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Princess Kate loves wearing Zara, but does she know how to pronounce it?
The
Americans mispronounce Zara all the time.
You shouldn't be saying "Zah-rah."
It's more like "tsah-dah." Yeah, really.
The brand is based in Arteixo, Spain, and that's how people pronounce the letters there.
The pronunciation of fashion brand Zara seems pretty obvious. Two constonants and two vowels - what could go wrong? It's "Zah-rah," right?
Nope. It's actually "tsah-dah."
You can hear it at around the 55-second mark in this video from Today.
The brand is based in Arteixo, Spain (though it's owned by the Galicia-based multinational conglomerate Intidex). In Arteixo, the letter "Z" in "Zara" sounds more like a "ts" sound and the letter "r" sounds more like a light "d."
The retailer was first founded in 1975, and has become popular for offering quality, straightforward, yet fashionable clothing at reasonable prices. The Dutchess of Cambridge is a well-known fan.
Americans realized they were getting the brand's name wrong about a year ago, when a Refinery29 editor journeyed to Spain and realized everyone was pronouncing it differently. She took a video with one of the brand's representatives and blew the rest of the world's minds.
So sorry, folks. It's not like "Zah-rah" at all, but closer to "ta-da."