Have you seen the funny Geico commercial where the woman saves money by sending her kids to a daycare center run by robots? At the end, she asks a question which sounds like, “Floss?” – which makes no sense at all.
I’ve listened closely over and over and still can’t make it out. What the heck is she saying?
“Flaws? (Yeah), maybe”
Flaws? As in, are there flaws in robot daycare? Maybe.
I agree with “flaws”
Here’s the commercial
“Flaws? Mmm, maybe.” After the kid gets sprayed by a juice box.
The reason it’s hard to understand is that she is pronouncing with more of a hard s than the z sound that is usually used there.
I’ve seen the commercial many times, but I tend not to pay attention to commercials. I’ve always heard ‘floss’, but ‘flaws’ certainly makes more sense.
I was thinking of the wonderfully horrible things a robot might to with floss to a child.
I find it rather amazing Gieco has not pulled this ad, or at least dub the last line. Everyone I polled hears her saying “floss”, and wondering what the hell that means.
“Good morning … [scans] … female child.”
God, I wish I could talk to kids with that kind of easy rapport.
You’re expecting a Geico ad to make sense? I don’t understand your question.
Due to confusion over what the woman says in the commercial, Geico has now edited the commercial and dubbed in the words, “Are there flaws? Maybe!”
Yes, the edited short version was given back the two words, but it was because some viewers had nightmares about robots flossing children’s teeth. 
I don’t see how that could possibly sound like “floss”. The sound is definitely “aw”, not “o”.
The vowel is the same. It’s a question of terminal S vs Z
This reminds me, so many people thought the Family Guy theme song included the words “effing cry” instead of “laugh and cry” as sung by Stewie. I always heard “flaws” in the Geico commercial.
That’s what I’ve always heard.
You pronounce the vowel sound in floss as an o?
I’m not saying I pronounce it exactly the same as the vowel in flaws (I’m not that Southern :)), but I definitely wouldn’t describe it as an o sound. It’s definitely a diphthong for me in the vicinity of the one in fought.
You’re UK, right? Might be different for you. In many American accents, the vowels in the two words are the same, the only difference being whether the terminal consonant is voiced or unvoiced (i.e., “s” or “z” sound at the end.) Check out dictionary.com’s pronunciation for “floss” if you need a cite:
American here, northeast. The only difference in the pronunciation of “flaws” and “floss” is the final consonant sound.
And yeah, I had to work hard to figure out what she was saying.
Yes, I’m British. “Floss” has a short “o” sound, like “hot”, “boss”, “lost”, etc. “Flaws” has an “aw” sound, which is not only longer but also much broader, as in “draw”, “saw”, “lawn”. The two words really couldn’t be confused from my POV, and the commercial definitely sounds like “flaws”. Having said that, if I heard someone with that accent saying “floss”, it would probably sound like “flahs” to me…
Yeah, in American English, that description doesn’t work. “Hot” is a different vowel here than “boss” and “lost.”
Here’s “floss” in American English, and you can decide for yourself what it sounds like in your accent.
(ETA: And here’s “hot”, if you’re curious. I would describe the “floss” sound as “aw” and the “hot” sound as “ah,” but that depends on your accept I suppose. In IPA, it’s ɔ vs ɒ.)