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How Do You Pronounce Hookah?


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Ok lets clear up that I do know how to pronouce the word hookah but I have heard that people have a different way of saying it then others.
Eg The Sahara Smoke Youtube videos have a woman that says "hookah" with emphasis on the "oo"

I learnt to smoke hookah from the Cape Coloured community in Cape Town and they say "'okah" and kinda ripped me off when I said "hookah"...
So how do you pronounce it?
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Who-kah! Who? Kah!

edit - more like who-kuh actually Edited by giant ninja robot
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I say shisha, pronounced chicha according to French spelling... hookah just gets weird associations, vide "what did I do yesternight? not much, just chillin with my hooka" ohmy.gif
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I say who-kah as many others do but at the same time I also drop the Argeleh down (Arrr-gee-leh) just to throw those who dont know it a curve ball haha, sometimes they have a look on there face that says WTF? and than I say hookah and they go OHHHHH!
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Argeeleh around the house/friends, and Hoo-kah the rest of the time.

A little sad that this name was chosen for the Argeeleh. Hookah does not have a traditional sound to it, nor does it match in my opinion.

Oh well, what can we do?
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  • 1 month later...
in India, it is pronounced the same way you pronounce "hook" in english. (like Captain Hook)
hook - ah
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I've taken to calling it Narghila, at least online. I'll mention going to a hookah lounge and get strange responses. I've also noticed a few people calling the shisha "Shish(sheesh)" around here, which is somewhat amusing. A couple friends of mine get irritated when they call it that since it tends to be the way those from fraternities say it.
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QUOTE (Codename067 @ Oct 23 2008, 01:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Argeeleh around the house/friends, and Hoo-kah the rest of the time.

A little sad that this name was chosen for the Argeeleh. Hookah does not have a traditional sound to it, nor does it match in my opinion.

Oh well, what can we do?


i call it arguileh, around family and friends. i have even gotten my friends to call it the arguileh, forsaking the english term 'hookah' because as codename said, hookah just sounds incredibly lame.

it's really interesting studying the etymology actually, and how colonial ties lead to why english speakers call it hookah and french speakers call it chicha, and i'm curious to what the spanish speakers call it...as in from spain. because you know it's a left over from the moors....
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