Man Can’t Believe He's Been Pronouncing 'Strava' Wrong All This Time
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A local man learned this week that he's been mispronouncing Strava, the name of a popular fitness-tracking platform, for almost two years.
"What can I say?" said Christopher Isaak, 37, a runner and pet store clerk in Tacoma, Washington. "I signed up for this thing back in fall 2016 and just assumed the s-t-r-a part was pronounced like the first part of strap."
The vowel sound Isaak is referring to—also heard in words like pat and cash—is called a short a, often represented by the symbol ă. In fact, the first a in Strava is an open central unrounded vowel (ä)—the same vowel sound heard in the word ah.
Isaak said a friend corrected him Monday as the two discussed their weekend long runs.
"I was telling my buddy David about a 10-miler I did Sunday," Isaak recalled, "and how when I uploaded it to Strava I realized I'd lost a segment."
"He stopped me and said, 'Dude—it's STRAH-vuh, rhymes with lava," said Isaak. "I was like, Are you sure?"
On a related note, Isaak said, "It turns out I've been pronouncing lava wrong, too."
"I blame Pulp Fiction."
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