# Pronunciation question (one word) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2020, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119 "2020-05-19T16:05:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/21 "2020-05-20T15:11:14Z")
lam bast…ham cast… But I would know what you meant, whichever pronunciation you used, because there may be that much regional difference from place to place or among generations in the US. I get a facial tic more when you shift stress (“con TROV er sy” instead of CON tro ver sy, or “alu MIN i um” instead of a LU mi num. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/22 "2020-05-20T16:17:38Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I get a facial tic more when you shift stress (“con TROV er sy” instead of CON tro ver sy, or “alu MIN i um” instead of a LU mi num. As an American, I recognize that “aluminium” is more consistent than “aluminum” even though I use the latter. There are 68 elements (including aluminium) whose name ends in -ium, and only 4 that end in -um without an “i”. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/23 "2020-05-20T16:51:38Z")
I’ll jump ahead, **markn+** , and suppose you mean: molybdenum, tantalum, platinum, and lanthanum Back in the day… Ag-silver, from argentum Au-gold, from aurum Fe-iron, from ferrum Sn-tin, from stannum Pb-lead, from plumbum Hg-mercury, from hydrargyrum And we could almost add W-tungsten, from wolfram But languages aren’t 100% consistent or unchanging. I was thinking about the shift in stressed syllable. Actually the way I heard BE speakers say it is al yoo MIN i um. They also seem to say Jag yoo er instead of Jag wahr. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/24 "2020-05-20T17:03:23Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’ve never heard the short-a version, always the long-a version. Rhymes with “ham taste.” And I’ve always seen it spelled “lambaste.” Ditto, NYC area. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/25 "2020-05-23T00:44:35Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > I’ll jump ahead, **markn+** , and suppose you mean: molybdenum, tantalum, platinum, and lanthanum > > Back in the day… > Ag-silver, from argentum > Au-gold, from aurum > Fe-iron, from ferrum > Sn-tin, from stannum > Pb-lead, from plumbum > Hg-mercury, from hydrargyrum > > And we could almost add > W-tungsten, from wolfram Forgot cuprum for copper (Cu). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/26 "2020-05-23T03:18:15Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > And here we go again. Ham and hat do not have the same “a” sound in my Canadian English. > > I don’t even know how to describe it because every word I think of that rhymes with “ham” you, in the UK, would rhyme with “hat.” If only there were some accurate, widely used system to transcribe speech sounds! You’d then have a way to convey exactly what you mean without being misunderstood. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/27 "2020-05-23T03:40:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Ham and hat do not have the same “a” sound in my Canadian English. > > I don’t even know how to describe it because every word I think of that rhymes with “ham” you, in the UK, would rhyme with “hat.” I [found](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Canadian_English#Phonetics_and_phonology) > [@](#): > > a hole in the short vowel sub-system […] triggers a sound change known as the Canadian Shift, which involves the front lax vowels /æ, ɛ, ɪ/. The /æ/ of _bat_ is lowered and retracted in the direction of [a] (except in some environments, see below). Indeed, /æ/ is further back in this variety than almost all other North American dialects; the retraction of /æ/ was independently observed in Vancouver and is more advanced for Ontarians and women than for people from the Prairies or Atlantic Canada and men. […] > > Raising along the front periphery of the vowel space is restricted to two environments – before nasal and voiced velar consonants – and varies regionally even in these. Ontario and Maritime Canadian English commonly show some raising before nasals. It’s saying two changes happen to /æ/ in Ontario, both of which describe your examples: Before -t, the vowel is lowered to [a]. So your Canadian “hat” might sound to an American more like “hot”. /hæt/ \> [hat]. Before -m, the vowel is raised to [ɛə] (which can also happen in the US). So your Canadian “ham” might sound to a British speaker more like “hem.” Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/28 "2020-05-23T05:54:53Z")
Aussie here, I’ve only ever heard it pronounced Ham Taste, I don’t recall offhand what spellings I’ve seen ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/29 "2020-05-23T11:43:30Z")
> [@Oswald\_Bastable](#): > > I am also British, also resident in the UK (south east England if that matters) and I have only ever seen it spelt ‘lambast’ and pronounced to rhyme with ‘Hamfast’ (with a short northern ‘a’ in fast). I have honestly never encountered the -baste variant before today! > > OB Indeed. Northern Englisher here, haven’t heard it used for many a year. Only heard it pronounce Lambast and spelled Lambaste. It did strike me as odd that it contradicted the spelling, which conjures images of lamb roasting on a spit and being basted. There are so many contradictions in English though. On the other hand, Jaguar pronounced Jag-wahr is just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/30 "2020-05-23T13:13:34Z")
Strange, I with my Hispano-German accent would have sworn that it is pronounced like “Throat-Wobbler Mangrove”’. Most curious nobody mentioned that. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/31 "2020-05-23T13:57:21Z")
