# Welsh rarebit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2018, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329 "2018-11-11T00:30:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/21 "2018-11-11T16:26:34Z")
God, we’re a highly educated bunch. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/22 "2018-11-11T17:14:40Z")
Educated, but not always on point with our answers. #10 is the only one that actually addresses my question. Thanks Mahaloth. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/23 "2018-11-11T17:24:35Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Educated, but not always on point with our answers. #10 is the only one that actually addresses my question. Thanks Mahaloth. **Yorkshire Pudding** , who I believe is British, answered it in #3, as well. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/24 "2018-11-11T17:36:08Z")
You could also go to Youtube and sample how various British cooks pronounce it. For example, [Jamie Oliver](https://youtu.be/tgDakYCQnvs?t=84) says what to me as a US speaker sounds like RAIR-bit. Here’s [Julie Bloomenthal pronouncing it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hulufrkljiQ&feature=youtu.be&t=7), and it sounds more like “rab-bit,” but the “Welsh” also sounds different to my ears. [Gordon Ramsey’s](https://youtu.be/fYBRZjkDxVk?t=233) is similar, but sounds closer to “rair-bit” with a dropped “r” than “rabbit” to me ears; like the second time he says Welsh “rarebit,” I could almost swear I hear a soft r in there. This seems to me to be the pronunciation **Yorkshire Pudding** is describing. [This Welsh chef](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaS7YYzx5WI) pronounced it more like a clear “RAIR-bit.” As you can hear, it certainly varies depending on your accent. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/25 "2018-11-11T17:42:21Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Educated, but not always on point with our answers. #10 is the only one that actually addresses my question. Thanks Mahaloth. The key to higher education is digression. Also rambling on about nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/26 "2018-11-11T17:55:33Z")
So checking with [Cambridge Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/welsh-rarebit?q=rarebit), it gives the non-rhotic pronunciation **Yorkshire Bubble** was describing: /reə.bɪt/ So the vowel is a diphthong, like “reh-uh-bit” but imagine the eh-uh smooshed together. (And some American dialects also have this centering diphthong. Like I pronounce “air” with an /ɛə/ or /eə/ vowel, so far as I can tell.) “Rabbit” has the usual short “a” vowel in both US and UK English, which is /ae/. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329/27 "2018-11-11T23:35:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > **Yorkshire Pudding** , who I believe is British, answered it in #3, as well. I am indeed. British, Linguistics graduate from a Welsh University (so sorry about the lack of IPA), the whole nine yards. And in fact, had I not gone back to edit the damn thing, I’d have actually been the first response. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welsh-rarebit/824329.md?page=1)