"Target" as a French word?

[Bethany K. Dumas]

>Can anyone tell me about "Target" (the store) pronounced as a French word?
>That pronunciation has reportedly been used in the Nashville area within the
>past 10 years.  Could it be a joke played on a New England schoolmarm by her
>Southern students?

All I can tell you is that I have used - and heard - that pronunciation
in the Knoxville area for many years = since the early 1980s, probably. It
is used jokingly but with such frequency that the joking aspect is not
always front and center.

Bethany