# Hearty and Hardy - Homophones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 17, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399 "2024-09-17T18:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/1 "2024-09-17T18:57:00Z")
Continuing the discussion from [Three men freeze to death in a friend's backyard and aren't found for three days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/497): > [@Three men freeze to death in a friend's backyard and aren't found for three days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/494): > > n my Great Lakes dialect, so far as I can tell, I pronounce “hearty” and “hardy” the same. > [@Three men freeze to death in a friend's backyard and aren't found for three days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/496): > > Yeah, claiming “hearty” and “hardy” are not homophones seems weird for a dictionary. They aren’t homophones everywhere, but they are throughout most of the United States. > [@Three men freeze to death in a friend's backyard and aren't found for three days](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-men-freeze-to-death-in-a-friends-backyard-and-arent-found-for-three-days/996151/497): > > I’m definitely not from that part of the USA; they sound obviously different when I say them. There’re plenty of lazy speech in my habits too; but that particular merger is not one of them. They are often pronounced the same, or with a difference that is difficult to discern. I think that’s true across the US. But they are not homophones by dictionary definition. They can be pronounced correctly with the ‘T’ and ‘D’ distinctly different. However, the reality is in this country we speak Mercan which has no truck with such niceties. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/2 "2024-09-17T19:01:44Z")
I also object to the term “lazy speech.” It’s just a dialect variation. I can say them with a clear “t” or a clear “d” without any extra effort – it just sounds weird in my dialect. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/3 "2024-09-17T19:12:10Z")
The process by which a T between vowels is voiced approximately to a D is called “flapping”. According to the [Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapping), it is “a prominent feature of [North American English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_English)” and also occurs in “[Australian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English), [New Zealand](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_English) and (especially [Northern](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_English)) [Irish English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiberno-English), and more infrequently or variably in [South African English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_English), [Cockney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney), and [Received Pronunciation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation)”. It is not laziness or a disdain for “niceties”, it’s a dialectical difference. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/4 "2024-09-17T19:18:56Z")
They’re not homophones for me. I hear and say a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/5 "2024-09-17T19:25:43Z")
Philly person here. Pronounced identically. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/6 "2024-09-17T19:29:14Z")
NYC area here. I feel like I say the T in hearty, and that they sound slightly different, but I could just be _thinking_ I do since I know that’s the word I’m saying. Now I’m not sure anymore. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/7 "2024-09-17T19:31:32Z")
I’m also from the NYC area and I’m pretty sure I say them the same. If I were trying to differentiate (“Wait, is it party harDy or party hearTy?”), I would pronounce them differently, but normally they’re homophones for me. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/8 "2024-09-17T19:42:09Z")
It is my privilege to extend to the OP a laurel…and hearty handshake. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2024, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/9 "2024-09-17T22:44:39Z")
I follow linguists who talk about how words can be homophones in one dialect but not another. I do not believe there is any additional requirement other than pronouncing them the same way. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/10 "2024-09-17T22:54:31Z")
The only person I’ve ever known (in the US) who pronounces them differently is an ex-theater person who’s been trained to clearly pronounce the “T” in nearly every instance. It sounds stilted. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/11 "2024-09-17T23:05:16Z")
Different for me, mid-Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeysBrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MonkeysBrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeysBrother)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/12 "2024-09-17T23:15:57Z")
Different for me too here in SoCal. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/13 "2024-09-17T23:21:17Z")
Different for me in the upper Midwest. Maybe because we have Hardee’s restaurants here (known as Carl Jr’s elsewhere), which are not hearty. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2024, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/14 "2024-09-17T23:23:16Z")
Upper Midwest (grew up in Wisconsin, live in the Chicago area). The two words aren’t quite homophones when I pronounce them; while I don’t pronounce the “d” in “hardy” the same way I’d pronounce it in “hard,” the sound isn’t quite a “t” sound, either. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2024, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/15 "2024-09-18T00:09:01Z")
When I saw the two words in the thread title, I heard them differently in my head, so I assume I would saw them differently as well. The difference is subtle, but it’s real. > [@pulykamell](#): > > I also object to the term “lazy speech.” It’s just a dialect variation Is there a less objectionable way to say “_not_ taking care to enunciate clearly or to distinguish between phonemes that sound _almost_ the same?” ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/16 "2024-09-18T01:57:34Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > They’re not homophones for me. I hear and say a difference. Different for me as well, and I have vocal habits inherited from my PENN/MASS father, and a lifetime of habits from various places in the Southwest (mostly NM and CO). But… Spending a lot of time working on phones and a good bit working with iffy voice-to-text options, I spend a bit more effort than the norm to fully enunciate my words, so I’m an outlier on many fronts. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2024, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/17 "2024-09-18T02:22:17Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > It is not laziness or a disdain for “niceties”, it’s a dialectical difference. Right, “laziness” isn’t really the appropriate word here, but it’s something more like lack of precision. In my world, “t” and “d” are different letters with entirely different sounds. But, sure, there’s a dialectical aspect to it. The typical British accent especially tends to distinctly accentuate “t” sounds as differentiated from “d” sounds, the American one often not at all, and the Canadian one somewhere in between. My pronunciations tend to be strongly influenced by how words are actually spelled. Which is not better or worse than anyone else’s dialect, and is obviously influenced by a subjective sense of how a particular spelling **should** be pronounced, but I dislike the idea of slurring or entirely skipping consonants or vowels that are right there in the printed word! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/18 "2024-09-18T03:15:01Z")
You may be pronouncing it as an alveolar flap, kind of like in the American pronunciation of “water,” which sounds like “wadder” to British ears, but isn’t quite the same “d.” I think that’s what I’m doing. And sticking to sounds exactly as they are written is nonsense, especially in the English language. “Knight,” anyone? “Often”? (Though many hypercorrect to pronounce that “t.” I admit, pronouncing that “t” slightly irks me, for some reason, even though I live for dialectal variations and embrace regional pronunciations. They add color to the language.) ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/19 "2024-09-18T03:17:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > You may be pronouncing it as an alveolar flap, kind of like in the American pronunciation of “water,” which sounds like “wadder” to British ears, but isn’t quite the same “d.” I think that’s what I’m doing. Seems about right! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2024, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399/20 "2024-09-18T03:22:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I dislike the idea of slurring or entirely skipping consonants or vowels that are right there in the printed word! You must really hate Worcestershire sauce, then. 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hearty-and-hardy-homophones/1007399.md?page=2)