Explain to me the origins of the phrase "Sammich" and why people on the internet use it.

Ever since I first joined the internet message board scene, I have observed people using the word "Sammich" to refer to the food item "Sandwich." This has confused me for several years but for some reason I never thought to look into the matter. I have now decided the time has come for me investigate this issue and to find out if there is an answer at all, or if it is just one of those things that are so old it has become second nature, and that the origins are lost to history.

Yes, I mentioned this in another thread today, but nobody responded, so I felt it is a matter deserving of its own thread.

So to reiterate the question at hand, why do people on the internet call sandwiches "sammiches"?

Is this an internet only joke, or am I missing out on a reference to a movie or television character? Is there meaning to the term "sammich" or is it simply am amusing sounding word, without necessarily having any other layers of meaning?

Am I ridiculous for not knowing why people say sammich, or is this something nobody knows?

Begin investigating/telling me the answer to this riddle.

 

Al Gore invented it. Like everything on the internet and the internet itself.

 

Sammich is easier to say than sandwich, I guess. Same reason why people say "comfterble" rather than "comfortable."

 

I vote it is because people are dumb.

 

I'm fairly sure we had this discussion a few months back. I think the general consensus was that most American speakers drop the "d" in "sandwich" but not the "n."

"Sammich" is probably a popular joke term because most people don't say it that way, and therefore the rest of us feel safe in mocking the few people who do turn "nd" into "m."

If Terr_Mys was around, I'm sure he could tell us the phonological rules that went into shifts from whatever the original pronunciation was to "sanwich," "sammich," and "sangwich," which I recall was the most universally-hated way to say that word.

 

Problem located.

 

It's not internet only,I live in the Southeastern US and I hear people
call that particular food item sammich on a fairly regular basis.

 

As a joke???

 

No with a complete lack of jest or levity.
growed folks too,folks who oughta know better.

 

Shut up and make me a sammich fool!

 

there was an actual restaurant in my town called "banjo's sammich co.". it didn't last very long.

 

Am I so predictable?

Most people drop the 'd' in fast speech because it's easier to pronounce the two sonorants 'n' and 'w' without an obstruent 'd' between them.

'Sammich' is taking things a step further, but it's used by a much smaller group of people. In this case, people combine the nasal quality of 'n' with the labial quality of 'w' to make a single sound, the nasal labial 'm'.

I don't think I've heard anyone say 'sangwich' before, but it does make sense to an extent. Instead of combining the 'n' and 'w', people insert a 'g' between them as an articulatory 'bridge' of sorts. This is similar to how people often pronounce "something" as "somepthing."

...the more you know.

Edit - So at any rate, people use 'sammich' for comic effect because over-simplified pronunciations sound stupid, and therefore funny, to us. Just as a posh Englishman who fully pronounces the 'd' in 'sandwich' sounds intelligent.

 

pronounced sump'm in the Southeastern US,especially in Gehstonya.

 

It's Hork-Bajir language.

 

It's a symbol of Lord Fishifort's return to power, I tell you!!!

 

There was a thread on this a while ago.

 

I remember it, too.

 

Isn't it a reference to "Sandford and Son" or something?

 

"Sangwitch" is usually pronounced in the areas where Spanglish is commonly used. I don't know why, but I've heard it all my life, although I have personally never used that pronunciation.