# Two People Pronounce Something the same EXACT Way: but they have different accents so one is wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052 "2014-08-07T20:28:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052/61 "2014-10-25T15:56:37Z")
> [@Elemenopy](#): > > There was, I believe, an SNL skit about this a while back, about the office workers going for “enchiladas” and “chiles rellenos” with exaggerated Spanish accents. My name is Antonio Mendoza … [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGjty394oyw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGjty394oyw) ---
**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:** [October 26, 2014, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052/62 "2014-10-26T09:15:05Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > Yeah, the difference, to me, between Mary and merry is easily as stark as the difference between lunch and launch. I actually have no idea which of the three vowel sounds (Mary/merry/marry) people without the accent use to represent all three of those sounds, because when I try to replicate it, I’m choosing between one of three distinct ways of saying it, whereas I think people without the accent have some fourth way of doing it that is sort of in the middle. I have the merger in my accent, and I’m pretty sure it’s “Mary.” Because I can, if I want to, say merry and marry differently than I normally would, using the vowels in bet and bat, respectively, but I cannot say “Mary” in any other way (a vowel similar to, but not quite the same as, that in bait. The difference is that it has no diphthong.) Plus, frankly, I’ve always just thought I was saying a “long a” vowel in any of these situations. And the “long a” corresponds with Mary. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2014, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052/63 "2014-10-26T10:15:05Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > I think I can sort of understand not being able to make those three different sounds yourself, since we know you really have to learn how to make a particular sound in childhood to make it well. What I don’t get is how someone cannot even _hear_ the difference, even when demonstrated by someone pronouncing the three different words in a deliberately exaggerated manner … This is opposite to what I’ve read … and to my experience. Some new sounds (e.g. NG at beginning of words) I can hear but had to practice to pronounce. But other new sounds (unaspirated T, unaspirated P) I could learn to pronounce but still often need to inquire, 30 years later, to be sure which consonant I’ve just heard. Tones are easy to _pronounce_ but I usually ignore them (inadvertantly) when listening. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2014, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052/64 "2014-10-26T11:08:32Z")
Anyway, back to the OP: My name’s Josh. People call me that both in English and in Hebrew. However, in English, it’s pronounced the usual way (“Jaash”), which in Hebrew, I insist on it being pronounced “Joshe” (it’s sort of between “Pause” and “Gush”. Hebrew vowels are different). If an Israeli calls me “Jaash”, I assume they’re making fun of American accents. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052/65 "2014-10-26T11:46:04Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Anyway, back to the OP: > > My name’s Josh. People call me that both in English and in Hebrew. However, in English, it’s pronounced the usual way (“Jaash”), which in Hebrew, I insist on it being pronounced “Joshe” (it’s sort of between “Pause” and “Gush”. Hebrew vowels are different). If an Israeli calls me “Jaash”, I assume they’re making fun of American accents. Similarly, Spanish speakers are better off pronouncing my name (John) by imagining a Spanish word _chan_ – the only difference is the voicing of the initial consonant – rather than struggling with the misleading letters “j” and “o,” which imply very different sounds in Spanish than their English equivalents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-people-pronounce-something-the-same-exact-way-but-they-have-different-accents-so-one-is-wrong/695052.md?page=3)