How do you pronounce 'Pall Mall'? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate:
Why is The Mall (Westminster, London) pronounced like mawl?

A few friends and I are playing Monopoly and are having an argument over how to pronounce the property 'Pall Mall'. Is it pronounced as 'Pal Mal' or 'Paul Maul'?

Solution 1:

As a Londoner I pronounce it pal mal, but I am much less consistent with the next street, The Mall, which I sometimes rhyme with shall and sometimes with hall.

The pronunciation has varied over time. Samuel Pepys wrote of the game as Pelemele (Diary 2nd April 1661) and the road as Pell Mell (Diary 1st May 1669).

Solution 2:

Normal English pronunciation is Pal (as in friend) - like shall

But it's named after a game in French Paille-maille, so 'upper-class' English pronunciation is sometimes Pel Mel.

Solution 3:

There is a lot of variation. The cigarette brand was /pɛl mɛl/, just like the expression pell-mell, at least when I learned it in N. IL in the 40s and 50s. I later learned that some called it /pɔl mɔl/, which makes it a problematic word for Americans, because most people on the W coast have merged /a/ with /ɔ/, so what they say may well sound like /pal mal/ to others.

I must admit I've never heard it pronounced /pæl mæl/, which is what it would be if pronounced like shall /ʃæl/, though of course some pronounce shall the same as shell /ʃɛl/.

Summary: Decide on whatever name you like and stick with it. Everybody else does.

Solution 4:

Both words rhyme with shall.