# How do you pronounce VEHICLE? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2026, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293 "2026-06-30T07:24:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/1 "2026-06-30T07:24:36Z")
Just watching a US YewTube video, and the narrators are pronouncing vehicle as ‘VeeHICCLE’. Which to my Aussie ears sounds weird and somewhat backwoods. In Aus, the H is discarded, it’s a ve-icle. Is that pronunciation universal in the US, or just some local dialect? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/2 "2026-06-30T07:50:44Z")
“VEE-ih-cull”. It kinda rhymes with “icicle”. I’m American. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/3 "2026-06-30T09:25:09Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > In Aus, the H is discarded, it’s a ve-icle. You must reside in some posher postcode. “icle” ??? In this here parts we drop both the H and the I. Why expend the energy and breathe on three syllables when two will suffice? “VEE - cle” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/4 "2026-06-30T09:47:31Z")
There is a local (U.S.) commercial in which the speaker repeatedly urges the viewer to donate their unwanted vee-HICK-le. He has a strong southern accent. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/5 "2026-06-30T10:11:11Z")
Annnd… here’s **Vehicle** by the Ides of March. (1970; #2 hit in the U.S., #73 in Australia.) There’s a hint of an haitch. I think my normal pronunciation is similar, and I’ll up the h-factor if I’m trying to speak clearly. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bq95nZBbNHI/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/bq95nZBbNHI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=RDbq95nZBbNHI ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/6 "2026-06-30T10:20:11Z")
VEE-icle, unless I’m being snarky or silly, in which case it’s vee-HIC-le. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/7 "2026-06-30T11:13:23Z")
Vee-i-cle (Southern UK). I pronounce the ‘hic’ if the word is ‘vehicular’ ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/8 "2026-06-30T11:14:18Z")
Southeastern US. Without the ‘h.’ Looking at some old dictionaries, that is the older and more common pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/9 "2026-06-30T11:18:18Z")
I grew up in Utah and sometimes retain a slight “h” but it’s not strong. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/10 "2026-06-30T11:58:21Z")
As I recall, the over pronunciation of the ‘H’ in vehicle started in the 80s with Roscoe P. Coltrane on **The Dukes of Hazzard** This is an example: [Dukes of Hazzard-Rosco and Enos try their new patrol vehicles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1yCAzb87sU) ETA: I’m not saying that Roscoe coined the pronunciation, but the show popularized it in the US. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/11 "2026-06-30T12:32:05Z")
I associate the vee-HICK-ul pronunciation more with Sgt. Rizzo from _MASH_. See this video: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHsWtBagzW0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHsWtBagzW0) ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/12 "2026-06-30T12:33:37Z")
VEE-hick-l. I do clearly pronounce the H, and have actually been surprised to see so many of you don’t… ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/13 "2026-06-30T12:40:23Z")
First thing I thought of. Potter not letting Rizzo pencil whip him through the required vee-hickle training. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/14 "2026-06-30T13:09:45Z")
New Hampshirite here. After thinking about this-it depends for me. If am thinking about what I am saying–ve-hic-le. In normal everyday speech it would mostly likely be shortened to vee-cle. I do NOT think I am doing this deliberately, ---
**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:** [June 30, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/15 "2026-06-30T13:13:35Z")
Vee-ickl. No H. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/16 "2026-06-30T13:31:10Z")
“Veal-cuhl” (Cleveland) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/17 "2026-06-30T13:35:37Z")
Also Cleveland. The accent is on the the first syllable, there are three syllables, and there’s a slight hint of an H, but it’s very weak. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/18 "2026-06-30T13:55:56Z")
Car. (Sorry had to do it 😄 !) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/19 "2026-06-30T14:01:16Z")
Reminded of Jessica Mitford’s essay about using fake names to send brief messages via the long-distance phone carrier without getting charged (back when long-distance phone charges were a thing). You’d put through a person-to-person call to your desired number, but ask for a nonexistent person with a name that conveyed to the person who took the call the information you wanted to give them. Then the recipient would say “Sorry, [fake person] isn’t here”, and the operator would terminate the call with no charge. An example Mitford described of such an informal phone “code” system involved a traveling salesman calling home to let his wife know what city he was currently in. The “person” he asked for when he called from Detroit was “Homer V. Hickles”. 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293/20 "2026-06-30T14:18:42Z")
VEE-hickle. My speech patterns are mostly Southern and we practically have an aversion to silent letters. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-vehicle/1031293.md?page=2)