English Pronunciation Smores American English Culture

A classic American summer treat: s’mores.

Delicious!

Now, I got this information on the internet,
so I’m not sure how true it is. But I saw

a couple different sources that said s’mores
came to be in the early 1900s, maybe originated

by the girl scouts. S’mores comes from the
words some more. It’s been shortened – s’mores.

So, we pronounce this first with the S sound,
ss. Then into the M consonant sound: sm-,

sm-. Next can either be the ‘aw’ as in ‘law’
vowel or the ‘oh’ as in ‘no’ diphthong, followed

by the R. Smo-, smor-, s’mores. The final
sound is the Z sound. It’s plural here, the

S, and it’s pronounced as a Z because the
sound before is a voiced sound. S’mores.

The ingredients one needs: marshmallows, graham
crackers, and, the key ingredient, chocolate bars.

Did you notice? The word THE occurred
twice in that clip. Once it was pronounced

with the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel, and once
with the schwa vowel. “The ingredients one

needs … the key ingredient, chocolate bars.”
The rule is: when the next word begins with

a vowel sound, the word THE is pronounced
with the ‘ee’ as in ‘she’ vowel, as in, ‘the

ingredients.’ The, the, the ingredients. When
the next word begins with a consonant sound,

it is pronounced with the schwa vowel. The
key, the key, the the. So, the difference: the, the.

The ingredients one needs: marshmallows,
graham crackers, and, the key ingredient, chocolate bars.

We’re lucky to have a fire
pit in our back yard. An open flame or hot

coals: key to roasting marshmallows.

Hold on, I have a poker! … Yeah.

First, I like to prep my graham cracker. So,
break it in half. Then, I like to go with

a whole half of a chocolate bar. Some people
just do three squares, I really need six.

And now for the marshmallows. Put them on
the stick, and stick them in the fire.

And now, with the top graham, we squeeze the
marshmallow so we can pull out the stick.

Can you see it?

Now hopefully, if you’ve done it right,
the marshmallows will start to melt the chocolate. YUM!

It’s a very sticky, but delicious, treat.

It really is. You can’t eat this in fine
company. Luckily, I’m not in fine company.

You say as you pan to me.
You just happened to be next Clara. No offense.

This is so good.

Is this your first s’more? Ooo, give me
a review, would you? How are you enjoying

your first s’more experience? Charlotte is
from the Netherlands.

It’s delicious.
What’s your favorite part?

The chocolate and the s’more and then the
cookies …

So basically, everything.
That’s the joy of s’more.

It is.
All of it together.

See, sometimes I put the piece of chocolate
in the gr– in the marshmallow, and then I

stick that in the fire. But you have to be
careful …

How does that not fall off?
Well, if you spear the stick through the

marshmallow and the chocolate, and make sure
the chocolate is deeply embedded inside the

marshmallow …

Can you show me this technique?

I can … ok. So I split the marshmallow.
It is a bit sticky.

I’m having problems focusing because it’s
so …

It is rather dark.
… low in the light.

And then, I’ll put the piece of chocolate
right in there. Maybe double it up. Try to

close this up a little bit. And then, spear
it right through with the stick. And then,

you just have to roast it while keeping the
chocolate end up so it doesn’t melt or fall out.

Wow.

So Lindsay, tell me about your variation.
That you put, instead of a chocolate – slab

of chocolate, which is delicious, but you
can also make it with a Reese’s peanut butter

cup. And it’s peanut buttery and chocolaty.

And chocolaty. That sounds really good.

It’s really really good.
So who gets the peanut butter?

Charlotte, did you put peanut butter on
that? Wow. Ok. I want to, I want you to taste

this and let me know how it is.

Ok.

What do you think? Better with or without
peanut butter?

It’s interesting. You really have to love
chocolate and peanut butter together.

Do you?
I do.

So is this better than without peanut butter?
I wouldn’t say it’s better. » Just different.

Just different. But also very good.

That’s it, and thanks so much for using Rachel’s English.