# Tomato and potato **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 9, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240 "2018-11-09T13:50:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/1 "2018-11-09T13:50:16Z")
Apart from that stupid song, have you ever once heard anyone pronounce the words tomato or potato as ‘to-mah-to’ or ‘po-tah-to’? I seem to recall Bugs Bunny pronouncing the word tomahto in a couple of cartoons, but other than that I got nothin’ ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/2 "2018-11-09T14:22:00Z")
My MIL was English. She pronounced it to MAH to. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/3 "2018-11-09T14:26:45Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > My MIL was English. She pronounced it to MAH to. And how did she refer to starchy tubers? ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/4 "2018-11-09T14:28:47Z")
My family is doing well to get past 'maters and 'taters. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/5 "2018-11-09T14:40:02Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > My MIL was English. She pronounced it to MAH to. Same here; all my Brit friends say to MAH to. I’ve never heard an American say it that way except as a joke. And also Bugs Bunny, as **Cardigan** mentioned . . . “if anybody was to tell me my rabbit wasn’t mine, I’d tweak his pink to MAH to nose” I’ve never heard anyone say po TAH to. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/6 "2018-11-09T14:50:11Z")
Yeah, toMAHto is the standard British pronunciation. But you can’t expect any consistency in pronunciation over here, so we say poTAYto. j ---
**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:** [November 9, 2018, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/7 "2018-11-09T16:05:41Z")
Well, there’s also that [_other_ stupid song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBn772R3BEc)… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/8 "2018-11-09T17:11:16Z")
Yes, to-mah-to is the[standard UK pronunciation](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tomato). Potato is pronounced basically the same in the US and the UK, although the [Cambridge dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/potato) says there is a small difference in the vowel in the final syllable. Po-tah-to was just a joke on the part of Gershwin, because he needed another line to go with to-mah-to. Nobody actually says it that way. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/9 "2018-11-09T17:47:47Z")
French fries and ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/10 "2018-11-09T19:56:36Z")
A guy from New Zealand I once worked with once asked me to pass the “Toe-Maaah-Toe soth” at breakfast… I thought he said _Tabasco sauce_ (which there wasn’t any of). Took me a few seconds to realize he meant ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/11 "2018-11-09T23:55:37Z")
Tom _ah_ to, pot _ay_ to. Anything else is a bastardisation of the King’s English. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/12 "2018-11-10T16:27:40Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Potato is pronounced basically the same in the US and the UK, although the [Cambridge dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/potato) says there is a small difference in the vowel in the final syllable. And the T is much harder in UK English, at least to my ears. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tomato-and-potato/824240/13 "2018-11-11T03:11:14Z")
Car, Cars 2 and Cars 3 were all released before I realised Tow Mater was a pun, because T’-MAH-toe is my default pronunciation 🙂