This is the right way to pronounce ‘Reese’s’

Thanks to good marketing, we know there’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. But is there a wrong way to pronounce the brand name of our beloved chocolate-peanut butter combo? Well, yes. In fact, there are even Reddit forums that tackle this very topic.

On one side you’ve got the chocoholics who come hard with the “E,” pronouncing it “Reese-EES.” Then, there are others who take a softer approach, pronouncing it “Reese-IS.” (We suspect there are some people in the middle who fall into the “who cares, can’t talk now, my mouth is full of peanut butter and chocolate” camp).

But if you love linguistics as much as you do candy, you might want to get to the bottom of this.

So, we’d like to submit to you, the jury, evidence that the correct pronunciation is…drum roll please…“Reese-IS.”

The Historical Argument

Reese’s candies are a named after their inventor, Harry Burnett Reese, who began making the famed peanut butter cups in 1928. So, the correct way to pronounce the candy would be by making his name plural, Reese’s. Not convinced? Consider this: If the inventor’s name was Smith, you’d say Smith’s candies, not Smith-EES candies, right?

The Poetic Argument

Reese’s Pieces debuted in the late 1970s. Reese-EES doesn’t rhyme with pieces. But when you pronounce it Reese-IS—boom, you’ve got a smooth-sounding rhyme.

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The Marketing Argument

While Hershey’s (the parent company of Reese’s) doesn’t have anything online about the correct pronunciation of Reese’s, we can glean some information from their ads. Take a listen to this retro one. At the end of the video, it concludes “There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s,” which reveals how the candy’s name should be pronounced.

While there may be polarized views on how to pronounce the candy, there’s one thing all Reese’s lovers can agree on: Chocolate and peanut butter are a power couple.

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[h/t: Spoon University]