I’m just curious. I found the derivation at Dictionary.net, to be OE, and AS, from a word spelled andswerian or andswerien, meaning - tadaa - answer. So, does any version or dialect of english pronounce the w? Personally I pronounce it ‘anser’
They did, but in the 16th century the pronunciation changed. They used to say “sword” and “conquer” instead of “sord” and “conker,” too. Spelling often reflects a pre-modern pronunciation.
Many thanks, Dr. Drake. I suspected as much. Someone asked me how to spell it today, and there was little enough going on at the moment that I had the luxury of a gratuitous ponder 
I believe that you can hear some speakers of Indian English say it that way.
Gee I always prononuced the “W” in sword. 
Really? Where are you from?
I’ve never heard it, and I’ve met legions of ESL speakers too. The W in “sword” is much more common.
Others I’ve never heard:
s chool (vs skool)
kuh ni gut (vs knight)
(Try it, I love to say “kuh ni gut! kuh ni gut!”)
Annnnd… I just got that joke from Monty Python. Almost a decade late. Thanks, Superhal!
Hmm, could me pronouncing the w in answer be the reason for those failed english tests?
Ans-wer, ans-wer. I’ve gotten so used to it…
oh and I’m so gonna try that superhal “(“kuh ni gut! kuh ni gut!”)”
It could just be me, but it sounds like a type of shnitzel (i hope i spelt that right)
Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!
I do as well. I’m from California.
Wait. Are you saying the knights who say “ni” is explained in that post? How?
Stewie Griffin?
No, no. It explains the French Soldier.
wait wait wait the w in “sword” is silent?
wow I did learn something new today!
I know I’m not a native English speaker, but I would have never guessed that letter was silent, the word nicely rolls off my tongue with that w. I probably never heard that word spoken clearly or often.
Closer to three and a half decades really.
Does anyone pronounce the w in the word ‘answer’?
Now.
A girl I knew in HS pronounced the Ws in words like drawing and sawing – DRAH-wing and SAH-wing. She was rather a strange one, though.
Just out of curiosity, how did you learn English?
I’m so bad at my three semesters of college Spanish that I still can’t remember the difference between “married” and “tired”. I’m sure there are old jokes in Spanish based on that similarity.