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poke or poké (POH-kay, poh-KAY) - n., a Hawaiian salad of cubed raw fish that is marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil then mixed with diced onions, sesame seeds, ginger, and the like.
Weirdly, most dictionaries have only one or the other of those pronunciations, with a decided mix on where to place the stress. FWIW I usually hear people say POH-keh. Traditionally made with yellowfin tuna, but as with sushi rolls, new variations, including what gets mixed in, are constantly being invented. From Hawaiian poke, to slice crosswise/a piece, and the one pronunciation I found for that stressed the first syllable.
ETA: A little more poking about suggests (without rigorous evidence) that the poh-KAY pronunciation may come from the poké spelling, where the accent meant to indicate "pronounce this vowel (that's normally silent)" is misread as "stress this vowel."
---L.
Weirdly, most dictionaries have only one or the other of those pronunciations, with a decided mix on where to place the stress. FWIW I usually hear people say POH-keh. Traditionally made with yellowfin tuna, but as with sushi rolls, new variations, including what gets mixed in, are constantly being invented. From Hawaiian poke, to slice crosswise/a piece, and the one pronunciation I found for that stressed the first syllable.
ETA: A little more poking about suggests (without rigorous evidence) that the poh-KAY pronunciation may come from the poké spelling, where the accent meant to indicate "pronounce this vowel (that's normally silent)" is misread as "stress this vowel."
---L.
