I'm taking a stand on this.

Thanks to Jay Nordlinger. I was guilty of the Italian pronunciation before, but damnit, I'm not taking it any more.

“Forte,” meaning “strength,” “expertise,” or “strong suit,” is pronounced “fort.” It comes from French, not Italian. Do you remember the old Groucho joke? Tallulah Bankhead says, “Singing isn’t really your forte.” Groucho responds, “I wish Knox were my forte.” Wouldn’t make sense pronouncing the word the Italian way — as we do in music. (And if you double your “f,” what do you get? “Fortissimo,” right. And if you triple it? “Fortississimo,” correct.)