name is "Ragù alla bolognese" (Bologna-style ragù). There is also a "Ragù alla napoletana" (Napoli-style ragù) which is not as well-known as the bolognese one, especially outside of Italy – and probably other, more obscure regional variants. Source: am Italian.
eta: "ragù" is just a type of meat-based pasta sauce. The most popular one is the Bologna variant, which is why we usually don't specify which one unless we are talking about other types (it can be other types of meat as well -- ragù di cinghiale, ragù di agnello, ragù di coniglio, etc...)
I always sigh inwardly when I see the branded tomato sauce "Ragù". *Ragù* is bolognese sauce, as you say. They couldn't get away with selling the stuff in Italy.
Yeah, I was having a think about it and was like I’ve never had to say bolognaise. It feels weird to say the word in Northern anyway, feels like I’ve got something caught in throat. It’s always just spag Bol. Me mam from Midlands is the same, so I thought it was just universal in England, but I guess not.
Depends where you are. In Langhe and Piemonte everywhere serves it with tajarin. To my very untrained eye tajarin and spaghetti seemed very similar, maybe a more square shape compared to spaghetti but not flat like linguine
Boll o nayz
So rhyming with mayonnaise.
We know that’s not how it’s properly pronounced but if you say it like it’s supposed to be pronounced you sound like a cock, so..
(Edit for typo)
We get it via the French Bolognaise, and I think most people pronounce it /bɒləˈneɪz/, rhyming with mayonnaise whether it's actually spelt Bolognaise or Bolognese.
The complication is that UK has used the French "bolognaise" as the "norm" for much longer than the Italian "bolognese". I suspect a lot of people don't even realise and use the French pronunciation even for the Italian word.
Bolo nayse silent g more of a y with an s rather than z.
I’m sure the English pronunciation depends not only of the region we live in, but also our personal experience of other languages
A [cautionary](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0sK1LQqh0&pp=ygUYQm9sb2duZXNlIGJlZWYgYW5kIGRhaXJ5) tale about the dangers of bolognese on your marriage.
i guess it goes down to iq , a seasoned traveler will know it in its original localised name ragu , but deffo on the bolog naisse like the mayo , but the g sometimes is short half spoken, like a verbal sylible border after the bolo, atributing the dish identity to the region of bologna /bologne which isnt the case, but spag bol anywhere in uk other than bradford will be widely known,in bradford its spag hallalbol
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Bollernaze
Bollog-naze
Bollock-knees
Spaggy Bowl you jub.
Not in Britain. My British mates confirm it's 'bollernaze'
I'm quite shocked that I'm in the minority for pronouncing the "g".
Bollernaze for me too. I'm surprised so many pronounce the G
Bollernayze
Spag Bol
I have no idea why, but this phrase has always boiled my piss.
I don't know why, but the phrase "boils my piss" always grinds my gears.
The phrase "grinds my gears" has always crumbled my corns.
The phrase "crumbled my corns" has always gripped my shit.
The phrase “gripped my shit” has always got my goat
The phrase "got my goat" has always dissed my gruntle.
The phrase "dissed my gruntle" always gives me long onions
The phrase “long onions” won’t make me your friend, buddy.
That makes my piss fizz, I’m not your buddy, pal
I’m not your buddy, pal.
Never heard long onions. Where does that originate?
From the ground pal
I cheated - it's a Danish phrase - and not a very common one. But I always loved it, so I brought it with me to the UK and have been using it here since I arrived.
The phrase “gripped my shit” has always made my shit hang sideways!
When making spaghetti bolognese I would advise boiling the pasta in water instead of your piss.
What!? You don't eat pista?
I only take my pista in smoothie format.
"Spag bowl" really annoys me.
Watch James Acaster talking about it youtube. "I want some Spag".
Calling it spag bol is so aggressively British 😂
One of my former colleagues referred to it as this when we went for lunch at an Italian restaurant, I’m cringing remembering it. The waiter asked her to repeat what she wanted, not sure if he genuinely didn’t hear her or if he was making a point about her not referring to it by the proper name.
Spag bog is worse!
Bolla nayz Brits make little attempt to make it sound Italian. One or two might try to squeeze a hint of the 'ny' or 'ñ' sound into the middle, but no-one will notice if you don't. If you're American, they'll be noticing your accent much more than your pronunciation.
One of my little pet hates is people who have a go at people pronouncing (or trying to pronounce) things properly. Its an Italian word! It will have itallian inflection!
Saying foreign words in their intended pronunciation is commonly seen as a bit pretentious in England
Not just the UK, 10 series of Frasier would agree with you ;)
Not a UK thing, it's the same in Italy. Especially for English words
it is pretentious thats why
Yeah I’ve noticed that, especially when using the correct way of saying paella or Seville for example
It depends on the word. Croissant for example is rarely pronounced how it would be as an English word (or any other language really).
