How do you say nachos in spanish?

Answer 1

The word 'nacho' or its plural, 'nachos', is pronounced 'natch-oh', or 'natch-ohs', with the first syllable similar to 'natch', as in 'hatch' or 'match', but with a softer 'a' and less emphasis on the 't'.

Some Spanish-speakers pronounce the word as though the 't' sound is barely there, while English-speakers tend to emphasise the 't' sound and sometimes also the 'a' sound. When speaking in English, either pronunciation is as close to correct as to make little difference.

The Spanish word 'macho', meaning masculine in a very male, or overtly male, sense, is similarly pronounced. 'Machismo', meaning a macho attitude, is pronounced without the 't' sound, more like 'march-ees-moh'.

The word 'nachos' (or 'nacho') is American-Spanish, and it is thought to be named after a diminutive of the Spanish given name Ignacio, pronounced Ig-natch-oh: 'Nacho' ('natch-oh, as above).

The food described as 'nachos' refers to tortilla chips, frequently triangular, topped with cheese and chili and broiled (grilled), said to have been invented by Ignacio 'Nacho' Anaya in the early nineteen-forties while cooking at a restaurant in the Mexican-American border town of Piedras Negras (in English, 'black stones', or similar), thus giving his name to the dish.

It has also been suggested the word 'nacho' might originate with either of the Spanish words 'chato' or 'ñato' (snub-nosed or pug-nosed, or flat), alluding to the flatness of the tortilla, which seems to be drawing rather a long bow just in order to pin down a word origin. For once, the more interesting origin sounds far more plausible.