By dint of hearing it, we think we know its pronunciation, but in other countries, this word is pronounced completely backwards!
Nowadays, it is quite common to hear, in the course of a conversation, anglicisms pronounced in a very natural way, as if they had always been part of our language. Business, vintage, deadline, scoop, loser, come-back, live, buzz, casting, coach… It must be said that with globalization and the use of English becoming almost a norm in certain sectors, the French language must increasingly deal with these words borrowed from the language of Shakespeare. Also out of habit, certain terms or expressions have become part of our repertoire and we tend to forget the initial origin.
This is the case of a word that parents use when their children play a particular game. You yourself, when you were little, you probably played it for long hours, but by making it yourself, with the means at hand. Why? Because this activity is played using an electronic device that was not necessarily accessible at the time.
As defined by the Robert dictionary, it is the “small, portable, short-range radio transceiver”more commonly known as the walkie-talkie. For most people who have learned French, this word is pronounced as such “talkie-talkie”. And yet, if we look into the exact origin of the term, we realize that in English, the order of the two words is reversed.
Therefore, it is pronounced: walkie-talkie. This is due to the fact that the device allowed you to walk (to walk in English) while speaking (to talk in English). It is used this way in several English-speaking countries, notably in the United States, but also in Canada. So of course, if you pronounce walkie-talkie in France, you are not really making a mistake, but if you are traveling abroad, in a country where English is spoken, you will need to use the word walkie-talkie.