# Pronounciations that grate: Is it because I'm old? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645 "2012-06-19T14:32:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/181 "2012-06-26T03:19:41Z")
Tore guides. Dorable goods. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/182 "2012-06-26T11:23:43Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > That’s the pronunciation I’m talking about. Wahr might be the closest spelling. But I feel war is closer than wire. Got ya. Actually it is kind of a weird word when you think about it. 🙂 > [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > What is wrong with you? You were looking in the mirror when you said that, I hope. I was kidding. Look, winky smiley and everything. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/183 "2012-06-26T12:01:52Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > What is wrong with you? My reaction was :dubious:+:rolleyes: because he did the same damned thing in the thread about phrases/sayings you hate. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/184 "2012-06-26T12:04:13Z")
racist. (hey it works so well for others, I might as well give it a shot) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/185 "2012-06-26T12:10:06Z")
I’m constantly bugged by some pronunciations of CNN’s Brooke Baldwin, and I’m hearing it from other people more and more. It’s changing an “E” sound to an “I” sound, as in “sinator” and “dimocrat.” I understand it’s a regional thing, but it just sounds illiterate to me. And then there’s the dropping of final consonants (Charlie Rose does it) in words like “worl(d)” and “Egyp(t).” Also apparently a regionalism. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/186 "2012-06-26T15:18:56Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And then there’s the dropping of final consonants (Charlie Rose does it) in words like “worl(d)” and “Egyp(t).” Also apparently a regionalism. Oh, heaven. When Ira Glass says _act_ (which he does usually 2-4 times an episode), he drops the _t_. Drives me batty. Unrelated, we have a thing here in Charlotte called the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. One of the local public radio announcers apparently cannot make his mouth not say _Bloomingthal_. Arrrrrgh. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/187 "2012-06-26T23:47:53Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’m constantly bugged by some pronunciations of CNN’s Brooke Baldwin, and I’m hearing it from other people more and more. It’s changing an “E” sound to an “I” sound, as in “sinator” and “dimocrat.” I understand it’s a regional thing, but it just sounds illiterate to me. Word of advice- _never_ visit New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/188 "2012-06-27T00:50:55Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Word of advice- _never_ visit New Zealand. Coming from a New Zealander it’s charming. From an American it just grates. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/189 "2012-06-27T01:20:41Z")
Ooh, ooh, thought of another one! Data. I hate it when the a between the d and the t is pronounced like the one in cat. That makes it sound like baby talk. Only a long a sound is correct to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/190 "2012-06-27T01:57:48Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Word of advice- _never_ visit New Zealand. Or Malbourne. ---
**Author:** ![MyFactCheckBounced](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MyFactCheckBounced](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFactCheckBounced)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/191 "2012-06-27T02:44:37Z")
Right. First of all, this is very painful to me, as I lost family in the great vowel shift. But I feel I must weigh in with my top pet peeve of all time: Brits with foreign words they pronounce as if they are suddenly American, because the original foreign word uses a British “ah” where we’d use the “ae” sound. Match-o. Tack-o. You feel me? It’s like they’re not content with just being all posh with their broad-“a” selves. No. They have to foul up perfectly good broad-“a” words and make them sound like a parody of how they imagine Americans would foul up the broad “a.” My theory is that it’s all a subtle form of imperialism that they adopted in place of the old kind where they could actually invade people and keep them down for a few centuries. Now all they can do is foul up pronunciations. I am seriously considering a hypothesis that at home, with no Americans around, all Brits are secretly talking in some sort of Brooklyn accent and having a ball with the idea that we’re charmed by their ox-cents. Okay, rant over. ---
