# How do you pronounce "aunt"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574 "2015-07-19T02:56:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/21 "2015-07-19T11:15:04Z")
Non-American with a South Jersey accent here: I say “ant”. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/22 "2015-07-19T11:41:27Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > Fetching my country, the UK, into the ring: to the best of my knowledge everyone here, regardless of origin or colour, says “ahnt”: “ant” for one’s parent’s sister, sounds downright weird to a Brit. Well, your knowledge appears to be inadequate. “Ahnt” isn’t even universal within England, never mind the rest of the UK. I haven’t done any sort of a survey, but my impression is that “ant” is more usual in the North of England – it’s certainly very common. ---
**Author:** ![HowSoonIsThen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@HowSoonIsThen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HowSoonIsThen)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/23 "2015-07-19T12:21:37Z")
From Australia and I always say “Auntie”, which I guess is “aren’t” with an “ee” at the end. And “aren’t” is one syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Majestic\_Lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Majestic\_Lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Majestic_Lee)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/24 "2015-07-19T14:36:15Z")
I’m a (north of England) “_Brit_” and I’ve never heard anyone from round here pronounce it as anything other that “ANT” ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/25 "2015-07-19T14:43:02Z")
I say “awnt” (rhymes with “taunt”). My (white guy) boss was the one who told me he thought this was a “black thing”. All the black people he knew pronounced “aunt” like I do, and _only_ black people. Up to that moment, I had assumed it was a regional thing, not racial. All my aunts are from the Midwest. I thought “awnt” was reflective of their dialect, not black dialect. I don’t know one way or the other. All I know is “ant” just doesn’t feel right for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/26 "2015-07-19T14:43:19Z")
I pronounce it exactly the way the nurse does in **Them!** ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/27 "2015-07-19T14:59:22Z")
Where I grew up in the Midwest, it was also a race-related thing. White people said “ant.” Black people said “ahnt.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/28 "2015-07-19T15:08:34Z")
Properly. ---
**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 19, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/29 "2015-07-19T15:31:06Z")
‘Something else.’ If it’s ‘my aunt’, it’s ahnt. If it’s ‘Aunt Mary’, it’s ant. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/30 "2015-07-19T15:51:52Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The same way as I say “aren’t”, rhyming with “can’t”. **Aren’t** and **can’t** rhyme for you? So is it aren’t and carn’t? Oh and you said they rhyme with aunt, so now I’m really confused. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/31 "2015-07-19T15:53:28Z")
I go both ways. depending on my mood and which aunt(s) I’m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/32 "2015-07-19T17:24:01Z")
It’s ‘Ant’ when I’m on the Mainland, but ‘On-tee’ when I’m in the Islands or with my Honolulu High School classmates. As in, “My Auntie gi’ me da side-eyes wen I tole one dirty joke to my Bruddah-in-Law”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/33 "2015-07-19T17:26:00Z")
“Ant.” I grew up in Alaska, parents from the PNW. I never knew anybody who pronounced it differently until I left home. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/34 "2015-07-19T17:33:11Z")
No true New Englander would pronounce it “ant”. Even my cousin, who moved to the south when he was in Jr High still says “ahnt”. However… the pancake mix was always “An-ja-My-muh”, so in that one instance it gets mangled. But it’s one of those compound words you learn before you know what the two components actually are. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/35 "2015-07-19T17:36:57Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Non-American with a South Jersey accent here: I say “ant”. Apropos of nothing in particular Non-American with a South Jersey Accent should be the title of your autobiography ;). Oh and “ant.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/36 "2015-07-19T17:40:51Z")
For Americans, I think it’s generally: New Englanders + Blacks = “aunt”; everyone else = “ant”. ---
**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 19, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/37 "2015-07-19T18:08:54Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > ‘Something else.’ > > If it’s ‘my aunt’, it’s ahnt. > If it’s ‘Aunt Mary’, it’s ant. That describes me as well. And I’ll use the non-insect pronunciation if I think there’s any chance of ambiguity. ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/38 "2015-07-19T18:57:44Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > That describes me as well. And I’ll use the non-insect pronunciation if I think there’s any chance of ambiguity. Proof that all of you “ant-ers” know the “ahnt-ers” are correct. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/39 "2015-07-19T20:51:13Z")
My black relatives and I all pronounce it “ant.” I’m from NY. ---
**Author:** ![Mithril](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mithril/32/3517_2.png) [@Mithril](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mithril)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574/40 "2015-07-19T20:58:39Z")
New Englander, born and bred. I say “aunt” to rhyme with “haunt”. I can’t quite figure out the difference between the “awwwnt” and “ahnt” people are talking about, though. (I am often complimented on my enunciation. This comes from an immigrant mother who was adamant that I not develop her accent. My way is almost assuredly my region’s default, since I was never made to practice another way). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-aunt/725574.md?page=3)