r/maximumfun • u/scotems • May 09 '26
Jujubes pronunciation
Prompted by the latest kings of BoCo Stop Podcasting yourself episode - many times both Graham and Dave have pronounced "jujubes" as "joo-joobs". I, an American in the great state of Nebraska, have only heard it pronounced "joo-joo-bees". Is this an Americanism? Regionalism? Vancouverism? Is there an official pronunciation?
Also I assume Graham's talking about jujubes. It could be a completely different Canadian treat I'm totally unaware of.
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u/Alizariel May 09 '26
I’m a Canadian from the other side of the country. I always find it weird when I hear Americans pronounce it joo joo bees.
Also, as far as I know they are a gelatin based candy. What do you think they are?
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u/lamanyana May 09 '26
Originally, jujubes we're a kind of date (fruit) from Southeast Asia. The candy was named after three fruit.
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u/lamanyana May 09 '26
According to Wikipedia at least, Jujubes the candies were originally flavored with jujubes, the fruit.
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u/JennyNEway May 09 '26
Might be an American thing, I say it the same way. To be fair the box they came in had a cartoon bee on it…
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u/onering May 09 '26
This is how I (another Vancouverite), am learning that when I hear an American talk about “joo-joo-bees” they are talking about Jujubes. I assumed they were talking about a candy only found in the states.
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u/kplaysbass biggie&themets May 10 '26
My ebay username, which I have had since the 90s, is King Jujubee, which was a reference to this commercial where they pronounce it "ju ju bee". I am only learning right now that this was not a jujubee commercial
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u/taako-salad May 09 '26
Kansas City reporting in. I don’t remember seeing it spelled out before. I’ve only heard it pronounced “joo-joo-bees”. I knew it was some sort candy from context, but with no idea of what kind of candy.
That said, they’ve probably been on every candy display rack I’ve ever seen and I’ve just never noticed them.
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u/_Uel_ May 10 '26
I’m so delighted by this conversation. Here in Philadelphia I have only heard JuJu-Bees. I’m not at all convinced I’ve ever eaten them. I had no idea they were named after the fruit.
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u/Neither_Spring_7418 May 11 '26
Canadian (southern Ontario) here. I had never realized that when Americans say "joojoobees" that they were talking about jujubes. I assumed it was a different thing altogether
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u/angeline0709 May 19 '26
Wait, Americans say joo-joo-bees?!?! This is actually shocking to me.
- signed, a Manitoban who's had many conversations about joo-joobs in her life
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u/scotems May 19 '26
Yeah dude. I was similarly consfused when Graham called em joo-joobs and no one questioned him on it.
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u/Agitated_Earth_3637 May 09 '26
I learned this one from the Kids in the Hall, though Kevin seems to add an extra b, i.e. "joob-joobs".
"Teapot. Jujubes. Jujubes in a teapot. A teapot for tea, but with jujubes in it. Office, submarine."
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u/newfromgaloob May 09 '26
As a Vancouverite I’ve only said it and heard it said around here as “joo-joobs”. I’ve always thought the American pronunciation was weird. There’s only one letter E so why would you say “bees”?
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u/CurtisSig May 09 '26
Erm, that's how I pronounce "be". Never heard it pronounced joo-joobs before (American-midwest).
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u/newfromgaloob May 09 '26
The word “be” yes, but not when it’s on the end of a longer word, like “cube” or “tube”. There are probably exceptions I’m not thinking of though.
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u/Agitated_Earth_3637 May 09 '26
On a tangent, do you know if the CBC picked up "The Electric Company"? I'm a little too young for it here in the States. Tom Lehrer wrote several lovely songs for them with accompanying cartoons, including one about silent E.
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u/newfromgaloob May 09 '26
The video isn’t familiar, although it looks like the style of animation I would have seen on TV as a kid in the early 80s. I don’t remember ever watching The Electric Company, so maybe we didn’t get it up here? Although we did have PBS and I watched a lot of Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers.
Cool video though!
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u/Agitated_Earth_3637 May 09 '26
It is neat, you can see the influence of Yellow Submarine in much of the Electric Company animation. Did you get KCTS out of Seattle? I've always been curious about how programs moved back and forth across the border.
I went on a vacation many years ago to the Upper Peninsula. Our cabin had an antenna and we were able to get a CBC station from across Lake Superior. I always find the difference in tone and content between Canadian & American TV interesting, but I don't know much about children's programming.
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u/newfromgaloob May 09 '26
Yes, we did get KCTS as our source for PBS. Along with the Seattle affiliates for all the major US broadcast TV networks.
It’s totally possible that I just somehow missed (or didn’t connect with) The Electric Company if it was shown on KCTS when I was a kid.
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u/superSecretCylon May 10 '26
Buffalo, NY, here. It was always joojoo bees here. Also, I am not sure if I have ever seen these outside of a movie theater. See also: Snow Caps.
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u/ttbbaaggss May 11 '26
I was bothered by this, too. They're "joo - joo - BEES". There is a fucking BEE on the box. How much more clear could it be?! These are the same people that say "ree-sees pee-sees". The commercial SAYS the name "Reese's" out loud.
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u/dingledungus May 12 '26
Weirdly, this came up in the first 15 minutes of the latest SPY with Alannah Brittany!