American, flyover country, short A in both syllables. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/32 "2020-05-24T00:35:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > And here we go again. Ham and hat do not have the same “a” sound in my Canadian English. > > I don’t even know how to describe it because every word I think of that rhymes with “ham” you, in the UK, would rhyme with “hat.” Nor in mine and I didn’t grow up in Canada. But then I speak Philadelphian in which “sad” and “bad” don’t rhyme. Nor the modal “can” and the ordinary verb “can”. FWIW, I say lamb baste (though as one word). There’s no right or wrong in these things. Each dialect will be a little different. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/33 "2020-05-24T09:16:41Z")
American here. Lived in 7 States. Hamfast pronunciation and I’ve never seen it spelled lambaste. Present simple is rarely seen however. Usually one is lambasting or being lambasted. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/34 "2020-05-24T09:33:35Z")
American (from Arkansas) I encountered the word originally spoken, and it was “ham fast.” I didn’t encounter the other pronunciation until much later, and it was always in the context of a prescriptivist saying that people were saying it wrong–hence acknowledging that “ham fast” was more common. While I do watch a lot of UK media these days, I can’t say I remember particularly encountering that word in them, so it would not color my perceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/35 "2020-05-24T10:21:05Z")
Thanks all, for ongoing responses. I get the picture more and more: I and late parents, very unusual in Britain in favouring the “ham taste” pronunciation. > [@steepone](#): > > Aussie here, I’ve only ever heard it pronounced Ham Taste, I don’t recall offhand what spellings I’ve seen There seems to be unanimity among Australian responders, that pronunciation in Australia is solidly “ham taste”. I’ve wondered earlier on about my father’s maritime travels eighty-odd years ago, and his perhaps latching on to a local pronunciation. Am only surmising that he probably visited North America: I do know for sure that WWII’s occasions took him to Australia (he had to have his tonsils out in Perth – nonetheless, he loved Western Australia; reckoned it the most beautiful place he’d ever seen). Maybe he picked up the pronunciation there? > [@BigT](#): > > American (from Arkansas) > > I encountered the word originally spoken, and it was “ham fast.” I didn’t encounter the other pronunciation until much later, and it was always in the context of a prescriptivist saying that people were saying it wrong–hence acknowledging that “ham fast” was more common. What chiefly put this issue into my head, was in fact a recent book on “problem words and how to use them”, by a British self-appointed pundit on the subject – on the conservative end of the spectrum, and IMO a conceited self-dogmatic twerp: who writes therein, just “lambast – not lambaste”. I took therefrom, that he was referring both to spelling and pronunciation – revealed by this thread (and my one on the other board) that concerning this word, the two are not noticeably in step. I have reluctantly to concede, that this pompous twit would seem to have the rights of the thing where Britain is concerned. **BigT** writes: “While I do watch a lot of UK media these days, I can’t say I remember particularly encountering that word in them, so it would not color my perceptions.” In fact, it would seem to be a word which doesn’t crop up with great frequency, on any scene. I just personally find it – with my preferred pronunciation – a very fine and forceful one. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/36 "2020-05-24T13:34:37Z")
For me I guess it depends on the specific conjugation, for some reason. I would lam-baste someone. but he got lambaasted. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/37 "2020-05-24T13:46:14Z")
I never heard anyone say the ham bast version, nor have I seen it spelled with no final e. I have lived in Illinois, Georgia, California and Texas. I have friends from Iowa, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Zero ham bast, zero lambast. Weird. It’s amazing all the differences. However, it’s not a word that gets used a lot anywhere I have lived, so maybe I know lots of ham-bast-ers and just never heard from them! ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/38 "2020-05-24T15:28:21Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > For me I guess it depends on the specific conjugation, for some reason. > > I would lam-baste someone. > but he got lambaasted. A new and interesting angle on the matter – there seems plenty more to this word, than I’d imagined when I started the thread… ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/39 "2020-05-25T23:11:33Z")
In library school I once used the word in an oral report in class, and the professor in his response used the word back at me. He used the pronunciation different from the one I’d said. That was how I learned it has two pronunciations. The funny thing is: I don’t remember any more which pronunciation I used and which one the professor used! 😛 It was quite a few years ago, and the word is almost never pronounced by anyone anyway. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119/42 "2020-05-26T21:56:35Z")
I’m Irish and I only ever heard it rhyming with “taste”. To be fully accurate, I don’t think I have ever heard the word “lambaste” spoken at all - only “lambasted”, rhyming with “tasted”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-one-word/854119.md?page=1)