to think that Americans don't pronounce "Warrior" or "Aluminium" properly?

[giddypig]

"Woryer" and "Aloominum"

Just wrong!

☺ At "I gotta llama."

For those in light hearted moods, I love the fact that Americans don't get the joke in the title of "Shaun the Sheep"

Neither do we Scots, obviously yours Never in my life have I realised that's a pun until now!!

I feel Americans get a bit of an unfair drubbing for their pronunciations. It's a different country and all.

A lot of the people on this thread seem to think that 'real' Americans are all white, Christian, and descended from English people so of course they should pronounce words the same way they do, but that just makes them bigoted as well as ignorant.

Mysterious It's just a generalisation. Chill your beans.

It's like saying all New Zealanders say "fush and chups". Not all of them do, but it's a generalisation. All countries can get a ribbing for their pronunciation of certain words even if not everyone pronounces them that way.

Peppermint - I completely agree with you! Even in our little corner of New England there are as many different accents as in (Old) England - South Boston drawl vs New Hampshire anyone?

except "erbs": that one still makes my teeth itch unaccountably

it's like saying all New Zealanders say "fush and chups". Not all of them do

They don't?? That sucks. It's such a great accent, any New Zealander would be mad not to take the opportunity to be able to speak that way IMO.

YouWhat Well, they protest when you tell them they say fush and chups anyway.

Actually, SuperBeagle, no. In the UK, and on Mumsnet, it is not true at all that "all countries can get a ribbing for their pronunciation..." There is one country (America) about which it is acceptable and encouraged to make these kinds of generalisations (see what I did there?) and blanket assertions.

The generalisations about Americans that are acceptable among the British would NOT be acceptable or tolerated if they were made about countries other than the US.

Also accents often sound different to different people. My DH is from upstate NY but has lived in the South for over thirty years. To his family in NYS he sounds quite Southern. To me he sounds like a blend of NYS and Georgia. To my Georgia relatives he sounds very Northern.

And no, SuperBeagle, the correct pronunciation of Putin is not, in fact, "poo-tin".

I'm not even British, so. New Zealand (and Tasmania) are the butt of all of this country's jokes. Doesn't make other countries off limits.

And no, SuperBeagle, the correct pronunciation of Putin is not, in fact, "poo-tin".

It's vaguely different, but it's essentially poo-tin with a slight emphasis on the second syllable. It's certainly not pew-tin.

SuperBeagle, I am American and spent the first 25 years of my life in America, and I am telling you that just because you have "never heard them pronounce it any other way" (in the one or two regions of America you might have visited, or on the television shows/movies you've seen) does not qualify you to speak with any degree of comfort about whether or not all/most Americans pronounce this word, or any other word, in the way you believe.

I am also fluent in Russian, and your belief in the correct pronunciation of Putin is incorrect.

Maybe stick with what you know.

Peppermint Fun fact, my paternal side is Russian. So I am "sticking with what I know".

But also, I can make whatever assumptions about whichever country's speech habits I like, and I don't have to know all 320+ million people in order to be "qualified" to do it (lol wtf). I don't get offended when people rib on Australia (which they do). Lighten up. Or, you know, maybe don't read the thread?

How do you pronounce vitamin?

I thought Americans pronounced 'scone' as 'biscuit'.

What even is a scone over there?

mathanxiety

But "Chicago" and "Michigan" aren't Hispanic, they are French versions of Ojibwa words. (At least I think it's Ojibwa. )

How do you pronounce vitamin?
It depends on how much they've had to drink.

SuperBeagle,

Yes, you '"can" make whatever assumptions you like about a country and/or its people. I never said you lack this right or capability. But being able to say these things doesn't mean you are correct, and it doesn't mean you aren't going to offend people.

I have never heard a native Russian speaker say "Poo-tin", and I also have Russian family members. But this doesn't mean "Poo-tin" isn't correct. I once saw a clip of Putin himself telling a long and complicated joke in which he said his own name, and HE doesn't say "Poo-tin." I do think the correct pronunciation of a name is however its bearer decides it will be.

MumBod, a scone is a scone (not like "crisps" and "chips"). It isn't as commonly used (or seen) as "cookie" or "biscuit", but we do have scones.

We have scones, but they tend to be a bit sweeter than ones in the UK. They are a fairly recent development but are now everywhere.

Biscuits are not sweet and they are fluffier than scones.

Peppermint We're on page 5 now, you've only taken issue with my posts for some reason. Were you happy with everything that was said beforehand? I'm not the only one who mentioned Jaguar etc.

And "poo-tin" is correct, no matter which way you try to spin it. The end is more of an "een" sound than an "in" sound in English, but otherwise it's correct. I was arguing with the person who said it was pronounced pew-tin anyway, not you, so carry on.

What fresh hell is Pew-tin - how have I never come across this pronunciation?

Alec Baldwin et al on SNL call him Pooty, so I'm guessing the Poo-tin pronunciation is fairly widespread across the US.

DH tells the story of finding it impossible to get a water on a flight to NY one time. The guy sitting next to him had to chip in and translate, 'I think he wants a wah-dah.

why are brits such pedantic twats?

Is it because they used to be important as a nation (well, horrifically exploitative, murderous and rapacious) and now they are just another bunch of pointless island turds, and they feel bad?

Hahahaha lollll lightheartedlike, don't take me the wrong way lol lol lol