Last night I caught part of the old movie "Travels with My Aunt." In it, a British fellow talks about growing his dahlias, which he pronounces: DAILyuz. In Ohio, we say: DALyuz, first syllable rhyming with the name "Al." Until last night, I would have guessed that the British would pronounce it DAHLyuz, first syllable rhyming with "doll." Anyone?

We say DALyuz in Illinois, and I, too, would have thought that both the American east coasters and the British would say DAHLyuz.

It's DAILyuz where I live.

I was curious if the origin of the word would give a clue, so I checked et-online.

1804, named 1791 for Anders Dahl, Sw. botanist who discovered it in Mexico. No blue variety had ever been cultivated, hence "blue dahlia," fig. for "something impossible or unattainable" (1880).

This raises two questions:

Has anyone ever heard "blue dahlia"?

Which way would the name "Dahl" be pronounced in Swedish: like the British pronunciation of the flower, or like the US one?

I remember seeing an episode of Tales of the Unexpected called The Blue Dahlia.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
It's DAILyuz where I live.

Thank you. You've now explained what has always perplexed me about an old limerick.

There was a young man from Australia
Who painted his arse like a dahlia.
The colour was fine;
Likewise the design.
The aroma? Ah, that was a failure.

Which way would the name "Dahl" be pronounced in Swedish: like the British pronunciation of the flower, or like the US one?

It's always difficult with names because they can be pronounced in a variety of non-standard ways and who's to say which is correct. It's somebody's name after all. More like with the AH of the US, rather than the AY of the British.