# It is not 'ax' its 'ask' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 13, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931 "2004-07-13T18:10:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cdnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@cdnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdnguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/21 "2004-07-13T19:58:34Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Not for you, but obviously for others it is. Do you think people say “ax” for the heck of it? So many people, “ax” rolls off the tongue easier than “ask”. > > I actually have to concentrate when I say “ask”. Once, I was talking to someone and I found myself saying “ask” and “asked” a lot, and I really was having a hard time not confusing the two. In my brain, they sound very similar. I was glad when the conversation was over, that’s how taxed I was. > > I have difficulty saying a lot of words “correctly” due to my Southern accent. It took moving up North for me to notice that I say “heel” instead of “hill” and “peel” instead of “pill”. Even after knowing that “ill” is a different sound than “eel”, I still have a very difficult time saying “ill” words “correctly”. > > I don’t have a speech impediment, even though I did spend a year in elementary school in a speech class due to language issues. > > You have the right to be pissed, I suppose. But it’s not as easy as saying someone is being lazy for saying a word the way they do. There are these things called accents and dialects that we must tolerate in a vibrant society like ours. No one really speaks standard English except for news reporters. So what you are saying is that it is Southern US way to ask? Well I don’t live anywhere close to the South, not even in the US and I still hear this. On TV mostly, admittedly, but I do hear it occasionally here in the great white north. And anyway I don’t buy that it is a southern US thing. Maybe I’m being thick, but I think its just a lazy way t o speak properly. If you have to think to speak properly, yes I do think that is a lack of education thing. I’d be willing to bet that people with a college/university say ‘ask’ a lot more often. As well as you and I, rather then me and you., which also bothers me. Having to think/concentrate before you speak? I’d imagine the vast majority of Dopers should be doing this anyway. ---
**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 13, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/22 "2004-07-13T20:00:03Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Not for you, but obviously for others it is. Do you think people say “ax” for the heck of it? So many people, “ax” rolls off the tongue easier than “ask”. I’m not sure why anyone says “ax” instead of “ask”, but the “ease of pronunciation” argument never made much sense to me. The “-ask” sound is quite common in English (t **ask** , fl **ask** , m **ask** , c **ask** et…) and yet it is only this one word that gets mangled. On the other hand, it’s not too hard to see why so many people say “nukyular” instead of “nuclear”. Not only is the “CLEE-er” sound uncommon in English, the “kyu-ler” sound is rather common, especially in more technical terms like “muscular” or “vascular”. Vaxular, anyone? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/23 "2004-07-13T20:29:43Z")
I can kinda see why people might have trouble pronouncing “ask”, esp. if they grew up around people who say “ax” or if they have a speech impediment. Myself, I have trouble saying “rural” and “brewery”, and forget about saying both words together. It ends up sounding like a bunch of R’s got in a big “R” accident. Hey! I made a funny! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/24 "2004-07-13T20:31:42Z")
> [@cdnguy](#): > > Well I’m pretty damn sure there is a huge difference between ‘ax’ and ‘ask’ and ‘pop’ and ‘soda’. Well, yeah, there are differences. But here’s another, better, example. Part of President Kennedy’s inaugural address goes like this: > [@](#): > > Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed … Except, Kennedy, when he gave the address, didn’t say that. What he said was more like this: > [@](#): > > Let the wood go fowth from this tiyem and playace, to freyend and foe alike, that the towach has been paassed Kennedy was an intelligent man, and well educated, but he was also from Boston, and Bostonians tend to drop their 'r’s and flatten their "a"s. Equally, in some dialects and accents of English, people say the word “ask” the same way they say the word “ax”. This isn’t the only example of this. I pronounce “Mary”, “merry”, and “marry” identically, because I was raised in a place where those words all were pronounced identically. However, there are other English speakers who pronounce those words differently. That’s not because I’m smarter than they are or vice versa, but just because we grew up learning certain accents. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/25 "2004-07-13T20:33:01Z")
[QUOTE=cdnguy] > [@](#): > > And anyway I don’t buy that it is a southern US thing. Read again that link you found to be so interesting. It gives ax a provenence as a variant dating back to Chaucer’s time, and a distribution over half of the U.S. as well as England. > [@](#): > > Maybe I’m being thick, You are. > [@](#): > > but I think its just a lazy way t o speak properly. It is a regional dialect. People who speak that way were taught to speak that way. > [@](#): > > f you have to think to speak properly, yes I do think that is a lack of education thing. I have a college education, and I often have to think to speak properly. Actually, I find that if speak without thinking it pretty much comes out as gibberish. > [@](#): > > I’d be willing to bet that people with a college/university say ‘ask’ a lot more often . Perhaps, but how many people do you know who actually have a “college/university” ? When you get right down to it that’s going to be a very small statistical sample. > [@](#): > > As well as you and I, rather then me and you., which also bothers me. You have an interesting variant spelling of “than” in that sentence, as well as a punctuation mark (.,) that I have never seen before. > [@](#): > > Having to think/concentrate before you speak? I’d imagine the vast majority of Dopers should be doing this anyway. Perhaps you could offer us a demonstration? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/26 "2004-07-13T20:33:40Z")
