# Stop enunciating the fucking "h".... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 15, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114 "2015-05-15T16:04:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/1 "2015-05-15T16:04:09Z")
…in “w_H_at” and “w_H_en” and “w_H_y”. Who taught you to talk like that?.. It’s goddamn pretentious and irritating. Knock it off. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2015, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/2 "2015-05-15T16:10:45Z")
w_H_o are you to tell anyone how to pronounce words? ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/3 "2015-05-15T16:14:28Z")
[Obligatory “Family Guy” reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmqJQ-nc_s) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/4 "2015-05-15T16:18:22Z")
Would you like some Cool WHip with that slice of angry pie? [/Stewie Griffin.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmqJQ-nc_s) ETA: Nija’d by **Superdude**! ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/5 "2015-05-15T16:30:23Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in “w_H_at” and “w_H_en” and “w_H_y”. > > Who taught you to talk like that?.. It’s goddamn pretentious and irritating. > > Knock it off. That’s the way I was taught to pronounce those in second grade: “hwy,” “hwen.” I don’t disagree that doing so makes one sound pretentious. (and I’ll add: _I_ never pronounce those words in that manner) I wonder if kids are even taught to pronounce those words that way anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/6 "2015-05-15T16:46:43Z")
> **[Pronunciation of English ⟨wh⟩](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_wh)** > > The pronunciation of the digraph ⟨wh⟩ in English has changed over time, and still varies today between different regions and accents. It is now most commonly pronounced /w/, the same as a plain initial ⟨w⟩, although some dialects, particularly those of Scotland, Ireland, and the Southern United States, retain the traditional pronunciation /hw/, generally realized as \[ʍ\], a voiceless "w" sound. The process by which the historical /hw/ has become /w/ in most modern varieties of English is called th... IME it’s usually hypercorrection or the result of idiot teachers, but the pronunciation does have historical precedence and is retained in a very few accents, e.g. parts of the SE USA. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/7 "2015-05-15T16:51:01Z")
So, wHould a sHower then be a sower? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/8 "2015-05-15T17:10:36Z")
Fun note: If you replace the W with T in What, When, and Where, you answer the question. ---
**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:** [May 15, 2015, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/9 "2015-05-15T17:16:19Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in “w_H_at” and “w_H_en” and “w_H_y”. > > Who taught you to talk like that?.. It’s goddamn pretentious and irritating. > > Knock it off. No, we’re doing it right and you, with your “wut” and “wenn” and “Y” babytalk, just sound silly. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/10 "2015-05-15T17:17:53Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > [Obligatory “Family Guy” reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZmqJQ-nc_s) I picked up the habit from Wil Wheaton. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/11 "2015-05-15T17:18:58Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Fun note: > > If you replace the W with T in What, When, and Where, you answer the question. Also whither, whence and wherefore. And a near miss on Who and Tho(u). Almost like there’s a pattern in English… ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/12 "2015-05-15T17:21:46Z")
ve-Hickle (vehicle) always gets on my nerves. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/13 "2015-05-15T17:25:28Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in “w_H_at” and “w_H_en” and “w_H_y”. > > Who taught you to talk like that?.. It’s goddamn pretentious and irritating. > > Knock it off. It’s hardly pretentious. It’s just a different accent. Different English dialects pronounce different phonemes differently. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/14 "2015-05-15T17:27:12Z")
In Britain this would be common with some Irish accents. I would guess some variants of the pleasant Boston tongue, in the USA, may have this Irish inheritance. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/15 "2015-05-15T17:48:04Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > …in “w_H_at” and “w_H_en” and “w_H_y”. > > Who taught you to talk like that?.. It’s goddamn pretentious and irritating. > > Knock it off. The nuns did, back in Catholic school. And we pronounced them the way they taught us, in class. Then we went home and promptly dropped them, the way everyone else did. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/16 "2015-05-15T17:48:29Z")
I’d rather have overpronounced H’s than anus torics. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/17 "2015-05-15T17:50:28Z")
When I read the title to myself I pronounced it “haitch”… ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/18 "2015-05-15T17:56:34Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > It’s hardly pretentious. It’s just a different accent. Different English dialects pronounce different phonemes differently. You’re one of them, aren’t you? \<…adds to list…\> ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/19 "2015-05-15T17:58:53Z")
As I understand it, both pronunciations are legitimate. It’s simply a matter of preference. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2015, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114/20 "2015-05-15T18:27:46Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > As I understand it, both pronunciations are legitimate. It’s simply a matter of preference. Snivelling, spineless equivocator. Pick a side, fer chrissake! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-enunciating-the-fucking-h/720114.md?page=2)