# Pronounciation of "aunt"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 5, 2015, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593 "2015-10-05T09:21:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 4

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**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:** [October 8, 2015, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/61 "2015-10-08T12:42:10Z")

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> [@Hail\_Ants](#):
>
> . . .And the only time I’ve ever heard puma pronounced ‘pew-mah’ was in a Smothers Brothers’ sketch (so I assumed it was a joke pronunciation). . . .

That’s how Marlin Perkins pronounced it on ‘Wild Kingdom,’ too.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-of-aunt/733593/62 "2015-10-08T13:39:24Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Or simply “restroom” or “men’s/women’s room.” To my US ears, “toilet” sounds a bit vulgar, too. I’ve gotten used to it having spent a lot of time around non-US English speakers, but it still sounds a bit odd to me. A “bathroom” in the US does not imply the presence of an actual bath. It usually is a toilet and a sink at the very least. We don’t generally have separate WCs/toilet rooms.

Practically any word short of shithouse is a euphemism. Mediaeval castles had the garderobe or wardrobe, which was not just a place for keeping one’s clothes, a toilet is not just a place for adjusting one’s clothes and appearance (from the French toile, or cloth), a washroom or lavatory (the Latin for washroom) is not just a place for washing, even water closet or WC isn’t just a private space with water. And I don’t know about you, but even if you go to the restroom for a rest, it may not belong before someone’s banging on the door shouting “Are you going to be in there all day?”

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