It's 'Voila' not walaa!

[Hullobaby]

This drives me bonkers! Why the hell do people keep writing walaa when it's voila!

Wide tooth combs are a thing

I can't work out 'flaming yawn'?!

I’ve not read the whole thread so someone may have covered it, but how are we supposed to pronounce voile in the UK? As in the fabric? Should we pronounce it like the French?

Filet mignon?

@Mitfordian I imagine that @LadyOfTheCanyon linked that article because it explains her point well not because she believed that one article does a fact make

The grammatical heritage is that it's mainly a colloquialism that originated in the US amongst African Americans. There are a few ideas about where it originated.

The difference I feel is that people using Ax/Aks may well know how to Code Switch when necessary ( like when I speak to friends I may say ain't instead of isnt, but I know at a job interview what is perceived as 'correct' and when to use it.)

People can be remarkably snobbish about colloquialisms and accents, but I would say it's impossible to tell just by listening to someone, what their level of education is.

But god - this thread is depressing.

Well done, you’re all soooo clever.

Just because some people see 'aks' as incorrect and point it out, doesn't mean they are snide or racist, they just don't recognise it as standard English, which it isn't.

When they continue to go on about it being wrong when they've been told it's a standard for a particular ethnic group then yes, they are being snide and racist. And ignorant.

Argh - I meant fazed!!! (obviously 🙃)

The 'fact' I was referring to was the statement before the linked article. 'Some would argue that that it is a perfectly valid grammatical construction' would be the accurate way to present the perspective. See also 'ignorant people' with no qualifier.

I have no problem with these variations, language has always been varied and misused.

Only snobs care enough to comment IMO. Pedants Corner is -->

So no debate or discussion around this particular word then, eh?

It's a long running and fascinating debate, and there are many perspectives on it. The debate wouldn't exist if we didn't recognise the word as being non standard.

It's also not limited to the black community- there are areas in the Midlands and the north of England (without significant black populations) where the word has also fallen into common usage and the etymology is obviously different.

I’ve forgotten what I was taught on the history of ‘ask/aks’ but it was the example our lecturer when explaining the process of Metathesis - switching the order of sounds within a word over time

I love colloquialisms and strong regional accents. Imagine if everyone spoke text-book English all the time and there was no colour or variety in language.

Some of the examples here though are baffling and some are downright comedic, whether intentional or not. 'Flaming yawn' for example sounds like a Douglas Adams creation.

There's a big difference however between sneering at someone for their use of an absurd word or turn of phrase, and laughing at the word itself.

Yes I know it's bull,but it kind of make ,s sense if they are thinking of a,fine China bowl,sort of.😂

It’s horrible hearing people being called thick and stupid. I used to teach, you build relationships with kids, work so hard and then know that they will face this kind of ridicule and prejudice as adults.

I have had so many advantages that others haven’t - a house full of books, educated, professional parents. A world of cultural capital that I benefit from every single day. Combine that with the fact that I found reading and schoolwork easy - I make very few of the mistakes listed here but that’s not because I am some special higher being, it’s luck.

Totally agree with this.

I also found it very easy to remember phrases and spelling.

People calling others 'thick' are disgraceful.

It's also not limited to the black community- there are areas in the Midlands and the north of England (without significant black populations) where the word has also fallen into common usage and the etymology is obviously different.
@Mitfordian

That’s interesting. Apparently both pronunciations of the the Old English word appear in the literature up to 1600, after which ‘aks’ started to decline

Yes. You can have a fine-tooth comb, or a wide-tooth comb. The point the PP was making is that it is often written as fine tooth-comb indicating a fine version of the non-item "tooth-comb" as opposed to a comb with finely spaced teeth.

https://theconversation.com/amp/ask-or-aks-how-linguistic-prejudice-perpetuates-inequality-175839

Ooh this is really interesting! Not just the origins of aks but this too:
'Criticisms of “dropping g” exist despite the pronunciation’s origins in Middle English'
If I pronounce the 'g' at the end of words I sound really affected.

Maybe it makes sense in some people's minds. If you can have a toothbrush why not a tooth comb?

Our family didn't have - here's a colloquialism for you - a pot to piss in, but we did have access to a local library and were all voracious readers. We passed books around, so I read a lot of diverse stuff as a child!

I'm so grateful for that. My husband comes from a family of non readers and he sometimes makes spelling and grammar howlers. I correct him as gently as I can, because I don't want to sound like a judge wanker, but I don't see that it reflects his intellectual worth in the slightest.

I suffered from not hearing a lot of words that I was reading spoken aloud, so I mispronounced a lot of words like diaspora, detritus, hegemony, epitome, Rimbaud, Goethe etc etc. It's the opposite for people who say Chester Drawers but have never seen it written as Chest of Drawers.

I was just about to say this.

People who grew up reading books often mispronounce whereas people who didn’t often misspell.

I read all of the first few Harry Potters pronouncing Hermione the way Viktor Krum did until JK helpfully put a bit of dialogue in explaining how to say it 🤣 which has always struck me as rather insightful of her.

Still preferable to a spag bowel though 🤣🤣

That’s probably where it originated.

Axe/aks has been used for ask since about the 8th century.

(I had to google this as I remember hearing this years ago, and this thread reminded me)

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/people-have-been-saying-ax-instead-ask-1200-years-180949663/