**Author:** ![MyFactCheckBounced](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MyFactCheckBounced](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFactCheckBounced)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/192 "2012-06-27T02:47:34Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > As an alternate example, I pronounce “wines” and “winds” (as in winds up) slightly differently. For me, Wednesday follows the same pattern as winds. The All-Father would be charmed by your fealty. You guys know the days are named as a form of worship of the Norse pantheon, right? (Sorry if we went into it already, or if it’s so well-trodden ground that it’s not worth mentioning. I’m new.) ---
**Author:** ![MyFactCheckBounced](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MyFactCheckBounced](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFactCheckBounced)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/193 "2012-06-27T02:50:10Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > That looks like a Russo-Yiddish dialect (cite: _The Education of H_Y_M_A_N K_A_P_L_A_N\* by Leo Rosten). Gentile poetry. Poyim (that’s the plural.) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/194 "2012-06-27T07:59:01Z")
> [@MyFactCheckBounced](#): > > Right. First of all, this is very painful to me, as I lost family in the great vowel shift. But I feel I must weigh in with my top pet peeve of all time: Brits with foreign words they pronounce as if they are suddenly American, because the original foreign word uses a British “ah” where we’d use the “ae” sound. > > Match-o. Tack-o. You feel me? > > It’s like they’re not content with just being all posh with their broad-“a” selves. No. They have to foul up perfectly good broad-“a” words and make them sound like a parody of how they imagine Americans would foul up the broad “a.” > > My theory is that it’s all a subtle form of imperialism that they adopted in place of the old kind where they could actually invade people and keep them down for a few centuries. Now all they can do is foul up pronunciations. > > I am seriously considering a hypothesis that at home, with no Americans around, all Brits are secretly talking in some sort of Brooklyn accent and having a ball with the idea that we’re charmed by their ox-cents. > > Okay, rant over. It’s got nothing to do with America. In the UK (at least in all the dialects I can think of) consonant-vowel-consonant are pronounced flatly, with the kind of vowels a little kid might use when spelling them out. It’s only different if there’s something in the word indicating a change of pronunciation, like the magic ‘e’ in change, the w in vowels or the gh in might. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/195 "2012-06-27T08:45:55Z")
I think Indian accents are horrible enough for most westerners. But, within India itself, they are very confusing. In the western city of Pune, I once had to type 3 pages and take print in a shop. After taking the print, I asked the shop owner “how much”? “Pifty”. (meaning 50) “Pifty bucks for 3 pages”!😕 “It is too high”! “Sorry, that is our standard rate.” Seeing no point in arguing, I gave a 50 bucks note. He paid back Rs 35. “Why did you give me back Rs 35?” “Because pifty minus pifty is 35.” ( Fifty minus fifteen is 35) I go :smack::smack::smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MyFactCheckBounced](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MyFactCheckBounced](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFactCheckBounced)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/196 "2012-06-27T11:07:10Z")
You made that up, Sam. They’re doing it on purpose. Side note - I recently read a Brit’s “pet peeves” about Americans… Apparently Brits think we’re pretentious if we don’t say the “h” in “herb.” Side note to the side note - Brits also say the “H” in the letter “H” – I love seeing the British actress from _Game of Thrones_ saying “On Haitch B O” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/197 "2012-06-27T11:27:30Z")
> [@MyFactCheckBounced](#): > > Side note - I recently read a Brit’s “pet peeves” about Americans… Apparently Brits think we’re pretentious if we don’t say the “h” in “herb.” In my circle, you pronounce the “h” when discussing marjoram, but _not_ when discussing cannabis. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/198 "2012-06-27T11:28:51Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Shatner is Canadian. Blame it on Canada. Now, now, the Canadian government has apologized for William Shatner on several occasions. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/199 "2012-06-27T14:34:16Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Ooh, ooh, thought of another one! > > Data. I hate it when the a between the d and the t is pronounced like the one in cat. That makes it sound like baby talk. Only a long a sound is correct to my ears. Especially if you’re a Trekkie. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645/200 "2012-06-27T17:36:26Z")
> [@MyFactCheckBounced](#): > > You made that up, Sam. > Side note to the side note - Brits also say the “H” in the letter “H” – I love seeing the British actress from _Game of Thrones_ saying “On Haitch B O” Not all. In fact it’s probably a minority. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciations-that-grate-is-it-because-im-old/625645.md?page=11)