# BBC/RP pronunciation of "Wednesday" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038 "2007-12-06T16:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/1 "2007-12-06T16:24:08Z")
I’ve gotten used to the oddities of British pronunciation while listening to BBC World News stores; leftenant, millertree, Al Kayeeda, and so on. Not too long ago, though, I heard an announcer pronounce the word “Wednesday” – the middle day of the week – as “wed-NISS-day”. I thought I was imagining it, but she said it more than once. C’mon … do people actually pronounce Wednesday this way? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/2 "2007-12-06T17:31:58Z")
Until a native speaks up. . . The OED says that the “uncontracted” pronunciation is “not uncommon in the northern and north midland counties. The uncontracted version is attested from the 15th century.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/3 "2007-12-06T18:22:57Z")
The pronunciation I associate with the B.B.C. is wEd@nzdI - more like “WED-@nz-di” This one always struck me as odd, because it seem to be transposing “nes” into “ens.” ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/4 "2007-12-06T18:38:40Z")
Neither I nor anyone I know says anything other than “Wensday”. I’ve heard the “uncontracted” pronunciation on TV/radio, but have always assumed this was a modern affectation due to the influence of the spelling. I’m surprised to hear the OED disagrees. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/5 "2007-12-06T19:11:02Z")
I listen to the BBC quite a bit and have never personally heard the affected three-syllable pronunciation of that day of the week (not to say it doesn’t happen). I rather enjoy when they refer to the metal “Al you MIN you mum” or the Central American country “Nick ah RAG you ah,” though. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/6 "2007-12-06T19:14:57Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I rather enjoy when they refer to the metal “Al you MIN you mum”… [/QUOTE] Yeah, well yo’ momma to you too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/7 "2007-12-06T19:22:08Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] “Al you MIN you mum” [/QUOTE] “al you MINI um”, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/8 "2007-12-06T19:23:23Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I listen to the BBC quite a bit and have never personally heard the affected three-syllable pronunciation of that day of the week (not to say it doesn’t happen). [/QUOTE] I’m pretty sure Frank Muir and Dennis Norden always said WED-enz-dee. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/9 "2007-12-06T19:29:17Z")
On “Top Gear” the other day, Clarkson mentioned that the frame of a certain car was “made from _aluminum_, whatever that is”. Loved that he could poke fun at aluminium. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/10 "2007-12-06T19:47:37Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] “al you MINI um”, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] Al - you - MIN - yuhm, generally. **Elendil’s Heir** inserted an extra “m”. We don’t pronounce it _that_ weirdly. (In any case, it’s spelt differently here, and we pronounce it as we spell it, Americans pronounce it as they spell it; seems fair enough to me!) As for “Wednesday”, I do kind of pronounce the “d”, but only as a semi-swallowed glottal stop: “We(d)'ns-day”. It’s only two syllables, but the first has a sort of flap of the tongue against the palate to give lip service (as it were) to the d. According to my dictionary, the proper British pronounciation is “WENZ-dee”, with an unstressed “dee” for the “day” part of all days of the week (MUN-dee, TYOOZ-dee etc), but I think that is becoming less common these days. I don’t use it. And most people I know say something like “Chooseday” rather than “Tuesday”… ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/11 "2007-12-06T21:12:44Z")
Only ever pronounce is “wenzdee”. Native of a ``northern county". ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/12 "2007-12-06T21:16:42Z")
Aw, don’t be so hard on the 3-syllable Wednesdayers. The day is named for the poor, old, nearly-forgotten unemployed god Wodin. Maybe it brightens ol’ Wode’s eye a little to hear somebody say it that way. :rolleyes: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/13 "2007-12-06T23:26:50Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I listen to the BBC quite a bit and have never personally heard the affected three-syllable pronunciation of that day of the week (not to say it doesn’t happen). I rather enjoy when they refer to the metal “Al you MIN you mum” or the Central American country “Nick ah RAG you ah,” though. [/QUOTE] Not to mention “Jag-you-are”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/14 "2007-12-06T23:34:48Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] I listen to the BBC quite a bit and have never personally heard the affected three-syllable pronunciation of that day of the week (not to say it doesn’t happen). I rather enjoy when they refer to the metal “Al you MIN you mum” or the Central American country “Nick ah RAG you ah,” though. [/QUOTE] My favorite, too. Especially when combined with the capitol city: muh-NA-gyu-uh, sometimes muh-NA-gyu-ar. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/15 "2007-12-06T23:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] “al you MINI um”, isn’t it? [/QUOTE] But to be far, they spell it differently. There is an extra “i” in the British version, right? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/16 "2007-12-06T23:36:08Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Not to mention “Jag-you-are”. [/QUOTE] As with days of the week, there’s only two syllables (yes, that includes Saturday, but that might just be me 😉 ). “Jag-wah” is perhaps the best representation. Otherwise, how could you pronounce ‘Jag’? Re. Aluminum/Aluminium: I can’t be bothered to find the links, I’ve done it too often before, but there’s an interesting history of how different words came to be used in different countries. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/17 "2007-12-06T23:44:07Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Aw, don’t be so hard on the 3-syllable Wednesdayers. The day is named for the poor, old, nearly-forgotten unemployed god Wodin. Maybe it brightens ol’ Wode’s eye a little to hear somebody say it that way. :rolleyes: :dubious: [/QUOTE] Odin. Hardly the least-known of the Norse gods, I’d say. FTR, I pronounce the D most to the time. Wed ‘n’ sday - the N as in Fish ‘n’ chips ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/18 "2007-12-06T23:44:31Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] As with days of the week, there’s only two syllables (yes, that includes Saturday, but that might just be me 😉 ). “Jag-wah” is perhaps the best representation. Otherwise, how could you pronounce ‘Jag’? Re. Aluminum/Aluminium: I can’t be bothered to find the links, I’ve done it too often before, but there’s an interesting history of how different words came to be used in different countries. [/QUOTE] Not everyone over there does it, but how do people get from “house” to “hice”? Is it just an affectation by the toffs? ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/19 "2007-12-06T23:50:08Z")
The BBC is not quite as staid as it used to be. You will hear a fair amount of regional accents these days, although I believe there is a reference book for unusual names of places and people. One of my favourites from years ago was listening to newsreaders butchering the name of the \*\*Reverend Ndabaninge Sithole \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038/20 "2007-12-06T23:58:30Z")
[QUOTE=Chefguy] Not everyone over there does it, but how do people get from “house” to “hice”? Is it just an affectation by the toffs? [/QUOTE] Yes, that’s definitely an upper-class stereotypical thing. Made fun of to great effect in Wallace and Gromit’s _The Curse of the Were-Rabbit_; **Lady Tottington** : [over the phone] It’s a disaster. I have the most terrible rabbit problem. The competition’s only days away. You simply have to do something. **Wallace** : Certainly, Ma’am. **Wallace** : [Aside, to Gromit] I think we’re about to go up in the world, lad. **Wallace** : [Back on phone] Just stay right where you are, Your Ladyship, and we’ll be with you in an… [hits the control panel and gets dragged up through the ceiling] **Wallace** : Ahhhh!!! **Lady Tottington** : In an hour? But I can’t wait an hour. I have a major infestation. Hello? Hello? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-rp-pronunciation-of-wednesday/429038.md?page=2)