# Do you aspirate your aitches? Is it pretentious to? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2024, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021 "2024-05-24T13:33:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [May 24, 2024, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/21 "2024-05-24T17:27:30Z")
Misspelling _mais_ kinda takes the thrill out of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/22 "2024-05-24T17:29:45Z")
Oh, it’s the way you speak it that counts. I promise… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/23 "2024-05-24T17:33:54Z")
I picked “sometimes / don’t know” but really “pronounce ‘wh’ the same as ‘w’” would have worked. I probably do aspirate the “h”, but very subtly. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/24 "2024-05-24T18:26:47Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I probably do aspirate the “h”, but very subtly. Me too, I think. I think that what some people find pretentious is when it is emphasied or exaggerated, and I’m wondering now if these should have been separate options in the poll. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/25 "2024-05-24T20:03:59Z")
Exactly this for me. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/26 "2024-05-24T21:05:02Z")
There’s an episode of TBBT where Amy gets Sheldon to do something she wants by threatening to pronounce words starting with w as if they started with wh. He says "you wouldn’t!’ and she says “whatch me.” For what it’s worth, I think I pronounce wh words differently from w words, but I don’t think it’s pronounced or exaggerated. It may be partly because I have to pronounce my English fairly carefully if my Japanese husband is going to understand it. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2024, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/27 "2024-05-24T22:56:17Z")
I pronounce the h only h-when I am trying to be pretentious. But in ordinary speech I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/28 "2024-05-25T00:45:18Z")
Actually, what’s the “merry” and “Mary” distinction? Obviously I’m asking because they’re homophones. Do some people pronounce “merry” as “mirrory” or something? Damn, actually, I hear “mirror” as “meer” quite frequently. And “pen” as “pin.” Both drive me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/29 "2024-05-25T01:18:34Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > W and wh are identical to me and it does sound pretentious to say them differently. Like the post above, it always makes me think of Stewie Griffin making fun of that exaggerated pronunciation. I’m surprised at the results. I’m from South Texas, and I’ve also lived in Waco and Galveston. I’ve never noticed people pronouncing w and wh as the same sounds.\* And it’s definitely not a pretentious or upper class thing. The people from the barrio, trailer park, and ghetto (at least the ones here in Corpus Christi), all pronounce wh and w differently. As far as Stewie Griffin, I hear his pronunciation as an h followed by a w, not as an exaggerated wh. \*. The exceptions are British people or immigrants from India or Africa that grew up with British rather than American English. The people I’ve known with that background speak w and wh with the same sound. Which to me makes the w and wh sounding the same as the “fancy” accent, not the w and wh as different sounds. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/30 "2024-05-25T01:20:42Z")
I always aspirate my H’s. This thread is about whether I aspirate my W’s. I do not. Wikipedia has a [whole article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_%E2%9F%A8wh%E2%9F%A9) about this (the WHINE-WINE merger), and says > It (“wh”) is now most commonly pronounced /w/, the same as a plain initial ⟨w⟩, although some dialects, particularly those of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States, retain the traditional pronunciation /hw/. The article has a map showing the area of the southern US which does not have the merger. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/31 "2024-05-25T01:40:51Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The article has a map showing the area of the southern US which does not have the merger. Interesting. That would explain why I hear a difference between the wonder, why, and we in Jimmy Buffett’s _Wonder Why We Ever Go Home_. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/uh-wG76Y1As/maxresdefault.jpg "Wonder Why We Ever Go Home") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh-wG76Y1As) Although in Texas the area they say maintains the traditional pronunciation goes a lot further south than in that map. At least all the way down to the Rio Grande Valley and as far west as Eagle Pass. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/32 "2024-05-25T04:38:53Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Actually, what’s the “merry” and “Mary” distinction? Obviously I’m asking because they’re homophones. Do some people pronounce “merry” as “mirrory” or something? “Properly” pronounced, the E in “merry” is the same as in “them,” while the A in Mary is sounded like “air.” The latter is a diphthong. It’s a very subtle difference that, when spoken quickly, is virtually indistinguishable. I usually pronounce them the same myself. It takes a bit of effort to say merry “correctly.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/33 "2024-05-25T04:46:18Z")
It depends on the dialect. Most of the US and Canada has the [MARY-MARRY-MERRY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_/r/#Mary%E2%80%93marry%E2%80%93merry_merger) merger, in which all three of these words are pronounced identically. Only a few northeastern cities retain separate pronunciations for all three words. The MARY-MARRY merger, with “merry” pronounced differently, is found in 16% of Americans, mostly in New England. The MARY-MERRY merger, with “marry” pronounced differently, is found in 9% of Americans, mostly in the South. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/34 "2024-05-25T04:54:51Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The MARY-MARRY merger, with “merry” pronounced differently, is found in 16% of Americans, mostly in New England. Wait never mind, misread what you said. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/35 "2024-05-25T04:55:52Z")
Ninja-ed! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/36 "2024-05-25T04:55:53Z")
Yhes. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/37 "2024-05-25T05:45:01Z")
Down south if your name is Mary it is pronounced May-ry. Real southern and it’s drawn out like May—ry. Maybe an added syllable like May-eh–ry. Watch the Andy Griffith show. You’ll see. Names can be quite bastardized down hy-eh. Just how it ere. Y’all. (Y’all is yaw, I promise. I hear it everyday) ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/38 "2024-05-25T06:06:24Z")
Aspirated wh is all that’s left of the Indo-European kw, other than the q- words borrowed in from Latin. It’s barely hanging on in a minority of English speakers. After 6000 years, if you want to be the one that finally kills it, go ahead. My mother taught me to aspirate, and while I don’t always in fast speech, most of the time I do. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/39 "2024-05-25T07:22:05Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Actually, what’s the “merry” and “Mary” distinction? Obviously I’m asking because they’re homophones. Do some people pronounce “merry” as “mirrory” or something?⁢ To complete the set, the word marry is pronounced with the a in cat. So you have **ma** te, **ma** t, **me** t for **Ma** ry– **ma** rry– **me** rry. ---
**Author:** ![TheTyrant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thetyrant/32/19111_2.png) [@TheTyrant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTyrant)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2024, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021/40 "2024-05-25T07:28:32Z")
> The article has a map showing the area of the southern US which does not have the merger. Huh. Interesting. I grew up in Atlanta and we’re covered in that map–but I don’t think I have _ever_ heard anyone pronounce wine and whine differently. (In fact I’m not sure I’ve heard it anywhere. Maybe it’s so subtle I never noticed, but–for me–trying to pronounce them differently is something I feel like I’m forcing and it isn’t easy or intuitive haha.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-aspirate-your-aitches-is-it-pretentious-to/1002021.md?page=3)