A mountain in Mexico – I think it’s a volcano – a friend and I discovered this name in year 10 geography at high school and instantly fell in love with it! The way it sounds with the ‘p’s and ‘t’s gets me every time – and of course it sounds exotic. My US friends say I pronounce it wrong, but I don’t care – say it several times in a row and sound like a locomotive – it’s fun! (Po-PO-ca-ta-pet-l is the emphasis I use.)
Sarah
Australia
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I learned about Popocatapetl in high school too, in a poem which I can’t recall the title of, but which went “Chimborazo, Popocatapetl, calling me back home” or something of that sort. (Chimborazo being another Mexican volcano – another was mentioned in the same poem too, Cotopaxi). Mexico must have as many volcanoes as New Zealand. I liked the sound of the word too. A relieving teacher asked us not long after we learnt the poem, whether we knew the names of any of the Mexican volcanoes and was amazed when the whole class recited those three!
Pococapetl and Ixtaccehuatl are the Mexican volacanos that form the backdrop in Malcolm Lowry’s cult novel “Under The Volcano”.