How Do You Pronounce Pall Mall Cigarettes?

I was watching old commercials from the Fifties, and they all pronounced it as "Pell Mell." When I worked in a department store customers always said, "Gimme a Paul Maul." When I went to England thy pronounced it "Pal Mal." Which is it?

Top | New | Old

bowman81 · M

I'm old enough to remember the commercials and grew up calling them Pell Mell....
I figure the people making them and promoting them have the right to say how they are pronounced. LOL

BadPam · 61-69, F

That's in error. I actually smoked Marlboro. I haven't smoked in forty years, so I forgot!

bowman81 · M

It might have been Dale Robertson's accent....I think he was the actor I remember promoting them....I quit over 10 yrs ago and was a Winston guy... :-)

BadPam · 61-69, F

@bowman81: True--as long as you're smokin' 'em, who cares how you say it?
Actually I remember George Murphy from Hollywood Parade calling them Pell Mell too, and also the voice-over guy on the commercials. So I think it's more than Dale Robertson's accent.

Heartlander · 80-89, M

Sorry ... but it falls midway between "Paul" and "Poal". It takes smoking 100 cartons of it to ruff your vocal chords before you can actually say it. In the old days you could speed up the process with a couple cartons of Picayunes. But I think they were outlawed in the 1970's or 80's ...

BadPam · 61-69, F

Oh those are ancient! Needless to say, I told you how I was--uh, persuaded to quit my very nasty smoking habit.

DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M

Why were they outlawed.........and for the record.......I thought it was Paul Maul. It must be a regional thing..like creek or crik.

lily88mercy · 26-30, F

lol, your question brings out the Carolina girl in me....it really don't matter how they pronounce it....all that matters is that the yodelin' cry for a fix of the Big Bad Red nicotine is heard and that a pack of the nasty stuff slides across the counter and into their pocket.

It's kinda like a visit to my Uncle's farm. He raises huntin' dogs and when a customer comes over to look at a new crop of pups scramblin' after their mom for a good feed. She don't care if they're yappin' for a "tit" - "tat" - or "tittie" just as long as the business gets done quick and she can have some peace!
😝

lorne13 · 61-69, M

maybe it's because I speak French but I say pal mal

Itsmrsockmonkey · M

I've always heard both

NeuroticByNature · 41-45, F

I say paul maul

BadPam · 61-69, F

Most people do. But on the commercials they always say, "Smoke Pell Mell--smoother--and they are mild!" That's what confuses me.
Besides, i never smoked Pall Mall, so i never had to pronounce it. I smoked Parliament--which is pronounced "Parlament." But i quit smoking, so I don't have to pronounce any of it!😄

ajoite · 51-55, F

Pal Mal

Justme264 · 70-79, M

Pal Mal as in pal dog food and medical MALpractice

Suethenudist · 31-35, F

I've heard pale male

Add a comment...