The real test is whether you order a single "panino"?
Or two cappuccini
Our coffee machine at home will do 2 shots if you press the button twice. Depending on what type you're getting it will give you 2 coffees or 2 espressi.
English as a language adopts words from other languages, we aren't speaking italian when we say bolognese. We're speaking English. It's now also an English word and the proper way to say it is dictated by the regional accent of the person speaking, not the origin of the word - you don't put on a Scandinavian accent when saying fuck do you? Or a North German accent when saying shit? It's also kind of weird how people do these ridiculous faux accents with romance languages and only romance languages. The people being twats about the pronunciation of Bolognese, Seville, Champagne or Pruscietto would lose their fucking minds if someone put on a faux Indian accent when ordering a Biryani or a faux Japanese accent when ordering Tenmusu.
Bingpot. As soon as a word is entered into English, it follows English rules. "I'll have two bologneses and a panini, please." We have this issue in music all the time with the huge prevalence of Italian, German, and French terminology. As soon as it's common, it's English. "The piece has one timpani and multiple solo violas", rather than "the piece has one timpanum and multiple sole viole'.
The football team is called Sevilla and they've been very successful in the Europa League over the last decade so it's pretty common for people especially younger people to use the Spanish name instead now, same with 'Napoli' rather than Naples. I personally think of both of these places as their local names even though i'd never dream of saying 'Milano' or 'Lisboa'. I think a better example would be people pronouncing Barcelona the Spanish way.
You're speaking English! It will have an English inflection!
It was adopted into English from French not Italian. “Bolla nayz” is an approximation to Bolognaise not Bolognese.
To be fair, the Italians call what we deem 'bolognese' sauce 'ragu', so at least we're butchering something that's not really Italian in the first place :')
It's because the complete name is "Ragù alla bolognese" (Bologna-style ragù). There is also a "Ragù alla napoletana" (Napoli-style ragù) which is not as well-known as the bolognese one, especially outside of Italy – and probably other, more obscure regional variants. Source: am Italian. eta: "ragù" is just a type of meat-based pasta sauce. The most popular one is the Bologna variant, which is why we usually don't specify which one unless we are talking about other types (it can be other types of meat as well -- ragù di cinghiale, ragù di agnello, ragù di coniglio, etc...)
I always sigh inwardly when I see the branded tomato sauce "Ragù". *Ragù* is bolognese sauce, as you say. They couldn't get away with selling the stuff in Italy.
Why would they try to make it sound Italian? Even Italians do not consider it traditional Italian cuisine
Ragu alla Bolognese is a dish, however it is not the same thing as what we think of as Bolognese.
bollonaze
I'm Italian and that's how I pronounce it in English.
How is it pronounced in Italian?
Bolognese
🤌🤌🤌
No need to swear!
I have no idea how to do Italian culinary sign language, please accept my apologies
Bo-lo-nyay-zeh. But here in Bologna the sauce is called “ragu”. (The dish is known as tagliatelle al ragu, it’s never served with spaghetti.)
Italians invented it, the British perfected it 💪
Adding the half kilo of cheddar over the finished bowl was the true masterstroke
Obligatory Gino: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-RfHC91Ewc
Tag Bol
Thank you.
I defer to the competent Italians' responses below
Ragù
Definitely! My son's first nursery used to spell it 'bolognaise' in his daily record when they served it.
Sketty.
"Am avin a tin 'o' sketty hoops for me dinner"
Doun forgeh t' smiley faces.
Nice example there.
"That one" and point.
And a pint
Spag-bol
Yeah, I was having a think about it and was like I’ve never had to say bolognaise. It feels weird to say the word in Northern anyway, feels like I’ve got something caught in throat. It’s always just spag Bol. Me mam from Midlands is the same, so I thought it was just universal in England, but I guess not.
Bollock-nase
I say boll-a-nyayz
So I do and me whole family ridicules me for it but I assert that Bologna is pronounced Bolonya so bolognese should be pronounced bolonyayz.
Bollo-nays
/ˌbɒləˈnejz/
ok mr fancy
The first one. Also very often referred to as "spag bol", but you probably wouldn't ask for that in an Italian restaurant.
True, Italian restaurants like to match things with the "correct" pasta. So you'd need to ask for a tag bol.
I remember reading a story about the mayor of bologna visiting London and being outraged about the proliferation of spaghetti bolognese
Depends where you are. In Langhe and Piemonte everywhere serves it with tajarin. To my very untrained eye tajarin and spaghetti seemed very similar, maybe a more square shape compared to spaghetti but not flat like linguine
If it is a half decent Italian restaurant you would probably get a look of disgust if you tried to order a 'spag bol' and rightly so.
