# Either/either, neither/neither **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 12, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407 "2007-10-12T00:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/1 "2007-10-12T00:06:56Z")
eeeder/eyeder neeeder/nyeder When you say “eeeder”, as in “I don’t have that either sorry”, does the person responding always use “eyeder”? It always happens to me, or if i use “eyeder”, i hear “eeeder” back. Wow, this is probably the most pointless thing I’ve ever had to share. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/2 "2007-10-12T00:52:21Z")
perhaps we should call the whole thread off. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/3 "2007-10-12T01:00:14Z")
Perhaps we should. ☹ It’s either or either my nadir. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/4 "2007-10-12T01:03:52Z")
Do you really pronounce “th” as “d” where you live? I thought that was a Minnesota thing. Fascinating. What was the question? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/5 "2007-10-12T01:25:07Z")
der’s people who do and der’s people who don’t. I can’t th to save my life. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/6 "2007-10-12T01:36:58Z")
Tomahto. Never heard of the ‘d’ thing. In my part of the world, it’s pronounced “EYE-ther” or “EE-ther” split roughly 50/50. I say either. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/7 "2007-10-12T12:45:32Z")
Depends. I think if I use the word within a sentence (“It’s either the stuffed shrimp or the clams casino that’s making me feel like puking”) I pronounce it ‘eeether’. But at the beginning of a sentence (“Either one will do fine”) I pronounce it ‘eye-ther’. Same goes for neither. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/8 "2007-10-12T13:31:35Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] Depends. I think if I use the word within a sentence (“It’s either the stuffed shrimp or the clams casino that’s making me feel like puking”) I pronounce it ‘eeether’. But at the beginning of a sentence (“Either one will do fine”) I pronounce it ‘eye-ther’. Same goes for neither. [/QUOTE] Ditto. I wonder why we do this? I must go read more on conceptual semantics! ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/9 "2007-10-12T14:33:29Z")
Just another thread to make me swoon over your accent, huh? Being brought up in the Southern US, I tend to always say eyether/neyether, eether and neether just sound so _wrong_ to my ears. I am sure someone will correct me on this, but it seems I once read that these are Germanic words, which makes the “eye” pronunciation more correct. I know both are acceptable, but down here in TN, you will almost exclusively hear the “eye” pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/10 "2007-10-12T16:40:09Z")
Either is correct, but either is acceptable. I say ‘eye-ther’. I took a lot of German classes, and ‘ei’ is ‘eye’. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/11 "2007-10-12T16:51:23Z")
I say eyther/neyther. Eether is like nails on a blackboard to me…eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeether. Yuck. ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2007, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/12 "2007-10-12T19:07:29Z")
[QUOTE=McNew] Depends. I think if I use the word within a sentence (“It’s either the stuffed shrimp or the clams casino that’s making me feel like puking”) I pronounce it ‘eeether’. But at the beginning of a sentence (“Either one will do fine”) I pronounce it ‘eye-ther’. Same goes for neither. [/QUOTE] Thirded. I thought I was the only one. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/either-either-neither-neither/422407/13 "2007-10-13T02:48:43Z")
I will use both forms of “either” (well, variants: my "th"s tend to sound like "d"s), but I use the “neyther” pronunciation of “neither” exclusively.