WHY do Brits and Canadians pronounce “aluminum” as AL LOO MIN EE U M? 😕 ---
**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 13, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/27 "2004-07-13T20:47:09Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > WHY do Brits and Canadians pronounce “aluminum” as AL LOO MIN EE U M? 😕 Because they spell it “aluminium”. The -ium ending is common for chemical elements. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/28 "2004-07-13T20:52:25Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > And while we’re at it, it’s not _It’s not “its” it’s “it’s”._; it’s _It’s not “its”; it’s “it’s.”_ While we’re at that, a pet peeve: To pluralize a singular, add apostrophe-S. It does not matter if the singular ends with an S. For instance, if you want to refer to a golf club owned by Tiger Woods, you would call it “Tiger Woods’s seven-iron.” It is pronounced “Woods-es.” “Tiger Woods’ seven-iron” is one hundred percent wrong. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/29 "2004-07-13T20:53:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > While we’re at that, a pet peeve: > > To pluralize a singular, add apostrophe-S. It does not matter if the singular ends with an S. For instance, if you want to refer to a golf club owned by Tiger Woods, you would call it “Tiger Woods’s seven-iron.” It is pronounced “Woods-es.” > > “Tiger Woods’ seven-iron” is one hundred percent wrong. Of course, I don’t mean PLURALIZE, I mean MAKE POSSESSIVE. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/30 "2004-07-13T20:55:42Z")
> [@cdnguy](#): > > So what you are saying is that it is Southern US way to ask? Well I don’t live anywhere close to the South, not even in the US and I still hear this. On TV mostly, admittedly, but I do hear it occasionally here in the great white north. Go to the link I posted above. The website says that “ax” for “ask” is common in the South, as well as African American Vernacular English. In fact, linguists hypothesize that the presence of “ax” in Southern dialect stems from a dialect of British English spoken by colonists. > [@](#): > > I don’t buy that it is a southern US thing. Maybe I’m being thick, but I think its just a lazy way t o speak properly. I don’t understand why people have to label language as “lazy”. That’s like me saying that Bostonians speak “lazy” because they say “cah” instead of “car”. Or New Jersyians speak “lazy” because they say “or-range” rather than “orange”. Writing LMAO is perhaps a lazy way of saying laughing my ass off. But saying a word differently than you do does not indicate (at least to me) a difference in work ethic. These two sentences > [@](#): > > If you have to think to speak properly, yes I do think that is a lack of education thing. > > Having to think/concentrate before you speak? I’d imagine the vast majority of Dopers should be doing this anyway. contradict one another. I’m well educated and have to think when I speak sometimes. For me, it’s natural to say “Me and so-and-so are going to the store”. It’s also more natural to say things like “Everybody was there”, “Where are you going to?”, and “If I was you…” And according to The Rules, these are wrong wrong wrong. I will follow The Rules when I’m writing a paper or when I’m being a professional. But outside of these situations, I DO NOT CARE. Nor do I care how others speak, as long as I can understand them and their language isn’t rife with profanity and empty phrases (like, youknowwhatI’msayin, etc.) It does not make me feel good to be the Grammar and Pronunciation Marm. People who are like this GET ON MY NERVES. ---
**Author:** ![cdnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@cdnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdnguy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/31 "2004-07-13T20:57:21Z")
> [@trandallt](#): > > You are. Fine, still pisses me off though. > [@trandallt](#): > > It is a regional dialect. People who speak that way were taught to speak that way. The people were taught incorrectly then. Repeating the errors of your father is not an excuse. > [@trandallt](#): > > I have a college education, and I often have to think to speak properly. Actually, I find that if speak without thinking it pretty much comes out as gibberish. Umm, good for you, not sure what point you are trying to make here. To think before you speak? Please do. > [@trandallt](#): > > Perhaps, but how many people do you know who actually have a “college/university” ? When you get right down to it that’s going to be a very small statistical sample. I should have said college or university. In Canada we draw a distinction between the 2, in the US it doesn’t seem that you do. > [@trandallt](#): > > You have an interesting variant spelling of “than” in that sentence, as well as a punctuation mark (.,) that I have never seen before. Yes I noticed this myself, after I hit submit though. I was waiting for someone to call me on this. Way to go, 1 point for you. > [@trandallt](#): > > Perhaps you could offer us a demonstration? I was making a joke, maybe a bad joke, but a joke nonethless. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/32 "2004-07-13T21:16:48Z")
