Okay, so I have to ask... Is there anyone out there who pronounces the words "Mary" and "Merry" with a notable difference? Because I've been reading the book aloud to myself and I've lost track of the number of times they've described her as "Mary, commonly called Merry." And like... if I was reading it to someone, I can only imagine their reaction would be, "Well, of course they called her 'Mary.' That's her name."

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4 years ago
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Amanda Vaughan Ha ha, I thought this too. I’m a Kiwi and we would pronounce them slightly differently with a longer vowel in Mary, but close enough to make the distinction they made repeatedly in the book unnecessary!

Eladram _ pretty sure that nowhere English-speaking is Mary pronounced May-ree to rhyme with say! Mary has a longer vowel yes, but more like in the word ‘care.’

And as for pronunciation, I speak French and know how D’Aplièse should be pronounced, but needed to say it to myself constantly. A ridiculous surname!

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Elle I was wondering the same thing while reading! I said the two out loud a few times to confirm with myself, and yep, I pronounce them exactly the same! I told myself it must be a regional accent thing, but I couldn't think of any accent that would pronounce them differently enough to be noticeable?

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Lisa Canadian here and I pronounce Mary and Merry exactly the same way. So, it must be different in the UK.

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Sarah Lewis I listened to the audiobook and couldn't tell the difference. It made me laugh (and roll my eyes a bit) every time it was mentioned… over and over…

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