How do YOU say it?........

[fatrabbit]

"We invented the language"?

You may have invented it, but we gave it a dialect that made it understandable, hence, that is why you can understand us, but we can't always understand you

That's probably more to do with 'cultural digestion'. There are lots of American programs on tv or films. Whereas not many Americans have probably seen many things where someone from Birmingham is in the lead role, with that accent. Or the nearest you'd get to a Manchester accent is some terrible attempt in an episode of Fraiser. The biggest exception is probably the Liverpool accent because of the Beatles or cockneys in Hollywood films.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kLsVh6Qrpew - My part of the world is the last one he does.

[Warminstrel]

It's root.

If you were wanting to cut holes in wood you would use a router (rowter) though.

Here's another one though - how do you say bath? Baff? Barth?

Baff, ........mind u I'm from warminster so tend to dance not darnce and laff loads but tend not to larf that much.

[aeon]

doublepost

[aeon]

we invented the language so we govern it!

its root!

just like its alluminium not alooooooooominum!

actually, Bill Bryson points out that both versions are accurate, since there was disagreement over the name of the metal to begin with. there were different established spellings, too (aluminium vs. aluminum). it isn't really about USA vs. UK...

Bryson also notes (in fascinatingly well-researched detail) that often what we in the UK consider to be 'correct' pronunciations are actually corrupted versions; and that often the American way of saying and using words more closely reflects British historical pronunciation and usage.

so, er, you're wrong.

[chrysalis33rpm]

So lieutenant is pronounced "leff-tenant", eh? And, I guess the correct pronunciation of Beaulieu is "Byoolee"?
Please don't tell the French. These are, after all, their words.

Thank goodness I speak Brooklynese and don't have to bother with either "U.S. English" or the Queen's English.

Back in the day, in France, when they started getting madame la guillotine out we had a few lodgers in the UK that left some words laying about is all.

More than welcome to have them back though may be a bit used (like the neighbours lawn mower for instance)

The Queens German aint she? Or is that just her mum? I Know her hubby's Greek.....

Actually, I'd say about 40% of English is directly lifted from French, including the words 'route', and 'lieutenant'. (And another 20% or so is German). But you all carry on being proud about words like 'Woolfardisworthy', that is definite English homegrown!

Wikipedia:

The Norman Conquest (of 1066) was a pivotal event in English history for several reasons. It largely removed the native ruling class, replacing it with a foreign, French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy and clerical hierarchy. This in turn brought about a transformation of the English language and the culture of England.

...One of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. Even after the decline of Norman, French retained the status of a prestige language for nearly 300 years and has had (with Norman) a significant influence on the language, which is easily visible in Modern English.

[shervington]

1 WORD THAT SUMS UP OUR GREATNESS


ANTIDISASTABLISHMENTERIANISM!

NOT SURE IF THAT IS THE CORRECT SPELLING BUT COME ON, ITS THE FUCKING BADDEST WORD IN THE BOOK!

[sporkles]

Amazing!

It's absolutely amazing how a phonological question can yield such an
enthusiastic debate in a forum that routinely mutilates the English language.
To the OP: maybe you should have asked the question in the form of a
poll?

[Voodu]

How would you pronounce are you fucking kidding me?

[chrysalis33rpm]

You know, actually what I really love about the English language and Anglo culture is that it absorbs and adapts whatever it finds...kind of like Hinduism in this regard. Its a non hierarchical, polycentric view of the world which I think has a lot to do with the success of British and American mercantilism and technology over the course of world history.

So, I am saying that the fact that we pronounce and spell the same words in a maddening variety of ways is a great thing- it has made Anglophone cultures extremely adaptable.

[Meef Chaloin]

Bryson also notes (in fascinatingly well-researched detail) that often what we in the UK consider to be 'correct' pronunciations are actually corrupted versions; and that often the American way of saying and using words more closely reflects British historical pronunciation and usage.

so, er, you're wrong.

haha bollurks

[chrysalis33rpm]

we invented the language so we govern it!

its root!

just like its alluminium not alooooooooominum!

actually, Bill Bryson points out that both versions are accurate, since there was disagreement over the name of the metal to begin with. there were different established spellings, too (aluminium vs. aluminum). it isn't really about USA vs. UK...

Bryson also notes (in fascinatingly well-researched detail) that often what we in the UK consider to be 'correct' pronunciations are actually corrupted versions; and that often the American way of saying and using words more closely reflects British historical pronunciation and usage.

so, er, you're wrong.

That's interesting, who's this Bryson guy, errr...chap?

I could imagine that in a situation where you have a language splitting off to a colony, and the language then develops for a few hundred years in both the colony and the mother country, that some words could conceivably change less in the colony than in the original surroundings.

[mikemc]

I always thought Route was pronounced
"Rowt" = US English
"Root" = UK English

The devil you say. I can pretty damn well assure you that we don't get our kicks on freakin' "Rowt 66".

In the Northeast they say rowt for route in pretty much every sense.

In other places, if you are going to route a signal from one place to the other, you are going to rowt it there, but the path it takes is a root.

And, hardy har, this particular "English" invention has of course it's basis in French, who have introduced terms like this just so that they might snort at us in contempt for even discussing their proper pronunciation.

[Tone Deft]

Bryson also notes (in fascinatingly well-researched detail) that often what we in the UK consider to be 'correct' pronunciations are actually corrupted versions; and that often the American way of saying and using words more closely reflects British historical pronunciation and usage.

so, er, you're wrong.

haha bollurks

agreed with Queef...

while the US was kicking the Brits out of the US colonies guys like Daniel Webster were actively changing the spelling and pronunciation of words to further separate the US from the Brits.

I'm just glad to be a native speaker, it's gotta be a fucked up language to learn as a second language.

+1 on apostrophes and basic spelling, I don't care how people say the words, most can't write them to begin with (hooray for Fire Fox spell checkers!)

[leedsquietman]

I'm an ex-pat Brit living in Canada. Things are even more confused because Canadians use SOME of the English pronunciations and SOME of the US English pronunciations.

Why you are even worrying about this is beyond me, life's way too short.

The correct pronunciation is the one where you live, When in Rome, do as the Romans do. And I first had that friggin' superior stuck up dick up ass British attitude when I first came. But the joke is always on me, and there is something in that 'pronoonce' statement. As there are virtually no coherent grammar rules in English, just accept whatever, it's like ee-con-omics or eck-on-omics etc.

And how about Australian/Kiwi speak. They have their own thing going on too.

In Britain, every 10km people speak in a different dialect or tongue, so saying 'this is how the Brits do it' is kind of invalid anyway - it's not just a Northern or Southern thing either, things vary every few kilometres. In my hometown we called a 'fishcake' a 'scone' and a few miles away it was a 'cake'. To anyone from outside the area, describing a battered slab of potato with the tiniest sliver of fish in it as a 'cake' or a 'scone' would be ridiculous.

Finally, who are the Brits to tell Americans how to talk? They got whipped and had to leave the USA and without US intervention in WWII, the whole world situation would be very different. I don't see Yanks telling the Brits how to talk.

[optimistic]

hehe being an Aussie I'm happy to slag both the Brits and the Yanks on this one. Although admittedly English is Oz is a combination of both with a few extra expletives thrown in.

I tend to stick more to the UK style of things (root) but that's probably because I used to work for an American company and it was fun to to wind them up.