How do you say Melee?

[Eerors]

Both ways are correct. U.S. English say May-Lay. U.K. English say Me-Lee.

See: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/melee

I'm British and I say may-lay
Also may-lay, I'm pretty sure, is correct, if we're talking about pronouncing it the way the French do, because it's spelled 'mélée' and the accents over the e makes an 'ay' sound

Well, are you sure you say May-lay because you are from Britain or because you have been influenced by American culture?

I think that, even if it does come from the French "mêlée" then the modifiers to the letters were dropped in the English pronunciation of the word. This leaves it open to interpretation as "Mel" and "ee".

For example: Mel-on, not May-lon.

I have heard that U.S. English is actually the closest to how English was spoken pre-revolution, like Quebec-French is closet to colonisation French. It may be the U.K. English is less fixed then U.S. English....

But I'm not a linguist.

Edit: I'm not a linguist so this is purely speculation. Also I'm from England and I say Mee-lee.

 

[Sarge034]

I used to say Me Lee also until someone told me the correct pronunciation.

ITS FRENCH: mêlée is the actual spelling. So the correct way to say it grammatically is may-lay

I say Me Lee and it's ok cus I aint French....

 

[Outright Villainy]

Meh-Lee for me.

How the announcer says it. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56P3-TwuRBo&t=1m24s]

 

[putowtin]

me-lay

me-lee sounds like your telling people your name, how upset will they be when they find out your not called lee is anyones guess!

 

[Reallink]

It's different on the context for me.
Super Smash Bros - May-Lay
Useful Halo Mnemnoic - B to Me-Lee

 

[natster43]

I say it like may-lay. It is also how it is said in Super Smash Bros, and I think that may have been the first time I heard it.

 

[PrototypeC]

I think I called it mee-lee when I was young, and then I figured it out when I was like, 10. May-lay for me now!

 

[Rooster893]

May-lay.

SUPER SMASH BROTHERS MAAAAAAAAAAAAYLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

How else?

 

[Goofguy]

I go with may-lay. Some of my buddies pronounce it mee-lee but hearing the context they use it in, I know exactly what they are talking about.

 

[LikeDustInTheWind]

I say it Ma-Lee but I know it's pronounced May-Lay

 

[WinkyTheGreat]

May-lay

Like the dictionary tells me to

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/melee

 

[Albino Boo]

I used to say Me Lee also until someone told me the correct pronunciation.

ITS FRENCH: mêlée is the actual spelling. So the correct way to say it grammatically is may-lay

Do you also say Pari for Paris and Koln for Cologne? We won the battle Waterloo I will pronounce it the English way. Now pass me my cigarette case, its the one with two crossed dead Frenchmen with the background of dead Frenchmen on the lid.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

I say it may-lay or mee-lee. Because I'm special like that.

 

[twistedmic]

I've always pronounced it may-lay. Any other way sounds wrong and grating.

 

[Zero-Vash]

I like many others say may-lay

 

[Grond Strong]

"Me-Lee"

That's the way I say because that's the way it looks and I'm a pretty straightforward guy.

Does it really matter as long as it's lethal?

Now that I look a it though, it looks as if some ape-man was trying to pronounce his name for the very first time. "Me, Jane. You, Lee"
"Duh... Me, Lee?"
"Yes, you Lee."

 

[WanderingFool]

May-Lay, other soundings just sound odd to me.

This, but when I first saw the word, I thought it was pernounced Me-Lee.

 

[Shotgun Sam]

May-Lay is how I say it... although when I first read it many years ago I pronounced it Me-Lee.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

ITS FRENCH: mêlée is the actual spelling. So the correct way to say it grammatically is may-lay

I'm not sure how familiar you are with the English language, but we have a long and storied history of adopting French words for the express purpose of butchering them.

Me-Lee.

 

[PlayingOpossum]

I've always said MAY-lay and always heard it said as such. I was surprised when I finally saw it written out in a book.

In reverse order, though: I always though awry was OW-ree (only had seen it written down) until I heard it said as a-RYE.