[QUOTE=cdnguy] > [@](#): > > The people were taught incorrectly then. Repeating the errors of your father is not an excuse. Once again, with rythmn–IT’S A REGIONAL DIALECT. Not just their fathers, but their mothers, aunts, uncles, friends, teachers, coaches, ministers…I’TS HOW THEY TALK. And it’s not incorrect. It’s a variant with a history reaching hundreds of years in the past. Way before your father taught you how to be a close-minded chucking fucklehead. > [@](#): > > Umm, good for you, not sure what point you are trying to make here. To think before you speak? Please do. My point was that having to think before speaking is not a lack of education thing. In fact, I think that the more educated you are the more you appreciate the value of thinking before you speak. > [@](#): > > I should have said college or university. In Canada we draw a distinction between the 2, in the US it doesn’t seem that you do. College or university **what?** You said “people that have a college/university say ask a lot more often.” How many people do you know who have a college or university, if that makes it clearer for you. Perhaps you meant college or university education? Were you too lazy to proofread before you posted that? ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/33 "2004-07-13T21:17:55Z")
It sounds terrible. And I’ve never had trouble pronouncing “ask.” I mean, shit, if you have trouble pronouncing something, then concentrate when you’re doing it. I’d rather take longer to say it than come off sounding like an idiot. Disclaimer: If you have an actual speech impediment, that’s one thing, but someone who pronounces other things correctly should be able to say “ask.” ---
**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 13, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/34 "2004-07-13T21:25:55Z")
> [@cdnguy](#): > > Just because people have a problem pronouncing things doesn’t mean it will piss me off less. Since there doesn’t seem to be a medical reason for this, I’ll still chalk it down to a lack of education, and probably, a lack of intelligence. It really isn’t a difficult word. I have several colleagues in Mississippi who have college degrees and still use the regional “aks” when speaking. These are accomplished people who, I would say, have the education, intelligence and courtesy not to categorize an entire region as you have done with this statement. Your assumption is erroneous and your conclusion is insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/35 "2004-07-13T21:48:45Z")
In every county, as far as I can tell, there is a “standard” dialect and accent, and people who speak with that dialect and accent, or close to it, tend to be seen as more intelligent, or generally “better” than those who speak with other accents or dialects. The US and Canada certainly do. However, it’s important to remember that such a choice of dialect and accent is arbitrary. It might have come about because the king speaks with that dialect and accent, or some school that becomes important teaches that dialect and accent, or, when radio and TV comes to the area, the radio and TV announcers speak with that dialect or accent. However, it’s all subjective. The “standard” dialect and accent isn’t any better than any other dialect or accent. However, unfortunately, it’s not seen that way. If, for example, you have a southern accent, or if you speak in AAVE, that’s going to hurt you professionally. While that’s a fact, it also isn’t fair, and when you call people who speak with accents and dialects different than the standard one “ignorant” or “unintelligent”, you’re just expressing and confirming a stereotype that doesn’t have basis in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/36 "2004-07-13T21:50:20Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > WHY do Brits and Canadians pronounce “aluminum” as AL LOO MIN EE U M? 😕 Okay, I will give you the Brits. As well, I know the Aussies do it. But I have lived throughout Canada for most of my life from New Brunswick to Manitoba to Alberta. I spent summers in BC as that is where my grandparents lived. I have never heard a Canadian pronounce it AL LOO MIN EE UM. Hell, my parents and I used to joke about Aussies doing it when we lived there. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/37 "2004-07-13T22:30:16Z")
Recent headline from _The Onion_: > [@](#): > > AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY TERRORIZED BY ASK MURDERER ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/38 "2004-07-13T22:32:13Z")
lol ---
**Author:** ![Burnt\_Sugar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee59a6/32.png) [@Burnt\_Sugar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burnt_Sugar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/39 "2004-07-13T23:39:53Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > While we’re at that, a pet peeve: > > To pluralize a singular, add apostrophe-S. It does not matter if the singular ends with an S. For instance, if you want to refer to a golf club owned by Tiger Woods, you would call it “Tiger Woods’s seven-iron.” It is pronounced “Woods-es.” > > “Tiger Woods’ seven-iron” is one hundred percent wrong. That is not how I was taught in English class. It may be different in America, but in Australia, saying “Tiger Woods’ seven-iron” is one hundred percent correct. Just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931/40 "2004-07-13T23:40:49Z")
> [@Cyros](#): > > Okay, I will give you the Brits. As well, I know the Aussies do it. But I have lived throughout Canada for most of my life from New Brunswick to Manitoba to Alberta. I spent summers in BC as that is where my grandparents lived. I have never heard a Canadian pronounce it AL LOO MIN EE UM. Hell, my parents and I used to joke about Aussies doing it when we lived there. Yep, it’s alumin **i** um in Australia. As **John Mace** correctly points out, this is not just a matter of different pronunciation, but of different spelling as well. And given that Australia is the world’s largest producer of bauxite (aluminium ore) and alumina, i reckon we Aussies can say it any way we like. 🙂 Having lived in the US for four years, in Canada for two, and in England for two (after growing up in Australia), i’ve heard a lot of the different pronunciations common in the wqestern, English-speaking world. Variations generally don’t worry me at all. There is one pronunciation, however, for which i have a complete, unabiding, and totally irrational hatred: the North American pronunciation of the word “herb.” As Eddie Izzard says: “There’s a fucking ‘h’ in it!!!” 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-is-not-ax-its-ask/254931.md?page=3)