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What is the correct way to pronounce niche? I've always said and heard nitch, but now I hear neesh, but it always sounds trendy to me.

Thoughts?

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Either way is correct. "Neesh" is the French pronunciation and has always been used by some English speakers.

My preference is for "nitch" but then I pronounce clique as "click" -- I like my English English and my French French.

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    Haha, I like that last line.
    – Kosmonaut
    Aug 20, 2010 at 1:58
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    neither "iche" or "ique" are English word endings, so if you really like your English English, use different words.
    – danio
    Feb 20, 2018 at 13:52
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    I find it interesting that it's Americans who tend to say nitch (as confirmed by Collins Dictionary, which explicitly says Nitch = US, Neesh = UK). For many other words that come to mind (filet and herbs in culinary contexts, for example) Americans stick with the French pronunciation where Brits go for the Anglicised version.
    – FumbleFingers
    Jun 11, 2019 at 17:23
  • You need to respell it to nitch if that's how you pronounce it. And good luck with cleek. :)
    – tchrist ♦
    Feb 24, 2020 at 16:12
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    @Greybeard - I do.
    – J.T. Grimes
    Feb 24, 2020 at 19:13
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Since niche is a word that is directly borrowed from French, some people choose to pronounce the word using the original French pronunciation. Merriam-Webster lists both pronunciations (as well as the halfway-between pronunciation of "nish" [nɪʃ]), so both are technically valid.

Phonologically speaking, there is nothing in the pronunciation "neesh" [niʃ] that is actually foreign to English, so to me it doesn't really sound off-putting. A similar example would be envelope, which many people pronounce "onvelope", a nod to the French pronunciation (though not fully faithful anyway).

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    Meanwhile, the word envelop I've never heard pronounced the "French" way.
    – Joe Z.
    Aug 21, 2014 at 3:45
  • Meanwhile, I didn't know there was any other pronunciation than "on-velope". I've never heard "enn-velope"!
    – CSJ
    May 10, 2022 at 13:05
  • I've heard both en-velope and on-velope since I was a little kid.
    – hippietrail
    Dec 23, 2022 at 6:41
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As far as I know the "nitch" pronunciation is more common in the US, whereas the "neesh" pronunciation is used more in the UK. Seems to be a tomayto-tomahto thing.

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    Speaking as a Brit, I had never in my life heard "nitch" until a few minutes ago, and it was spoken by an American (prompting my search and finding this question). "Neesh" is not just "used more" in the UK - it is the one and only pronunciation here.
    – Philip C
    Jun 1, 2021 at 7:41
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I grew up with Canadian French, so now when I hear nitch, it offends my sensitive earballs. For example, I would also never pronounce quiche as kitch!

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    Saving this for the “quiche, not kitch” when this comes up in conversation!
    – sleighty
    May 9, 2022 at 7:23
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    @sleighty Just try not to be a biche about it.
    – hippietrail
    Dec 23, 2022 at 6:42
  • I usually keep my judgment strictly to myself :P
    – sleighty
    Jan 4 at 20:02

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