# How do you pronounce Peony?



## GoatsRus (Jan 19, 2003)

We were always taught that it was pronounced "pee-a-nee". Several of the girls I work with pronounce it "P-oh-nee". Is this maybe a regional thing? How do you pronounce peony?


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

My German grandmother pronounced it "piney" like the tree. She had a lot of them. I say "pee-nee".

Peg


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

we say Pee-O-nee


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

pee-uh-nee


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## starjj (May 2, 2005)

Wow can't believe this was posted because I was just asking people this the other day. In the North we call them Pee a Knees, In TN most call them Pee O Knees. Here in KY they call them Pine Knees


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## FarmersDaughter (Jul 8, 2008)

I say "pee-uh-nee," but I've heard some older people in my area pronounce it "penny" (like the coin).


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## Lada (Jun 7, 2008)

I know it's not correct, but I say "piney" too. That's what my great grandmother said and that's how it's been passed down the generations.


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

Pee-OH-knee


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## GoatsRus (Jan 19, 2003)

starjj said:


> Wow can't believe this was posted because I was just asking people this the other day. In the North we call them Pee a Knees, In TN most call them Pee O Knees. Here in KY they call them Pine Knees


OK, I think you just answered the question. I'm original from the north and it's pee-a-nees or pee-ah-nees - with no emphasis on any of the sylabells Here in the south it's pee-OH-nees, with the OH being emphasized.


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## pheasantplucker (Feb 20, 2007)

I pronounce it "point sett ah"...ooops...wrong flower with ten different pronounciations...I gew up saying Pee-O-Nee. My wife and her clan all say "piney". Course they're all hillbillies.


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## clovis (May 13, 2002)

I, too, say pee-ah-nee.

My sister says "piney." 

I still get confused every time I hear her utter that word.

But then again, I am easily confused about most things....LOL.


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## Pamela (May 10, 2002)

I grew up saying Pee-Oh-nees, moved to MI and my husbands family say Pee-a-nees....I catch myself not knowing how I should say it! But usually fall back on Pee-oh-nees.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I say Pee OH nee. Hubby says PEE uh nee.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

I call 'em pee uh nee. My sister calls 'em "peenies" and it cracks me up every time!


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

If your looking for the actrual poronounciation, from the dictionary..
[pee-uh-nee]


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## Farmerwilly2 (Oct 14, 2006)

I'd have to vote for pie-knees.


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## Guest (May 12, 2010)

i like anything with pie in it but around here we call them PEE-uh-KNEES, the uh just kind of sneaks in there. i personally call them ant magnets, and i chopped them down.


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## bigfoot2you (Oct 3, 2007)

you know, those pink hooiedooies...............


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## Guest (May 12, 2010)

In Yankee land, it's "pea-oh-knee"


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## ArkansasLady (Jan 1, 2003)

pee ohhh knee...just like it is written...LOL


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

Pee-OH-knee


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I pronounce it just like it's written in the dictionary:

\&#712;p&#275;-&#601;-n&#275;\

(glad I didn't have to find the ascii chart with the code for schwa...)


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## elliemaeg (May 1, 2005)

pee eh nee


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

Its pronounced WEEDS

danged ant magnets - I hates them :badmood:


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## CherieOH (Jun 10, 2005)

Oh gosh this brings back memories. Whenever I said Pee-oh-nees, my MIL (bless her heart) would say, "You mean Pie-nees". And I'd say, "No, Pee-oh-nees" and we just kept going back and forth like that til I walked off saying, "Whatever" and she'd laugh. Now I just call them "Whatever".


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

If it's under my care, I would pronounce it DOA.


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

I didn't know for the longest time that pee-a-knees and pie-knee bushes were the same thing. I know people that say both. I grew up hearing piney bushes. Never just heard "pie-knees". Always has bush after it.

I say chop 'em down cause the stink and are full of ants! I consider them an "old lady flower". I must be getting old because I considered planting some out by the road. Then I remembered how awful they are and changed my mind!


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Now why are there so many people maligning these pretty, old-fashioned flowers?

There are ants everywhere outside, but at least they do some good with the peonies, b/c they coax the flower buds to open.

And the smell is so delicate and powdery!

They're lovely.


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## belladulcinea (Jun 21, 2006)

My dear husband calls pee on yous.:hysterical:

I am in the pea oh knees camp. :hobbyhors


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## Miz Mary (Feb 15, 2003)

Here in the west ...Pee uh knee !!


