It's pronounced "mo-RISH-us".

The Amazing Race was on last night and one of their destinations was Mauritius. Off the coast of Africa near Madagascar. Home of the Dodo. Am I alone here? Yes, I had a friend in high school from this gorgeous country (Hi Ichelle!) but am I the only one who's heard of this country? Well me and Elliott, anyway? And face it, I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer and he is in grade 5

My son and I watched as team after team got the clue and read it aloud. We tittered then giggled then howled as 10, yes, TEN people had the most creative pronunciations for Mauritius I've ever heard. The only ones to get it right was the final team. Coincidentally they were male models who met in rehab. Will wonders never cease?
I have the offenders on tape saying:
1) mo-RASH-ius
2) mora-TI-us
3) mo-RID-ius
4) mo-REACH-us
5) mo-RUCH-us

That's 5 different pronunciations, 5 teams and 10 different people. I was shocked and highly amused.

They were even asking to buy tickets to the place using those mangled pronunciations. If I was the ticket agent I'd have sent them all over hell's half-acre. Hee.

Now I'm not saying we have to know the GNP, population and capital city of every country on the planet but I honestly thought that Mauritius was more well known than that. Especially when Elliott knew how to pronounce it and what their flag looked like. Okay, that last one wasn't fair. I had to take his word on the flag thing until I could Google it. And he was right. He's "Rainman" when it comes to flags.

Anyway, the whole thing made for a riotous evening. Even Scott had to come up and ask what was going on. And better yet, Elliott and I had a great bonding moment. So thanks, racers. Oh, and it's "mo-RISH-us". Just so you know.

kxx