not to want my children being taught to say 'haitch'?

[cutegorilla]

It really annoys me. Now my 4yo DS won't believe me when I say it should be 'aitch' because his teacher says 'haitch' and so does everyone else (perhaps not altogether surprising if that's what they're being taught).

Go on, tell me I'm being a snob.

Those who say 'haitch' do you say N haitch S? I don't think I've ever heard it said that way. Just wondered .

Yes, but there are subtle differences between the London grarse and the RP grarse. Less stiff upper lip for one thing.

Grarse etc are all natural to me but so is gras, because I put on a Yorkshire accent for years to try and slip under the radar at school. Didn't entirely manage it but once you've really listened to the differences and tried to imitate one version every day, you get much more comfortable in it. Although it just doesn't sound nice, funny emphasis on difference syllables and harsher vowels, so I keep to my normal one....now there isn't anyone to chuck my books out of the window for saying a word differently.

I think 'haitch' may also have something to do with when children are learning the alphabet - because it sounds more like the letter iyswim? I've given up anyway, everyone round here says haitch but I'm sticking with my aitch!

DrawRing instead of drawing is just wrong; but I think I tend to say 'drooor' for draw (dead posh me, obviously :o). On the other hand, FebRuary is clearly correct but it annoys me, so I say Feb-u-ry.

Just dont start me on the glottal stop!! I spend my life saying things like "there are two 't's in butter" or "its a parTy not a par'y". I dont think I am being snobbish about it, it just strikes me as lazy pronounciation.

We say aitch here in Sydney, Australia. Now that we're on the topic of English regional accents, could anyone tell me what accent the actor who plays Oliver Wood ( quidditch captain) in the early Harry potter films has? I love it and thought it might be Yorkshire but when I looked up YouTube examples, it seemed a bit different.

Either I am missing out on an awful lot of sarcastic comments here, or there are too many people in this world who are upset by different pronunciations. I think I say a bit of 'haitch' and 'aitch' to be honest; I don't spend an awful lot of time thinking about it. I have to say, I'm not particularly fussed if anyone considers me ignorant. It's very hard to change the way you speak - but how difficult is it to be polite?

Mimi - I think he's Glaswegian? I agree he has a brilliant accent.

lottiegb yes I think that's what is bugging me. That it is being taught as correct rather than just picked up. I don't actually care what other people say in general. Personally I say "aitch" I know that is the correct pronunciation and I'd like my children to know that too and not be taught otherwise. I want them to speak proper like what I do .

I?m Irish and I say haitch. It?s pronounced haitch in Ireland because in the Gaelic alphabet H is called héis (prounounced haysh). Therefore haitch is legitimate Hiberno English.

For a long time I thought aitch was a cockney thing as lots of English people love dropping their ?aitches? and Irish people rarely do. I am now aware of the horror that a lot of English people have towards haitch but it feels so foreign to me to say aitch so I don?t bother. The one letter I have changed when spelling things out over the phone is R. In Ireland it?s pronounced Or and in the UK it?s Arr. Causes lots of confusion when I pronounce it as Or. I have to think to myself ?be a pirate? and shout ?Arrrgggghh?.

Interesting post, sqoosh.

I used to really confuse people when I first moved over here, as a lot of the time in Ireland we use the name of the sound for 'a' instead of its name. Think 'ah' rather than 'ay'. So if I had to spell out my name over the phone, they would think I was saying 'ar' instead of 'ah'. It took a few months before I trained myself to always remember to say 'ay', but I will never give up on haitch :).

i avn't laughted so much in ages thank you all soooooooo much

I'm stunned to hear that 'et' is the posher, more correct version of 'ate'. . Really? Where I'm from that is as common as muck!

floggingmolly,HolyGod!!!! please don't start or i might have to stay here all day :)