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

Tiempo said:


> pee-uh-nee


Yep, that's how we pronounce it in IL too.


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## Humburger (Sep 13, 2007)

pee-OH-nee


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## tiffnzacsmom (Jan 26, 2006)

I say pine knee too, my grandmother used it and she was always right.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

This brings back a memory from my childhood. When I was growing up, the sweet lady across the street from us was Puerto Rican, and very religious. She admired my mother's peonies, and always longed for a bouquet of their flowers, but was too modest to say their name, as (with her heavy accent) she believed the plural form sounded like the English word for the male appendage. 

So she would ask my mother for some of her "big pink flowers" and my mother would pretend not to understand which kind she wanted, and wouldn't give them to her until (blushing mightily) she said the dreaded word. My mother found this hysterically funny. (She was not an especially kind person!)

For the record, we pronounced it "PEE-o-knees."


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## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

They're pee-uh-nees where I came from-SE Michigan. And if those ants weren't on your peony's they might be on your counters! Wish I could grow peony's down here. And lilacs, too. You northerners get all the good flowers.


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## shiandpete.1 (Aug 13, 2008)

I gave to google what these flowers look like....I have no idea! Lol. Wow, those are pretty, I have never seen them before, maybe they won't grow here.


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## countrysunshine (Jul 3, 2008)

Pony said:


> Now why are there so many people maligning these pretty, old-fashioned flowers?
> 
> There are ants everywhere outside, but at least they do some good with the peonies, b/c they coax the flower buds to open.
> 
> ...



I don't think they smell good. The odor is so overpoweringly sweet it gives me a headache.

I agree that there are ants everywhere. We lived in a location that had peonies against the foundation of the house. We had torn down the house and put in a trailer. Those darn ants were always righ inside the door and covering the porch when the peonies were there.

I think that is why I considered out by the road. I darn sure don't want 'em near my house!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I'm in the long "O" camp.


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## starjj (May 2, 2005)

They actually remind me of death although I think they are pretty. As a child many people would put them in vases on graves and some planted them next to graves as a live decoration. Whenever I smell them I think of that.

My mother had one out by our driveway and she always said they wouldn't open unless the ants helped them. My grandmother had a whole line of them down her drive.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

pee uh knee


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## TSYORK (Mar 16, 2006)

I never knew what they were really called for years because my grandma always called them "----onya's" She's been gone several years, but but I still have to laugh when they bloom, thinking about what she called them.


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## Ana Bluebird (Dec 8, 2002)

I say: pee-OH-nees, but my friend says: PEE-ah-nees, but we both love the smell and the big, impressive blooms. The ants don't bother because they are out in the yard, just don't whiff one up your nose.


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## Kaitlin (Aug 3, 2006)

Another vote for pee-uh-knee here!


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

GoatsRus said:


> We were always taught that it was pronounced "pee-a-nee". Several of the girls I work with pronounce it "P-oh-nee". Is this maybe a regional thing? How do you pronounce peony?


Well having a degree in Botany, all are correct. Depends on were you come from, I say pee-a-nee. It is very regional and all so very country to county.


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## KellyHill (May 8, 2004)

I call them pee-uh-nees ....... DH calls them "those things that make my head explode!" :run: We don't have any here.........


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## candyknitter (Apr 23, 2009)

Pee-oh-nee when I say it, but "You say to-may-toe and I say toe-ma-toe....." and don't even get me started on aluminium!!


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## WildernesFamily (Mar 11, 2006)

shiandpete.1 said:


> I gave to google what these flowers look like....I have no idea! Lol. Wow, those are pretty, I have never seen them before, maybe they won't grow here.


You should be able to grow them. We had two lovely peony bushes in the Denver metro area and our neighbor had the biggest peony bush I've ever seen.


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## Kazahleenah (Nov 3, 2004)

GoatsRus said:


> We were always taught that it was pronounced "pee-a-nee". Several of the girls I work with pronounce it "P-oh-nee". Is this maybe a regional thing? How do you pronounce peony?


I say pee-a-nee... but I'm not that far from you. :cute:


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## mom23kids (May 3, 2010)

I say pee-uh-knee.


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## Nancy (May 14, 2002)

Around here, Nebraska, we say pee-a-nee.


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## mamita (May 19, 2008)

here..pe-OH-nees. but my MIL has always called them 'pI-oh nees'. it's often hard for me to know what she is speaking of. LOL!


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