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Originally Posted by SentToStud
More important, why is the term, when used in a horse racing context, pronounced to rhyme with "mallet" and not "chalet?"
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The same reason that, in central Kentucky, Versailles is pronounced "Vur-sales " and not "Ver-sigh".
Edit: oh, yeah, a reason: I suspect it is because, in the 1800's, young men of a certain class, coming of age in places like Virginia, were sent to Europe for a grand tour. Where they learned to pronounce words like "valet" and "Versailles". If one was not of that class, but in the military, or a farmer, or an adventurer, or wanted by the law, one often went to the far west - Kentuckee.