Until I was about 11, I thought “blancmange” was said, well, how it’s written. That’s what happens with words you read more than you say ― you can get the pronunciation way off.
But ― and I don’t know if this is just Irish bias ― I’d have thought most households heard the name Sudocrem about once a month growing up.
So why are the netizens of X (formerly Twitter) so up in arms about how it’s said?
Yesterday, site user @backpainandwine wrote, “Having an ongoing debate with my husband and his best mate who think this should be pronounced ‘Sudocream’, when it’s clearly ‘Sudocrem.’”
I’m team sew-do-krem, like the poster ― but it seems I’m more alone than I thought.
There were a lot of dissenters in the comments
“Not going to lie, paramedic here and I call it Sudocream,” one X user wrote (?!).
“Ngl I call it Sudocream and so do most healthcare professionals,” another confirmed, to which the original poster replied “Whaaaat.”
A third blow to my sense of sanity ― “Well, I’m a nurse and we pronounce it Sudocream… It’s a miracle substance that we use all the time!” one more cursed comment read.
I don’t know what hospital this verbal virus started in, but we need to shut it down ASAP, IMO!
After all, as other commenters wrote, “it’s Sudocrem, always has been, always will be, even the label tells you clearly that’s the name.”
“Yes it’s a CREAM, no debate there (and a really good one at that), but the name is sudoCREM,” they added (finally, a voice of reason).
Hang on ― what’s the official answer here?
Well, first of all, behold this Google result:
Second of all, look at how the word is spelled, and the company’s own ads.
“There are many reasons SudoKREM is the nation’s favourite nappy rash cream,” a 2013 campaign for the product clearly says.
So, much as some people ― like beauty content creator James Welsh ― think the “cream” bit is “the most disgusting word,” it is more accurate.
With that said, you definitely won’t catch me complaining if a health professional misnames it in my hour of need…
