What has Mumsnet taught you you've been doing wrong all of your adult life without realising?!

Not their own dialect though, that's just correct. Always the way. Probably the same people who claim they don't have accents.

Jesus Haitch Christ, a dialect is an 'affectation'? Is that really how some people think?

Slidesclipsandbobbins, great post.

what is dialect, if not a form of cultural or regional affectation?

I think your making up your own definition there. Dialect is not an affectation.

Should we just give everyone free rein to spell and punctuate as they wish...

No, I don't think this. What I am saying is there is more than one standard form of the English language. Most people are familiar with differences in American English but often don't seem to realise that there are a number of standards within the UK (and close by) as well. Scottish Standard English in Scotland and standard Hiberno-English on the island of Ireland coexist as standards along with Standard British English.

I'm not talking about dialects in this instance (though I love them).
I'm talking about there being more than one standard.

Haitch is the standard in Hiberno-English. I may have mentioned this already, as have many others at this stage 😅

Having done a bit of googling I notice that BBC news readers pronounce H as aitch BTW.

On MN, however, both are standard, both are correct, both are wrong, and only middle class snobs insist haitch is wrong.
Given that only a tiny minority of MNers are middle class, then haitch must be right.

Yes absolutely, that's what I meant. Both a are standard, both are correct.

But it isn't.
It varies according to area.
I would suggest that both are standard.

Haitch is standard though.

People saying haitch can certainly be found all over the UK to some degree, but it is definitely far more prevalent in some areas than others, in the same way that words like owt or nowt or ain't are used commonly used in some areas but rarely in others. Or when a word gets pronounced differently in spite of its spelling, eg. arks in place of ask. I'd consider those to regional (or sometimes cultural) affectations. I suppose dialect is the correct term but what is dialect, if not a form of cultural or regional affectation?

A linguist can say whatever they like about something being standard or non-standard. Linguistics is a very broad discipline that concerns itself with more than just the formally agreed British spelling of a word. As far as I am concerned, if a word appears in all the approved British English dictionaries spelt in a particular way, then that is its correct form. The OED has an entry for haitch which says it's a 'variation' of aitch but if you want to know the etymology of the word haitch then you won't find one. It's a blank page. You need to go to the original source aitch to find out more.

Would you be in favour a system where people no longer had their spelling policed or corrected at all, even in education? What about in business? Should we just give everyone free rein to spell and punctuate as they wish, using the Linguistic's favourite argument that 'language evolves' and declare all 'variations' as equally valid and a matter of personal choice?

Should we allow definitely to become a word with two 'non-standard' spellings of definately and defiantly ? Ditto genuinely and generally? ^Because I see those mixed up, mispelt and mispoken on a weekly basis and have done since the invention of the smart phone. People now spell and speak as they have learnt to via predictive text, for crying out loud.

In the same vein, why should we continue to differentiate between then and than when it seems that half the population under 30 cannot?

If 'non-standard' is not to be considered incorrect, then why bother teaching a 'standard' for anything? How long do you think it would take for total language chaos to ensue and for the majority of children to be become functionally illiterate?

@BarbaraHoward , @Katemax82 probably does not need your advice on how to parent her children.

That's fine. Just don't teach them that haitch is wrong, because it isn't. Both are right.

I'll still say aitch and teach my kids aitch

Aitch isn't really dropping the H (any more) and it isn't wrong either.

Both are correct. That concept will never cease to confound a vocal minority on MN it seems.

Previously, I used my medium chicken to make a roast for myself and DH, a couple of sandwiches and some stock. I’ve since learnt that I can use my small chicken to make three roasts for 5 people, sandwiches for 3 days for work, soup and stock! It’s the magic chicken and shame on me for being so wasteful 🙄 😜 🐔

I'm in Ireland and newsreaders do say En-haitch-ess here. It doesn't come up too often as our equivalent is the HSE (also with a haitch) 😊

I totally agree that both are standard in various places though. It's fine to say aitch; in fact it's the standard in many places, though not everywhere as some think. Saying aitch is not dropping a h like pp suggested. Words like honour are also pronounced without a h...people aren't dropping the letter incorrectly in those cases either!

@housethatbuiltme , . The name of the letter is aitch.
NHS is en-aitch-ess. In National Health Service, the H is sounded. It's not laziness, it's enunciating clearly according to standard British English.

I don't think I have ever heard anyone call it the en haitch ess either.

Haitch is regional. Aitch isn't incorrect or lazy. It is also regional (and correct IMO). You never hear TV news readers calling it the en haitch ess, for example.

Of course they do, what the hell else would you say.

I can't believe the people lazy enough to drop a letter are arguing they are the right ones. Its like trying to argue the t' is the correct way to say 'to'... its not its an regional accent that drops a letter.

Dropping the H in the actual letter H is utterly weird though, basic common sense says its wrong.

That's because your (previously held?) opinion is factually wrong.

Yes...listen to the messages on some doctors voicemails

Thanks, but check out how many people don't agree with me....

…and they’d had to book an appointment.

I have lied to ds and quite fine with this

the park is closed, the park is closing soon, they have stopped making a certain toy, Father Christmas is coming tonight but only if you are asleep, I don’t know where the Nemo dvd is let’s have a look oh look I have found Kung Fu Panda isn’t that great

Yep, I've often had to do up the bikini top first and pop over the head.
( the days of wearing the actual bottoms disappeared many many years ago though unless they are the shorts style )

Oh yes, I cannot do up bikinis at the back. I have to fasten the back and put the top over my head.