658992 Mon Oct 12 17:43:49 -0700 2009 18 29 Not About Food 0 5098294 I've called it Phil-eeps for years, sometimes Phil-eep-ehs, but found this today: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=18698187&m=18698175 Who knew the owners pronounce it Phil-eep-ees. A German pronunciation for a French dip place?? Historians all over are rolling their eyes. ;o) Mon Oct 12 17:43:49 -0700 2009 11405 Midlife 1 5106643 I also pronounced it your way until a few years ago when I learned that the original owner was German. Who knew? Thu Oct 15 16:53:39 -0700 2009 5098294 10240 Bob Brooks 1 5107328 just like the phillips screwdriver. in french, it's just about 2 syllables, phil-epps Fri Oct 16 04:34:38 -0700 2009 5098294 11828 Maximilien 2 5108193 Except this is the specific pronunciation of the name of a specific eating place in Los Angeles. The NPR piece interviews one of the current partners and he insists the "family" is of German background and pronounces it Phil-eep-ees. What's interesting is that all the historical material on the place says it was first established by a FRENCH immigrant, named Phillipe Mathieu (1918). That would most certainly mean it would be FRENCH in origin and pronounced Phil-eeps. Wikipedia says the family is still owned by the Martins, who bought it from Mathieu in 1927. It's likely they are the ones that are German in heritage. Anyway............... it opens up the issue of whether a name is pronounced the way the owners of the business wish it to be, or the way it was originally, or???????????????? Fri Oct 16 10:18:33 -0700 2009 5107328 11405 Midlife 1 5112795 The apostrophe s ending does not belong in either German of French. Sun Oct 18 14:58:35 -0700 2009 5098294 54222 ekammin 2 5113620 The answer to your issue is probably that the actual name of the place is Phillipe The Original, but the owners, staff, and customers call it Phillipe's. All I was commenting on was how to say the common name correctly. How does the language lesson help? Sun Oct 18 23:33:42 -0700 2009 5112795 11405 Midlife 1 5113630 Ok...How ever you call it, you go there for the DIP... Sun Oct 18 23:45:35 -0700 2009 5098294 258262 flylice2x 2 5113636 Is this national 'let's get picky day' or something? Sun Oct 18 23:55:28 -0700 2009 5113630 11405 Midlife 1 5115686 My parents came to Los Angeles in the 1930's and were eating at Philippe's from the beginning. They always called it Phil-eep-ees. Mon Oct 19 17:06:23 -0700 2009 5098294 14208 judybird 2 5116382 That would square with the family that bought it in 1927 having pronounced it that way. Seems like Angelenos (and staff, from the NPR spot) have strayed from the correct way to say it. We take our dog to a vet hospital called Estrella. Any good SoCal native could tell you that should be pronounced 'Estreya', but the Vets and staff call it EstreLLA. Go figure. Mon Oct 19 23:26:22 -0700 2009 5115686 11405 Midlife 3 5121081 Consider the weirdness that La Jolla is still pronounced "La Hoya" and not "La Joe-la", and yet the Northern California city Vallejo is pronounced "Vall-A-Ho", a bit of a mix-up of both the Spanish and English pronounciations. (Shoudn't it be either "Va-yay-ho" or "Va-ledge-o"? Why choose the English pronounciation of "LL" and the Spanish pronunciation of "J"?) Mr Taster Wed Oct 21 16:40:25 -0700 2009 5116382 17579 Mr Taster 4 5121098 At least it's not very often that someone asks for directions to Sepp-ul-veeda Boulevard. Wed Oct 21 16:50:14 -0700 2009 5121081 11405 Midlife 5 5121252 I'm guilty of having done that when I arrived here 13 years ago. I also mangled La Cienega in quite a few creative ways before finally figuring it out. Mr Taster Wed Oct 21 18:01:13 -0700 2009 5121098 17579 Mr Taster 1 5129514 If by Philippe's you mean the Chinese restaurant in Miami Beach or NYC (or now West Hollywood), it's pronounced "vair-ee ecks-PEN-suhv." Sun Oct 25 11:37:51 -0700 2009 5098294 48389 racer x 2 5129608 Thanks for that???????????????????????? This one is a near-100 year-old sandwich place near downtown LA. Vies with Cole's (LA) in staking claim to being the home of the French Dip sandwich. [click link in my OP.] Sun Oct 25 12:35:43 -0700 2009 5129514 11405 Midlife 3 5129634 Haha, midlife Yes, I've had the lamb french dip there. (And can I say it was one of the more underwhelming culinary experiences I've had in LA?) Sun Oct 25 12:46:19 -0700 2009 5129608 48389 racer x 4 5129641 I like Phillipe's but think it may belong in the Tito's Tacos category for a lot of people. Phillipe's always seems to be busy. Price has a whole lot to do with it. Sun Oct 25 12:49:26 -0700 2009 5129634 11405 Midlife 1 5129576 All my family, and everyone I know pronounces it "fuh-LEE-pays." I've never heard it pronounced any other way. Sun Oct 25 12:18:20 -0700 2009 5098294 99521 KenWritez 2 5130872 Did you listen to the NPR piece? I'd heard it pronounced as you did and as 'phil-eeps', but never as 'phil-eep-ees' until I listened to that piece. The German background of the family that's owned it since 1927 checks out, but doesn't really explain the pronunication except maybe as a MIS-pronunciation by people who weren't French. Sun Oct 25 23:47:56 -0700 2009 5129576 11405 Midlife