“Firehouse Subs, surveyed Americans to determine how the masses pronounce the word “gyro” and settle this longstanding food debate in celebration of its newest menu item, the Chicken Gyro Sub,” reports QSR news. The survey of 1,000 Americans, conducted in conjunction with Wakefield Research, uncovered that the majority of Americans (23 percent) pronounce it “guy-rho” (rhymes with pyro), followed closely by the 19 percent that pronounce it “jye-rho” (rhymes with “hydro”),” reports QSR magazine.
“The survey also found that more than half of Americans (53 percent) don’t let an unfamiliar word keep them from ordering delicious menu items like acai, au jus and gyros. Though 92 percent of Americans have said “gyro” out loud, it still rates as one of the top food items Americans are unsure how to pronounce.”
Not surprisingly, this shows that most Americans have never hung out with Greeks, who pronounce it “Yee-roh” (rhymes with Zee-ro), but it’s funny that a national fast food chain would survey thousands of Americans on how to pronounce the name of a food item they sell and still get it wrong.
For more than you probably ever wanted to know about the history of this sandwich and how to pronounce “gyro”, watch this Youtube video.