Our internet provider, me-ga-CAH-bley (left)One of the odd things about being an English speaker in Mexico is trying to figure out how to pronounce English words. For example, when we first bought coffee and asked for it to be ground we had to repeat the words "auto drip, AUTO drip, au-to DRIP!" over and over while pointing desperately at the at the machine. Finally the woman figured out we wanted "oww-toe-dreep."
Some words change and others do not. Muffin is moofeen, but pub is pronounced exactly the same as in English. Whenever I encounter a new appropriated word, I have no idea whether to try to fake a Spanish Mexican accent as I say it. Places like McDonald's and Burger King are minefields of linguistic bafflement. When I discovered cherry tomatoes at a tianguis (outdoor market) I tried to ask for "jitomates de cereza" which completely confused them. Which did I want tomatoes or cherries? I should have asked for jitomates "cheri." My favorite appropriation to date is colgate which is pronounced coal-GAH-tey. It really sounds like it might be derived from the indigenous nahuatl, especially when a street vendor calls out the word multiple times in rapid succession.
Here are some other ones off the top of my head. Cheetos are CHEY-toes, waffles are WA-fleys, hot cakes are OTE-cakes, hot dogs are OTE-doh-gs, cream cheese is feel-a-DEL-fia (as in Philadelphia), Sprite is ESprite, 7-up is ESevenup, and chips are cheeps.
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