# How Do You Pronounce The Word "Button"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 4, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229 "2009-05-04T00:33:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/1 "2009-05-04T00:33:15Z")
Sounds like an easy question, but I have begun to notice an odd pronunciation of it - was wondering if it is a regional thing. I had a teacher a few years ago, and now several students, who pronounce the word “button” but with _silent_ “T’s”. It sounds like “Buh-un.” Is this just some weird coincidence, or have you ever heard of anyone pronouncing the word “button” with silent T’s? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/2 "2009-05-04T00:36:49Z")
Well, I don’t enunciate the “T” portion, but I do put a pause between the “buh” and the “un.” I don’t really know how to describe it…I’m sure some linguist Doper will come along and explain it better. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/3 "2009-05-04T00:37:29Z")
I say “bu’n,” and I have for all my life, as have nearly all the people I know. I had a friend when I was a kid who was originally from Russia and he had a mostly American sounding accent, but with a few little quirks. One of them was that he always pronounced the T’s in the word button, like a proper British person or something. I always made fun of him for it. I am in Indiana, FWIW. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/4 "2009-05-04T00:39:43Z")
That’s basically how I pronounce it, with the pause, and without a clear, hard “t” sound. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/5 "2009-05-04T00:42:43Z")
You mean they pronounce it with a [glottal stop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop)? That’s common in some British accents too, but it’s not confined to the word button - it’s any t in the middle or at the end of a word. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/6 "2009-05-04T00:42:56Z")
As grandma would say, “Well, Ill be…” So it is not that rare? I pronounce it “Buttin”…rhymes with mutton, cuttin’, nuttin’. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/7 "2009-05-04T00:43:33Z")
That’s called a [glottal stop](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glottal_stop#Occurrence). I wikipedia’d it to verify that’s what it is, and weirdly enough, one of their examples of glottal stops in English is the word “button.” I think it shows up a fair amount. “Them’s fightin’ words,” for example, would sound weird with that “t” in “fighting” pronounced. “Sittin’ in the morning sun” also has unpronounced t’s. A lot of words I can think of with a middle “t” surrounded by vowels will have that “t” pronounced as a glottal stop, especially if you’re speaking informally. ---
**Author:** ![Varrius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e9a140/32.png) [@Varrius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Varrius)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/8 "2009-05-04T01:01:39Z")
I know quite a few people living here in the NE that use the glottal stop when they say words such as button, nothing and eating. Drives me batshit crazy. I don’t say anything to those who do this because I know too many people who do it. It still makes my brain hurt to hear it. ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/9 "2009-05-04T01:12:54Z")
I can’t and won’t speak for all Marylanders but I seem to hear “bu’ en” with just the faintest of ‘t’ sound in between. Such that when I hear the t’s in a word like “button” or especially a hard ‘t’ separating the syllables in “little” it sounds positively bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/10 "2009-05-04T01:31:11Z")
> [@Varrius](#): > > I know quite a few people living here in the NE that use the glottal stop when they say words such as button, nothing and eating. Drives me batshit crazy. I don’t say anything to those who do this because I know too many people who do it. It still makes my brain hurt to hear it. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/11 "2009-05-04T01:51:55Z")
What about when people pronounce the t in a word sort of like a d? Like city sounds more like ciddy or something…I don’t know. I think I kind of pronounce button that way. ---
**Author:** ![bytheway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@bytheway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bytheway)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/12 "2009-05-04T01:53:15Z")
My daughter said “button” this way when she was about 4 or 5. No one else we know says it that way. My guess is she picked up on it from TV…what PBS Kids or Disney Channel show could it have been? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/13 "2009-05-04T02:10:35Z")
Isn’t it a Board rule that Throatwarbler Mangrove has to pop into every thread like this? ---
**Author:** ![Jettboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@Jettboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jettboy)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/14 "2009-05-04T02:11:23Z")
“Buh-un”, huh? I’ve heard it pronounced that way before, usually on TV shows featuring young, urban hipsters. It’s sounds…sloppy. Like people who pronounce the name ‘Martin’ as “Mauh-En”. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/15 "2009-05-04T02:22:42Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > As grandma would say, “Well, Ill be…” > So it is not that rare? > > I pronounce it “Buttin”…rhymes with mutton, cuttin’, nuttin’. Buh’n, muh’n, cuh’n, nuh’n… siddy, kiddy… standard Southern Ontario accent here. ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/16 "2009-05-04T02:30:15Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Sounds like an easy question, but I have begun to notice an odd pronunciation of it - was wondering if it is a regional thing. > > I had a teacher a few years ago, and now several students, who pronounce the word “button” but with _silent_ “T’s”. It sounds like “Buh-un.” > > Is this just some weird coincidence, or have you ever heard of anyone pronouncing the word “button” with silent T’s? Probably a glottal stop, more common to British English than American if I remember right. Other way to pronounce those ts: [Flapping.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapping) (Wikipedia says it’s also called ‘tapping,’ though I was taught the term ‘flapping.’) More common to Americans, possibly what you’re used to. Few if any actually pronounce the ts–it’d sound like BUTT-TON. 😛 I use the flap–so I sound a bit like “buht-en.” ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/17 "2009-05-04T02:30:23Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I pronounce it “Buttin”…rhymes with mutton, cuttin’, nuttin’. Like that. I’m in Oregon. (That’s pronounced Ory gun.) ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/18 "2009-05-04T02:40:21Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I pronounce it “Buttin”…rhymes with mutton, cuttin’, nuttin’. Yep. But-in. Sometimes with a Bu’din, depending on which syllable I emphasize. It’s a very similar sound that even I can’t tell which I’m saying. VA born and raised. ---
**Author:** ![wunderkammer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@wunderkammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wunderkammer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/19 "2009-05-04T02:49:36Z")
Wisconsin. Glottal stop. Articulating the “t” makes the word sound quaint and prissy, and when I try to pronounce it with a flap consonant all I can hear is “buddin’”. (Interestingly enough, I seem to use a glottal stop with all of the “-in’” words, but when I pronounce the whole “-ing”, the flap sounds correct. I blame the presence of a real vowel sound in the “-ing” syllable. I think.) ---
**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:** [May 4, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229/20 "2009-05-04T03:02:36Z")
I pronounce the t’s, but when I moved up to Schenectady, I noticed that many people did not: buh’in or even ki’in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-the-word-button/495229.md?page=2)