# H is for herbivore **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583 "2010-07-13T19:44:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/1 "2010-07-13T19:44:55Z")
How do you pronounce “herbivore,” with or without the “h” sound at the beginning? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/2 "2010-07-13T19:52:21Z")
I know this sounds odd, but I had to think about it… anyway, I think I say it without the h. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/3 "2010-07-13T19:57:39Z")
Not sounding the _h_ is an insult to both Athena and Thor. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/4 "2010-07-13T20:20:31Z")
“Veggivore” Just kidding- I pronounce it with a partial “h”, if that makes any sense. Not so much “herbivore” like you’d say the man’s name “Herb”, but more than “'erb”, sort of “_h_erbivore”. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/5 "2010-07-13T20:23:10Z")
I eat chicken with erbs and spices. It’s an erbivore. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/6 "2010-07-13T20:25:30Z")
Its a herbivore, with a “h” at the beginning! (I frequently have this argument with a good friend of mine, who keeps attempting to correct my pronunciation of both “herb” and “schedule”!) ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/7 "2010-07-13T20:43:58Z")
Interesting: I try to grow “erbs” in the garden, but they always get eaten by “_h_erbivores”. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/8 "2010-07-13T23:31:56Z")
“You say ‘erbs’, and we say ‘herbs’, because there’s a fucking ‘H’ in it!” - Eddie Izzard ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/9 "2010-07-14T01:37:51Z")
What was the other response? Somebody who pronounces it herbee-vorree? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/10 "2010-07-14T01:47:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > What was the other response? Somebody who pronounces it herbee-vorree? > [@corkboard](#): > > “Veggivore” > > Just kidding- I pronounce it with a partial “h”, if that makes any sense. Not so much “herbivore” like you’d say the man’s name “Herb”, but more than “'erb”, sort of “_h_erbivore”. I knew making results public would be a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/11 "2010-07-14T02:15:57Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > “You say ‘erbs’, and we say ‘herbs’, because there’s a fucking ‘H’ in it!” - Eddie Izzard Exactly!! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/12 "2010-07-14T05:32:59Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > “You say ‘erbs’, and we say ‘herbs’, because there’s a fucking ‘H’ in it!” - Eddie Izzard You’re just trying to cheat at scrabble. Herbivores eat erbs. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/13 "2010-07-14T05:42:39Z")
I…can’t tell. I’m saying it aloud. And I can’t figure out which version I get naturally… ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/14 "2010-07-14T05:43:05Z")
“Herb” is borrowed from the French, so we have to use their dumb pronunciation. “Herbivore” was made in the good ol’ US of A so we pronounce our h’s. Nah, actually I made all that up. Here’s a [cite.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/herbivore) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/15 "2010-07-14T06:06:51Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > “You say ‘erbs’, and we say ‘herbs’, because there’s a fucking ‘H’ in it!” - Eddie Izzard And he’s got quite a leg to stand on, considering all the "r"s the English have dropped, ie, all of them. This kind of superiority thing really really rubs me the wrong way. And then you have Ricky Gervais’ “summat”. I don’t know how widespread that one is. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/16 "2010-07-14T06:27:21Z")
You do know that Eddie Izzard is a stand up comic who then goes on to side with the Yanks in spelling thru, because through ‘is just trying to cheat at scrabble,’ don’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/17 "2010-07-14T07:07:43Z")
Come to think of it, I probably use both pronunciations interchangeably. Pronunciation polls really ought to have separate “either” and “neither” options. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/18 "2010-07-14T07:32:26Z")
I pronounce the h in “herb” and “herbal”, too, or at least I consider I ought’a (one of the things I get worse at when I’ve been speaking in Spanish is losing my aitches). ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/19 "2010-07-14T14:56:56Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > “Herb” is borrowed from the French, so we have to use their dumb pronunciation. “Herbivore” was made in the good ol’ US of A so we pronounce our h’s. > > Nah, actually I made all that up. Here’s a [cite.](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/herbivore) _Goddamn_. It’s "the _goddamn_ French. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583/20 "2010-07-14T14:58:13Z")
> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Interesting: I try to grow “erbs” in the garden, but they always get eaten by “_h_erbivores”. Yep. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/h-is-for-herbivore/546583.md?page=2)