American woman’s wildly inaccurate pronunciation of the word ‘gnocchi’ leaves the internet confused: ‘Sounds nothing like it!’

By Lucas Last updated Apr 10, 2024

It’s an incredibly popular Italian dish – but even the most cultured food fans can struggle to recognize a woman’s confusing pronunciation of it.

That woman, named Lani Sanchez, has inadvertently found herself at the center of a raging cultural debate online after she shared a recipe video for her new favorite dish, lemon chicken gnocchi.

But it wasn’t the meal itself that sparked a viral reaction, rather the very unique way Lani pronounced her key ingredient, gnocchi.

Within minutes of the video going live on TikTok, it had been inundated with comments from viewers brutally mocking Lani for pronouncing gnocchi “yonkies”, with dozens of people pointing out and poking fun at her slip-up .

Confused pasta lovers raged over an American woman’s pronunciation of the dish; who she called ‘yonkies’

The short clip attached, taken from TikTok, shows a woman making her new favorite dish

@lanisanchezzz

Creamy lemon chicken with gnocchi 😍 This meal is so easy and so delicious! Perfect for this time of year! Ingredients for chicken seasoning – 2 large chicken breasts cut in half to 4 thin chicken breasts – lemon pepper seasoning – garlic powder Preparation of chicken – 2 tablespoons butter – 1 tablespoon olive oil Lemon sauce w/ gnocchi – 4 cloves of garlic; minced – 1/2 cup chicken broth – half a lemon; juiced – 1 cup heavy whipping cream – 16 oz uncooked gnocchi – 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese – 2 cups baby spinach – salt – pepper Start by seasoning your chicken with lemon pepper seasoning and garlic powder on both sides. Add oil and butter to a pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through. Remove from the pan and place on a plate and set aside. To the same pot, add minced garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Then add the chicken broth and lemon juice and scrape the bottom. Then add your heavy whipping cream. Mix. Add the gnocchi and cook for 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and add grated Parmesan and Spanish. Mix until the Spanish has wilted down. Add chicken breast and pour the sauce on top. Serve and enjoy! #summerdinnerideas #spring dinner ideas #lemon recipes #gnocchi recipe #gnocchidinnerrecipes #lemon chicken with gnocchi #easy dinner recipes #creamylemongnocchi

♬ What You Won’t Do For Love – Bobby Caldwell

The video was posted by food-focused content creator Lani Sanchez

“This is a creamy lemon chicken with gnocchi,” Lani began her video.

‘It’s so good and it’s so easy to make,’ she enthuses, mixing heavy cream, chicken stock and lemon juice with a cooked chicken breast and gnocchi.’

Although no one took issue with the dish itself, it created a debate about how far she was from the correct pronunciation.

“Yonkeez makes me die,” one person commented on TikTok, while another said: “I was so confused about what yonkeez was until I saw the gnocchi bag.”

A third expressed their delight at Lani’s unique take on the word, saying: ‘I will never pronounce gnocchi any other way than yonkeez. Obsessed.’

‘The first time you said yonkees I thought it was like a certain mushroom or something… NOT GNOCCHI,’ joked another.

Meanwhile on X, formerly known as Twitter, the responses were just as sharp, with one person writing: ‘Imagine the word gnocchi. imagine how to say gnocchi.

‘Imagine how to pronounce gnocchi badly. So listen up.’

‘I hate to be that guy, but her pronunciation isn’t that far off. “Gn” in Italian almost has a “new” sound where the n is very subtle,’ one user responded to the video.

‘Imagine a new-aww key. (Italian American here who has been making gnocchi from scratch since I was a little bambino.)’ they added.

Although no one took issue with the dish itself, it created a debate about how far she was from the correct pronunciation

On TikTok, viewers were quick to mock Lani’s pronunciation of the pasta dish – although she seemed happy to take the criticism in stride

“Except she completely drops the “n” from the beginning and adds an unnecessary “s” to the end of a word that’s already plural,” another user shot back.

The user continued: ‘There wouldn’t be anything close to an “aw” sound in the middle either. (Italian American dual citizen who has lived and worked in both counties.’

“I was expecting ghee-noh-ki and… she was very close to the correct pronunciation,” wrote another.

“It feels like I’m biting the bullet when I see this clip,” they added.

“Dude, she said Yonkeys, doesn’t sound like Nyockey,” argued one gnocchi lover.

‘She certainly didn’t say it wrong enough for all this,’ agreed another.

‘I would say my grandmother always said it as “Yonkies”. I was told that was the southern way of saying it,’ said another.

Offers references another recent viral mispronunciation, from a man who mispronounced tzatziki “tz-i-tz-i.”

“Yeah, the tzatziki guy is a hundred times worse,” someone declared.

Despite the uproar over her pronunciation of the word, Lani seems to have taken the jokes in stride – responding to several of the more amusing comments on her TikTok to poke fun at herself.

‘Literally so funny,’ she replied to someone who poked fun at her pronunciation, before admitting in another follow-up comment that she learned the pronunciation from her mum, who ‘has been saying it like that all her life’.