Cay....correct way to pronounce?

Holy crap! I didn't realize there are 11 year old threads in CC archives.

Last week I saw a 13 year old thread revived on another board. :rolleyes:

I've been back since that last thread - I made sure I was saying 'key' to appear very knowledgeable but the ship's staff were all saying 'Kay'!:D

Lol

From a native Spanish speaker, cay and quay are not Spanish words at all. The Spanish word is cayo (Key West is Cayo Hueso) and it's pronounced CAH-joh (j like in jock). :)

This is what I always understood it to be. Oddly, I thought it was pronounce CAH-yoh (y like yes), but that is probably because it is not my native tongue, and I have been mispronouncing it.

AHHHH. I've been gotten again. 9 years gone like that.

Don't care if it is old. It was fun to listen to the Australians on our way to Hawaii, before we arrived in High-Low (Hilo) :D:D:D

It's definitely KEY. However, I do not really think anyone cares. Except me... my friends/family say... "Coco KAY" and I quickly interject "Key" and they of course :rolleyes:

Yup, 100% "Key". Nobody in the Bahamas says "kay".

Which gets me thinking, was someone in marketing at Royal trying to be slick with "Perfect Day at Coco (Kay)", and not realizing that's the wrong pronunciation?

Holy crap! I didn't realize there are 11 year old threads in CC archives.

There seems to be a lot of resurrections of very old threads lately. I'm surprised that CC has archived them for so long.

Yeah, old thread. Lol

Anyway, it's totally a matter of preference. From the current promo, it's seems the cruise line prefers a long ā sound. "Perfect Day at Coco Cay".

Yeah, old thread. Lol

 

Anyway, it's totally a matter of preference. From the current promo, it's seems the cruise line prefers a long ā sound. "Perfect Day at Coco Cay".

That's what is funny about it. Surely someone in the Royal Caribbean offices must have said "ummm, you do know it's pronounced key, right?"

It's like calling Key West, Kay West. It's simply not how the word is pronounced.

Thanks for the insight!

 

My first trip to CoCo Cay the tour guide on the jet skis told us the correct pronunciation is "key" but last time we were there the guide on the jet skis said it is "kay." This is after I thought I was wicked smaht saying "key." I prefer "kay" anyway but felt sufficiently like a donkey with 95%+ saying "kay." In the end I just had a ton of CoCo Locos and didn't care what anyone thought. :cool:

LOL! Having the coco locos was the wicked smaht paht!!! ;p:D

The "correct" way to pronounce anything, in my opinion, is to pronounce it the way the locals pronounce it. There are hundreds if not thousands of "cays," but every one I've ever been to was pronounced "key" by the locals.

Yup, 100% "Key". Nobody in the Bahamas says "kay".

 

Which gets me thinking, was someone in marketing at Royal trying to be slick with "Perfect Day at Coco (Kay)", and not realizing that's the wrong pronunciation?

Yeah you would think there would be some pride in pronouncing it the right way. I think they were going for the "rhyme" as well.

Also, their marketing department may be as bright as their IT department, which would explain why they thought it was catchy. :')

Now let's discuss Singapore's Clarke Quay :-)

Now let's discuss Singapore's Clarke Quay :-)

What is there to discuss, Quay = Key.

What is there to discuss, Quay = Key.

Like "cay" it can be pronounced 'kē' or 'kā'. Added bonus, can also be pronounced 'kwā'. [emoji6]

"Dog" can also be pronounced as "cat"... :rolleyes:

Living in Fl I've heard of Keys and Cayos but never Cays or Kays.  It's the marketing slogan "Perfect Day in Coco Cay" which pronunciation rhymes with Day and Kay is a made up version of a Bahamian Island. 

It's funny that RCI's FAQ on CocoCay on page 8 states that Cay is pronounced Key:

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Perfect_Day/18062757_Trade_Perfect_Day_FAQs.pdf

"How is CocoCay pronounced? CocoCay is pronounced Coco-Key"

I say Cay.  We don't have to pronounce words as they do in other countries.  How many of us say "shed-yool" (vs "sked-jool" for the word schedule) as they do in the U.K.?  We have our own way of pronouncing words and it's ok.

For anyone who wants to be dogmatic, we should then be using English as they do in England and we should ditch the American accent.

A perfect day at Coco key doesn't ring well in my ear.

4 hours ago, soremekun said:

I say Cay.  We don't have to pronounce words as they do in other countries.  How many of us say "shed-yool" (vs "sked-jool" for the word schedule) as they do in the U.K.?  We have our own way of pronouncing words and it's ok.

 

For anyone who wants to be dogmatic, we should then be using English as they do in England and we should ditch the American accent.

Is there even an American accent? Different parts of the States speak speak with a different accent. Now let me get back to my morning cawfee.

Key is correct but not sure why we bumped a thread the was created during the Bush administration

6 minutes ago, hotsauce126 said:

Key is correct but not sure why we bumped a thread the was created during the Bush administration

Resurrections this old are likely to be rarer as threads over about 7 years are usually archived to read only.

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

Is there even an American accent? Different parts of the States speak speak with a different accent. Now let me get back to my morning cawfee.

That's correct -- there are probably about as many different American accents as there are States.  Even cities within a State sometimes have a different accent.  In Florida alone, there is a big difference between South, Southwest, Central, Northeast and Northwest Florida.  If you take someone from Miami and someone from the Panhandle, there is a world of difference in the way they talk and the words they use. 

On 8/22/2009 at 2:06 AM, mjldvlks said:

You all do realize, don't you, that CeeAngel resurrected a two and a half year old thread?

Hold my beer. 

Note: Pronunciations drift over time. It may have been key for hundreds of years, but cay is now coming in strong. Especially when it comes to CoCo Cay - the folks who came up with the name now pronounce it cay. Pronounce it cay, pronounce it key, who cares. Just get there and toast this forum with a tasty beverage.