# British people adding R at end of words **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896 "2009-02-21T22:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/41 "2009-02-23T18:50:54Z")
> [@Vox\_Imperatoris](#): > > Many Southerners do this too, by the way, if you haven’t noticed. It shows how the Southern U.S. accent is really more similar to the British accent than “General American” is. Wikipedia has a good [article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity) on this, with maps of Britain and America illustrating it. > > Valete, > Vox Imperatoris Hold on a sec. Both various southern accents and English ones may be non-rhotic, but they are not particularly at all similar, except in that particular aspect. In fact, even in their non-rhoticity, they are quite unlike. Moreover, that very article demonstraters that non-rhoticity is a trait which occurs in varied populations all across the eastern United States. I not exactly diasgreeing… but I think your statement here is in need of serious elucidation. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/42 "2009-02-23T18:58:42Z")
Not only do they add an ‘r’ to replace an ‘a’ (the place is not called ChinER), they replace an ‘r’ with an ‘a’ (morning gov’nah) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/43 "2009-02-23T19:13:28Z")
> [@longPath](#): > > Only a mini-crush?? [Diana Rigg](http://theavengers.tv/forever/images/queenofsin.jpg)? Holy Moly! I never saw _that_ episode. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/44 "2009-02-23T19:26:30Z")
If you think all the above is odd, steer clear of Bristol, where they don’t have a terminal r but a terminal l - after any indefinite vowel. So Bristolians will talk about Barack Obamal, the President of Americal, as all-American as ice cream sodal, whose forefathers came from Africal, et ceteral, et ceteral. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/45 "2009-02-23T21:12:06Z")
And the name “Bristol” itself was originally something like “Brigstowe”. Strangely enough, almost the opposite happens in London-area accents, with terminating Ls being converted to something like a W or U – “tail” becomes more like “tay-uw”, “goal” becomes “goh-w”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/46 "2009-02-23T21:27:44Z")
I heard a lady in the CVS in down city Providence suggest that her grandchild that he ask his grandfather for some ursine candy. “Go get some Gummi Bee-ahs from Popper.” So, yeah, it’s not just in the UK or the American South that they play fast and loose with those R’s. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/47 "2009-02-23T22:28:21Z")
With all the explanations of the r and the way it pops up between vowels, I’m surprised there are still people posting to claim that Britsh people add an r even without a following vowel. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/48 "2009-02-23T23:29:21Z")
Bah, you should listen to people from the West Country - we go out of our way to add several “Rs” to every word. Carrot Crunchers Forever! And don’t forget Bristolians adding “L” to the end of every word with a vowel “Eee took er photo with is cameral dinne”. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/49 "2009-02-23T23:52:37Z")
I went for years thinking Dr Who’s enemy was the Darleks. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/50 "2009-02-24T00:34:52Z")
It can also end in a consonant, right? What was that Mike Meyers character in the tub who was always “drawring” things, that cheeky monkey? Yeah, and what the above poster wrote about McCartney’s “sawr, them winging”! Why cain’t y’all tawk like y’posed tew?😉 Quasi (being a “tongue-in-cheeky monkey”!)😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/51 "2009-02-24T00:40:57Z")
I have been given to understand that it is Appalachia where the dialect is said to resemble Old English. I know a fellow Arkansan who says, “Obamar” but that is the only R I’ve heard her add. This is yet more proof that the English invented a language they cannot speak. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/52 "2009-02-24T02:49:48Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > It can also end in a consonant, right? > > What was that Mike Meyers character in the tub who was always “drawring” things, that cheeky monkey? There are vowels round the w sound there. > [@](#): > > Yeah, and what the above poster wrote about McCartney’s “sawr, them winging”! I don’t know the song, but it’s quite possible that the poster was misremembering, much like the poster who was convinced that Oasis sang about a chanpagne supernover even when it wasn’t followed by a vowel. Or it could be that ‘them’ became ‘em.’ ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/53 "2009-02-24T08:58:02Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Not only do they add an ‘r’ to replace an ‘a’ (the place is not called ChinER), they replace an ‘r’ with an ‘a’ (morning gov’nah) No we don’t. Not unless your only contact with “British” accents (as if such a thing existed) is limited to Movie Cocknies. Anyway, it’s our language, we invented it, we’ll do whatever we damn well like with it, thank you so very much! Damn uppity colonialists. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/54 "2009-02-24T09:56:37Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > I don’t know the song, but it’s quite possible that the poster was misremembering, much like the poster who was convinced that Oasis sang about a chanpagne supernover even when it wasn’t followed by a vowel. No, McCartney definitely sang it as “sawr”. [Link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiEqFiI1vz4&feature=related) (@ 30 and 35 seconds) Another especially egregious example is Cliff Richard’s version of Richie Valens’ _Oh, Donna_, which became _“Oh, Donner, oh, Donner…”_, although technically I suppose you could say it was followed by a vowell even though there was plenty of a break between the Donnas and the "oh"s to not need an “r” to vacilitate the transition. I think the fact that it’s a woman’s name also makes it sound worse. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/55 "2009-02-24T10:33:45Z")
A lot of British pop singers, especially in the 50s and 60s, tried to sound more American by stressing Rs, even in places where Americans wouldn’t put them, so maybe that’s what’s going on here. I always notice in early- to mid-period Beatles songs how John Lennon exaggerates his Rs, quite unlike how he would have pronounced the same words in normal speech. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/56 "2009-02-24T11:05:11Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > Bah, you should listen to people from the West Country - we go out of our way to add several “Rs” to every word. Carrot Crunchers Forever! And don’t forget Bristolians adding “L” to the end of every word with a vowel “Eee took er photo with is cameral dinne”. Nothing like reading the whole damn [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10864304&postcount=44) before you post, is there? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wisthekiller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wisthekiller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wisthekiller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/57 "2009-02-24T12:37:09Z")
Redneck brits? just seems that way to me ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/58 "2009-02-24T17:52:40Z")
> [@Jennyrosity](#): > > No we don’t. Not unless your only contact with “British” accents (as if such a thing existed) is limited to Movie Cocknies. The guys on BBC TV do. I hear Chiner and Cuber all the time for China and Cuba. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/59 "2009-02-24T18:05:20Z")
I’m not going around saying “Chin-ah”, and if I did people would ask what was wrong with you. And we say “Jag-you-er” and “Nicker-rag-you-er”, not “Jag-wah”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896/60 "2009-02-24T18:16:37Z")
I only recently learned Brits pronounce “furore” with three (3) syllables. Just when you thought you knew all of the quirks! (Of course, we spell it “furor,” which better lends itself to two syllables.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-people-adding-r-at-end-of-words/486896.md?page=4)