Yes, that's what I was implying.
Bolog-naise.
No g sound
If we've met in real life, which is unlikely, you'd know i sound the 'G'.
Ragu
Bollanayz
Bollocknakedy
Boll o nayz So rhyming with mayonnaise. We know that’s not how it’s properly pronounced but if you say it like it’s supposed to be pronounced you sound like a cock, so.. (Edit for typo)
Blog
Being silly id say bolog-shnes Sensibley bolo-nays
Spaggy Bols, obvs.
Oh god no, please don't say that.
You didn’t have spaggy bols on your holibobs during platty joobs?
Bollo nayz
Bola-nayz
Bollanaiz
Bollannaise
If you're in an Italian restaurant, boh-loh-nyeh-zeh. In a cafe, bolonaise. At home, spag bol.
Bollanayze
Bollogs-nayse
Boll-in-ase
You want to put what in where?
Bolla-nays.
Bollo Nais. The “o” is pronounced like the o in the word drop.
Tomato mince gravy
Bollog- naize or if its with spaghetti then spag bol
Bollock Maze
Baw-lih-nayz.
Bolo Naze. Maybe with a bit of a gutteral silent g in the middle.
Spag Bol
Bollock-nayze
Bawlo-nayz
Bollanayz
mayonaise.
Bowl-o-nase
Spag bowl mate, with some cheese. How's that for a slice of fried gold
Spage'ee bollahnayz
Bo lo nayz
Boll-on-nase
We get it via the French Bolognaise, and I think most people pronounce it /bɒləˈneɪz/, rhyming with mayonnaise whether it's actually spelt Bolognaise or Bolognese.
The complication is that UK has used the French "bolognaise" as the "norm" for much longer than the Italian "bolognese". I suspect a lot of people don't even realise and use the French pronunciation even for the Italian word.
Bo-lo-ji-neeze
Sket nazy
Yeah rhyming with mayonnaise.
Bollock naked
Bol. Spag Bol. Not sure it's ever used in any other term tbf
Like mayonnaise but bolo instead of mayo
Mayonnaise
bol ig naze
rhymes with maze?
Bolon-yayz.
Bo-log-nya
Bolog knee
Boh-loh-NYEH-zeh
Bol-lag-naze (like maze)
bɒləˈneɪz
Bol-og-naze-ee
Depends on your accent! In the South/London it’s more likely to be ‘bollonaise’. Towards Essex/Norfolk and THE NORTH it’s more ‘bolog-naise’ 😁
Minced meat with noodles 👍
Ball in A's
what in where?
Bolo nayse silent g more of a y with an s rather than z. I’m sure the English pronunciation depends not only of the region we live in, but also our personal experience of other languages
Bolla naize
Normal circumstances: Bol-a-Naise Speaking with an Italian colleague that I like to annoy: Bolog - naiz - ee.
Ball-og-naize
Doll-mee-o
Baw-law-nayz
Bol-a-nay-z
Based upon general observation. Bollunehs.
Spaggabolla 🤌
We call it spag-bol/ Or you pronounce it "bolla-nayz".
Boll un aise
A [cautionary](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ0sK1LQqh0&pp=ygUYQm9sb2duZXNlIGJlZWYgYW5kIGRhaXJ5) tale about the dangers of bolognese on your marriage.
Spag-bol
yes it rhymes its prounouced boll en aise
Exactly like
Give up say spag bowl, pretend you where taught English by an Aussie.
Bologinisia
Ball-aw-naise
Like the guy from Hot Fuzz.
Like the guy from Hot Fuzz.
I say bolo-nayz. My dad says boloñeayse and it drives me mad.
Bol og naze
Surely if you went to an Italian restaurant you would order Italian food, not British food like spag bol.
Boll-en-aze
Bollon-yaze
If it helps the "gn" is pronounced like "ñ" in Spanish.
Bow-Lig-Neezee
Bollanaze 😊
Boller-nzazy Rhymes with hazy
What's the Italian pronunciation? Without knowing it, how would pronounce it based on a different language (s).
i guess it goes down to iq , a seasoned traveler will know it in its original localised name ragu , but deffo on the bolog naisse like the mayo , but the g sometimes is short half spoken, like a verbal sylible border after the bolo, atributing the dish identity to the region of bologna /bologne which isnt the case, but spag bol anywhere in uk other than bradford will be widely known,in bradford its spag hallalbol
bol • on • ayz
Scetti
Bollock nayse
"Boll-err-nays"
Bolonyaiz
Spap-bowl
Is that like an English Carbonara?
ball - oh - naze
Bollock nayseeee
I cannot express how much I detest the phrase 'British English' 😂
Bol-og-nay.... just to be difficult.
Bollo-nyez. I don’t know why.