"Air" or "Error"; "Tear" or "Terror"

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

Ever since 9/11, I noticed that Bush and many of the people in his administration pronounce ‘terror’ with just one syllable. As far as I can tell, ‘tear’ (rip) and ‘terror’ are pronounced exactly the same.

But it was only recently that I remembered a co-worker from twenty years ago who pronounced ‘error’ in a similar way. In her pronunciation it sounded exactly like ‘air’, and it didn’t make sense at first. She grew up in Nebraska, FTR. So I’m curious about how people pronounce these words in various parts of the country, and if anyone has ever done an ‘err/error’ dialect map of the U.S.

[Snarky_Kong]

I’ve never heard tear and terror pronounced the same way. Same with air and error. Maybe you’re/they’re confusing it with err.

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Snarky_Kong

I’ve never heard tear and terror pronounced the same way. Same with air and error. Maybe you’re/they’re confusing it with err.

How can you say that? Keep in mind that I mean ‘tear’ in the sense of ‘rip’, not in the sense of ‘salty discharge from the eye’.

The next time you hear Bush on the radio or TV, listen for the word ‘terror’. There’s no way you can tell me he pronounces both syllables. It’s very much like the way many people pronounce ‘mirror’, the ones who say ‘meer’. And my coworker definitely meant ‘error’. The reason I mentioned the fact that she was from Nebraska is that I wondered if southern midwestern ruralism.

[wolf_meister]

Spectre
I know precisely what you are talking about. You think this country could learn to speak the same language.

Resident of Boston - where the owls say “whom”.

[foxymoron]

Is it like “ayrrr,” with a drawn-out R sound? I think it’s a Mid-West thing. My grandma is a life-long Kansan and that’s how she talks. Also, I’ve lived in Nebraska for 9 1/2 years and recently noticed that I’ve started talking this way. I often re-pronounce words when I catch myself running syllables together.
It’s annoying.

[wonky]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

How can you say that? Keep in mind that I mean ‘tear’ in the sense of ‘rip’, not in the sense of ‘salty discharge from the eye’.

The next time you hear Bush on the radio or TV, listen for the word ‘terror’. There’s no way you can tell me he pronounces both syllables.

I hear something more akin to “terra,” where the schwa is half swallowed.

George W. Bush and the Half-Swallowed Schwa. Sounds like a children’s book.

[Snarky_Kong]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

How can you say that? Keep in mind that I mean ‘tear’ in the sense of ‘rip’, not in the sense of ‘salty discharge from the eye’.

The next time you hear Bush on the radio or TV, listen for the word ‘terror’. There’s no way you can tell me he pronounces both syllables. It’s very much like the way many people pronounce ‘mirror’, the ones who say ‘meer’. And my coworker definitely meant ‘error’. The reason I mentioned the fact that she was from Nebraska is that I wondered if southern midwestern ruralism.

I knew what word you were referring to. I don’t particularly like listening to politicians speaking. I prefer reading about it. I can kind of see it know with you mirror analogy, but the war on tear sounds really wrong.

[roger_thornhill]

@jsgoddess

I hear something more akin to “terra,” where the schwa is half swallowed.

There’s a schwa in there, but not much of an “r” sound.

More like “tea®-a”, perhaps?

[Marley23]

Sometimes I think other people in the administration try to adopt a little of Bush’s accent. He definitely doesn’t say it “tear.” It’s more like “teyre” or “terr.”

[roger_thornhill]

@Marley23

Sometimes I think other people in the administration try to adopt a little of Bush’s accent.

I wonder how much of his funny looks - I like the waiting for approbation lop-sided grin the best - they pick up.

And do they all start pausing for effect before delivering a punchline?

And are all their punchlines incomprehensible too?

[Marley23]

@roger thornhill

And are all their punchlines incomprehensible too?

Many of the things they say are incomprehensible to me, but maybe we shouldn’t go there.

[Colophon]

Of course, to a Brit it sounds doubly wrong, because the vowel sound in “tear” or “air” is not even the same as the one in the first syllable of “terror” or “error”.

“Tear” and “air” have a diphthong “e-ay” kind of sound, whereas “terror” and “eroor” have a pure short “e”, as in “met” or “bed”.

But the SMDB has taught me that trying to discuss vowel sounds using ASCII is fruitless

[Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus]

@Marley23

Sometimes I think other people in the administration try to adopt a little of Bush’s accent. He definitely doesn’t say it “tear.” It’s more like “teyre” or “terr.”

“Terr” is what I’m talking about. How is that different from “tear”?

[Ignatz]

@Snarky_Kong

I knew what word you were referring to. I don’t particularly like listening to politicians speaking. I prefer reading about it. I can kind of see it know with you mirror analogy, but the **war ** on tear sounds really wrong.

I once lived where they made two syllables out of the word, WAR. Woh-wah