why do people say "pell mell" instead of pall mall?

Question

i am speaking of the cigarette brand.

Answer 1

because their stupid and can't read.
BTW, I smoke Pall Mall !

Answer 2

I never figured that one out. I guess because of the saying " running around pell mell" sounds close to Pall Mall. But it's just a guess.

Answer 3

In what context?

pell mell means haphazardly, disorderly, in a reckless manner.

Pall Mall is a street in London

So maybe they aren't talking about the street..?

Answer 4

The reason some people say "pell mell" rather than "pall mall" is because in some regions the "a" in those two words is the new short English "a", as in "cat".

But there is an interesting occurrence in English. English has two sets of "long" and "short" values for the letter "A".

OLD LONG: father
OLD SHORT: what
NEW LONG: care
NEW SHORT: bat

This causes a conundrum for some native speakers of the English language, because of the following two sets of concurrent rules in English phonemics concerning vowels (These "rules" are "descriptive", not "prescriptive".)

(1). CLOSED VERSUS OPEN SYLLABLES
(A). In one-syllable words, if the syllable ends with two consonants, the syllable is "closed". The vowel in "closed" syllables is "short"

(B). In one-syllable words, if the syllable ends with one consonant or no consonant, the syllable is "open". The vowel in "open" syllables is "long".

(2). VOWEL LENGTHENERS
(A). The letter "R" at the end of a syllable lengthens the vowel that precedes it.
(B). The letter "L" at the end of a syllable lengthens the vowel that precedes it.

Thus, "PALL MALL" can be, according to rule 1A, "PAL MAL" (<-- "NEW SHORT" values for "A").
But, "PALL MALL" can be, according to rule 2B, "PALL MALL" (<-- "NEW LONG" values for "A").

However, in the first instance, "PAL MAL", native English speakers find it nigh impossible to pronounce the combination of the "a" in "cat" followed by the letter ell. So they shorten it to the sound of the "short" value of the vowel "e" in "mend" --- which is why some folks say "pell mell" rather than "pahll mahll".

Answer 5

Because they speak proper ENGLISH instead of American. lol

Answer 6

Hmm. Clearly they are misinformed.

Most likely it's a regional difference. People here say "Warshed" instead of "Washed"

Answer 7

Maybe it french.