Poll: How Do You Say Shisha?

[RayVer]

How do you say Shisha?
so I thought it was pretty funny that people pointed out I was saying "seesha" in the video instead of "shisha". Everyone over here where I live says it the way I do... actually I got it from them. I'm so used to it now that I think i'll have a hard time making myself say "shisha" when everyone out here continues saying "seesha" lol. maybe I should point it out to people here.

so I was wondering. How does everyone else here say it?

how do you guys do it....do you say "shhisha" or "seesha"?? Edited November 11, 2007 by RayVer

[MercedShisha]

I found the term online and just assumed it was pronounced shhhisha, I don't think any of my other friends ever use that term though

[oolatec]

She-shuh.

[gaia.plateau]

How do you say Shisha?
so I thought it was pretty funny that people pointed out I was saying "seesha" in the video instead of "shisha". Everyone over here where I live says it the way I do... actually I got it from them. I'm so used to it now that I think i'll have a hard time making myself say "shisha" when everyone out here continues saying "seesha" lol. maybe I should point it out to people here.

so I was wondering. How does everyone else here say it?

how do you guys do it....do you say "shhisha" or "seesha"??

Is the letter "H" silent in most Fertile Crescent dialects? I have always heard it pronounced [shee-shah].

Edit: Heh... while searching the net for a pronunciation I found that the always-accurate tome of objective knowledge that is Wikipedia had "shisha" defined as an Arabic water pipe, synonymous with narguile/hookah. It's been corrected, though I was tempted to write that it meant a rare duck in New Zealand or something. Edited November 11, 2007 by gaia.plateau

[NoDeadBodies]

haha, i have a speech probablem, whenever use the sound cha or sha it all mashes together, a heavy salivated nerdy sound....

so next to church, shisha is my most embarrassing word

[RayVer]

okay so tell me im not the only one that says "seesha"?!

[Teleute]

I got into hookah while taking Basic Japanese sophomore year, so I say it し (shi) + しゃ (sha with a tinge of shya because of my accent). Two clear and separate syllables.

[RayVer]

its hard to explain but sometimes when I say "see-sha" you here a little of the "sh" in the beginning

I got into hookah while taking Basic Japanese sophomore year, so I say it し (shi) + しゃ (sha with a tinge of shya because of my accent). Two clear and separate syllables.

[RayVer]

hmm now I think I know why people sound like they say "seesha". the proper pronunciation is SHEE-shuh

I guess cuz the double E people make it sound like "see-sha" or "see-shuh" the way I do it.

[chinamon]

She-shuh.

me too.

[Estariol]

In arabic it's said "شيشة" as in "sheesha."

[Dekon]

She - Shuh. But mostly call it tobacco. :\.

[hookah hippie]

I usually refer to the pipe as the hookah and the tobacco as tobacco. Thats just how I have always done it

[gaia.plateau]

I usually refer to the pipe as the hookah and the tobacco as tobacco. Thats just how I have always done it

I'm fairly certain that, technically, the water pipe is properly called a narguile, commonly referred to as a hookah, and the tobacco is properly called shisha, uncommonly referred to as hookah. You can smoke hookah, smoke a hookah, or smoke some hookah. You can have a hookah session. There is a hookah culture. There are hookah enthusiasts, hookah afficianados, and hookah conosieurs.

In all probability no one else cares this much about semantics, but if you do please correct or disagree with me if you feel the need. Edited November 11, 2007 by gaia.plateau

[Xeft]

She-Shuh.

I concur

[Johnny_D]

Technically...

Shisha = The Actual machine you use to smoke the tobacco.
Ma'assal* = The Actual Tobacco you smoke.

But who really gives a crap?

Shisha has become the universal name for the whole shebang anyways

I tend to pronouce using she-sha.

JD

* or however it's bloody spelt.

[racemyghost]

i say she-sha.

[mountainsmoke]

hehehe seesha

i say shi-sha

[Bulldog_916]

Shee-sha

I didnt know there was any other way....

[Estariol]

Look at the roots.

Narghile (arjiilah) is the pipe itself in the levant (i.e. syria, lebanon, north iraq, jordan, palestine)

sheeshah is the pipe as well as the tobacco mix in egypt and most other arab countries. in english shisha can mean pipe as well as the molasses/tobacco mix.

mu'assel - this is the tobacco/molasses mix itself. the shisha, if you like.

hookah probably comes from "uqqa" the word for coconut in sanskrit.

in persian a hookah is the "ghalyoun" which means "bubbler" but the root of this word in persian is from arabic "ghali" - to boil.

those are some of the roots. if you have other queries about the roots or true meanings of these words, pm me and i'll do more research.

[Allia22]

My parents seem to be unable to say shisha, so they say both seesha and shhhheesha. I recently told them "...Just call it tobacco."

[EternalSoil]

I misread and selected seesha... i dont say it like that

[dude3516]

hmm my Islamic thought and Culture teacher, Dr. Kassim, said that shisha is that same as hookah, and that the tobacco was called Jurâk in India or Maʿasel in Arabic speaking countries. I've since begun to refer to it as such, as it makes the owners of the Sahara store easier to deal with instead of just saying "tobacco" and getting cigarettes, or shisha and them showing me their pipes Edited November 11, 2007 by dude3516

[jaker29902]

I say shee-shuh but my cousin calls is sheesh for some weird reason

[Rani]

She-shuh.

That's the way I pronounce it as well, and when I asked for it as such in the Egyptian shop where I buy most of my supplies, he was very surprised because according to them it was accurate and he was surprised I knew the word at all. I'm told it's Arabic.

'Rani