A question I’ve had a lot in the last few months since publishing my book Smøyg: Pattern Darning from Norway is, “how do you pronounce smøyg?”
While that’s really difficult to explain in words and without you actually hearing me, I’ll have a go!
First, sm as in small. The ø sound is like the ir in bird. Then you have the y sound as well, which is like the ee in see. Finally, g as in go. So it’s sort of sm-ir-ee-g.
With it spelled out like that, chances are you’ll pronounce it slowly, however it is quite fast. And of course, as we probably all pronounce those sounds differently around the world, we’ll all have our own interesting spin on it…
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
This gave me the giggles! I pronounce it as ‘smeuig’ the word for spreadable in Dutch :).
My daughter deliberately mispronounces it as “smaug”, as in the character from The Hobbit.