How To Pronounce ‘PETA’ (as in People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
PETA likes this sort of protest
The people at PETA pronounce the name of their organisation in a different way to what one might expect, in my opinion. I have been mispronouncing it for years! Well there it is and now I know. How did I find out? PETA now have a regular podcast and the introduction includes pronouncing the acronym: PETA. Update: about 18 months later I realised why they prefer this pronunciation. It is because they want to avoid the word ‘pet’ in their acronym. They don’t like the use of the word ‘pet’ to describe companion animals because it encourages the wrong relationship between human and animal.
Please play this short audio file for the correct way to say PETA.
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If you break the words down, it makes sense:
People (‘P’ sound)
for the
Ethical (‘Eh’ sound)
Treatment (‘T’ sound)
of
Animals (‘Ah’ sound)
So, logically, it’s pronounced Peh-tah, not Pee-tah.
I believe the correct name should be PITA for them. I’m just not a fan.
I say ‘petta’ like you. ‘peter’ seems just the wrong pronunciation.
I ad a childhood friend named ‘Peta’, her parents called her ‘Peter’ which she understandably hated as it is usually a male name. She liked to be called ‘Petta’ (Peta)