# How do you pronounce "aunt" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077 "2010-07-18T01:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/61 "2010-07-21T04:06:41Z")
I’m confused. I pronounce it ‘ahnt’ and that does not rhyme with haunt in my idiolect. ‘Haunt’ sounds like hawnt (A little like the [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) pronunciation). So, everytime someone says they rhyme aunt with haunt, I go :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/62 "2010-07-24T19:20:45Z")
Me: RP. Ahnt. Partner: Lancashire. Ant. Or more commonly Anty. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/63 "2010-07-25T04:55:07Z")
I say “ant” and am a 40 year resident of Alaska, prior to moving up here, I lived in Washington state and California and most people I grew up with pronounced it the same way. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/64 "2010-07-25T05:23:40Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > I grew up in Ontario but have lived in Halifax, NS on and off for nine years since '84. I say aunt like “ant” but the locals in Halifax say it like “ont”. It’s a regional thing here but I just can’t bring myself to do it because I would feel pompous and pretentious (I’m not saying that it is pompous and pretentious, however). Yep, I knew a woman from Dartmouth who was always saying “ont” and “scollops” like the Queen was her Aunt Bessie. ---
**Author:** ![gang\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@gang\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gang_green)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/65 "2010-07-25T17:27:55Z")
I say ant, but some relatives with more tenacious Tennessee roots say aint. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/66 "2010-07-25T17:40:41Z")
I say ‘ant’. I’m in Southern Ontario. > [@AHunter3](#): > > > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > > > Aren’t “ont” and “awnt” the same? > > Of course not. Ont rhymes with font. Awnt rhymes with haunt. ‘Font’ and ‘haunt’ rhyme for me. Now I’m confused. > [@Serenata67](#): > > I’m with you, though. When I was younger, I was fascinated with British English. I spelled “blond” as “blonde”… ‘Blond(e)’ is one of those French-influenced words like fiancé(e): you spell it ‘blond’ if the person is male, and tack on the extra e to spell it ‘blonde’ if the person is female. Not a British/US thing at all as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077/67 "2010-07-25T18:24:27Z")
> [@Manwich](#): > > Australian, so I say “aahnt”. For me it rhymes with "can’t " but not “cant”, “rant” or “plant”. I pronounce “aunt” the same as “aren’t”. My mum is from Australia, and I pronounce Aunt either “Ant” or “Aahnt”, depending on…damned if I know, it just comes out one way one time, and another way the next time. Thanks to **Attackmum** , I say ‘brass’ like an American, but _Brasso_ the cleaning product is “Brah-so”, since I never heard anyone else say the word but her till I was a grown up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/547077.md?page=3)