{"id":170,"date":"2025-09-15T19:24:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:24:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/good-worldwide.go-vip.net\/upworthy\/2025\/09\/15\/carmel-or-caramel\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T19:24:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:24:00","slug":"carmel-or-caramel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goodinc.com\/qa-upworthy\/2025\/09\/15\/carmel-or-caramel\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Caramel’ vs. ‘Carmel’\u2014the proper pronunciation may surprise you"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fall is the season of sweet and crisp caramel apples<\/a>, and as the treat becomes popular again, so does the longstanding debate about how to pronounces the sweet treat’s<\/a> delicious coating. Is it carmel (car-mel) or caramel (car-a-mel)?<\/p>

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary<\/a>, “caramel” is “a usually firm to brittle, golden-brown to dark brown substance that has a sweet, nutty, buttery, or bitter flavor, is obtained by heating sugar at high temperature, and used especially as a coloring and flavoring agent.”<\/p>

“Carmel” is a proper noun that denotes a town or place. As Professor Paul Brians at Washington State University and author of Common Errors in English Usage<\/em> explains<\/a>, “Take Highway 1 south from Monterey to reach the charming seaside town of Carmel, of which Clint Eastwood was formerly mayor. Dissolve sugar in a little water and cook it down until the sugar turns brown to create caramel.”<\/p>\n

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@mythical<\/a>

Cara-mel or car-mel?<\/p> \u266c original sound – Rhett & Link – Rhett & Link<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>