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

[giddypig]

"Woryer" and "Aloominum"

Just wrong!

I think different accents are lovely. I live in a different area of Britain to where I grew up and I wish that I would naturally pick up the accent but, alas, I think I lived in the other area too long and so will never truly sound like a local.

But, it does annoy me when my kids say words that they hear on TV that take the place of British ones.

So, butt instead of bottom/bum. I know it's not offensive and is totally normal in America, but to me it sounds wrong and I will tell my kids to stop it.

The other day I spent about 20 minutes on our walk home from school correcting them because they found a ladybird and insisted on calling it a ladybug. Fine if we were in America but we're not, so it's a ladybird!

Cumftrbly. Comfortably, in case you didn't understand that. Carmel for caramel. The Barefoot Contessa drives me nuts with carmel.

Yep, loads of Scots ended up in EnZed - just quite amazing that their oral influence is so pervasive and long-lasting!

I have made a comment or two about American accents on this thread, but it is honestly mean kind-heartedly. In my years of working in America, I have never - and I mean ever - come across more polite, well-mannered, courteous, kind people. I realise this sounds deeply patronising, but I don't know how to say it any other way.

Basically, Americans should bottle it, because it is gold. The rest of the world could learn a thing or two shame about Trump, but we all know most of you didn't vote for him.

Dubya: "I'm proud to be a merkin."

Caramel - Carmel???

I get the mickey taken out of me (by the DDs) for how I say "million" - being Scottish I say mill-yun which is apparently hysterical . I can't "hear" how everyone else says it - is it mill-ee-on with no "y" to smooth out the transition between the "l" and the "i"?

As mentioned upthread Americans win with their pronounciation of Colin.

Colin (Coe-Lin) Powell - statesman like gravitas
Colin Powell (Coll-in) - middle management, plays golf at the weekend

I think our tendency to laugh at 'Americanisms' is a reflection on how wildly successful our former little colony has become. I think we get exposed to a rather narrow range of American speech from TV so our presumptions are based on that. I really enjoyed the Bill Bryson book about him travelling across America because the different states seem almost like different countries altogether.

Yes, you're right about Glasgow, Beagle. I was there at a science fiction convention with hundreds of Americans from all over, and I don't remember any of them pronouncing Glasgow with the last syllable rhyming with "cow"

Is this you trying to say that only stupid people would pronounce it that way and trying to list of some professions that you think are solely for stupid working class people? Do you understand the irony in the fact that you are calling other participants in a jokey thread judgemental and narrow minded whilst making this ridiculously offensive generalisation?

No, I am decidedly NOT insinuating that working class people are "stupid." I am making a point about how many different types of accents there are in the US, so as to discredit the ridiculous things people are posting here. I mentioned working class accents because so many of the pronunciation examples being give on this thread as the way all/most Americans speak are, in fact, examples of region specific working class pronunciation.

Almost EVERY example given on this thread of a word that is pronounced by all/most Americans a certain way is wrong. You are all seizing upon the way a word is pronounced in a specific regional/socioeconomic accent, and demonstrating that you cannot understand that this is not the way all of, or most of, America pronounces the word. And it makes you sound rather dim. But carry on. You will anyway.

So, no, SuperBeagle, I am not insinuating you are the only one. There are many other equally ludicrous and ill-informed posts.

But it doesn't matter that Americans tell you (plural) that you are wrong. This is the part that baffles me the most about the British and their assertions about America. They just continue to argue that they are right, no matter what. You can all tell me that what I know about Americans (from being an American, and spending the first 25 years of my life in America) is wrong.

I'm going to go polish my gun rack now.

This is the part that baffles me the most about the British and their assertions about America. They just continue to argue that they are right, no matter what

Only Brits from certain regions/socioeconomic groups do that.

Moonrise

Coe-lin isn't "the American" pronunciation of Colin though.

My DC has a Colin (pronounced col-in) in his class.

I understand that General Powell's parents pronounced it Col-in. He changed his pronunciation when he was a child styling it Coe-Lin in honour of a WW2 hero of his.

Thanks Plunkette that's v interesting. He made a good choice there then. Bet his parents continued to call him Col-Lin

Re Caramel, my friend from Chicago pronounces it 'carmel' but tells me that her husband (from another part of the US) takes the piss because where he's from, everyone says caramel.

To be fair, though, there are so many anomalies in English it's a wonder anyone ever learns how to pronounce things at all. As one small example, consider these ...

Bough
Rough
Cough

... and then spare a thought for non English speakers having to learn the language

No doubt Moonrise!

What the actual fuck are you jabbering on about? WHERE exactly have I implied that working class people are stupid??

Wow. You really are lovely ray of sunshine aren't you? If you are seriously claiming not to know "what the actual fuck I'm jabbering on about" (charming) then you can read the comment I made earlier. I'm not repeating myself for you. You definitely did imply it, by the way.

I'm mid-western Canadian and we get teased because we enunciate every syllable so when I hear Brits with the BBC accent dropping their Rs it drives me mad when they say that everyone else can't pronounce words! My friend was telling me about someone who's last name is Mahli and so I asked, is that like Bob and Wailers or the country in Africa? So he said to me - It's M-ahhhh-lee not M-ahhhh-lee and thought I was insane when I told him that they sounded exactly the same as each other.
As for Mirror.
Scots= Mir-r-r-r-urh
BBC= Mirr-ah
Me= Meer-r.

My silent 'r' is in the middle whereas the BBC silent 'r' is at the end. My DH is Scottish and still teases me about it 10 years on - it makes me want to punch him

If you are seriously claiming not to know "what the actual fuck I'm jabbering on about" (charming) then you can read the comment I made earlier. I'm not repeating myself for you. You definitely did imply it, by the way.

Yes I am seriously claiming not to know what the fuck you are on about. Please find the post where I implied working class people are stupid and re-post it. And be prompt about it.

If you are unable to do this I can only go with my initial judgement, that you are a liar who is willing to throw false accusations around when throwing a tantrum.

I think the thing that is frustrating for Americans and that makes these threads seem somewhat less than lighthearted at times is the insistence by some that the American usages are wrong and objectionable. And then there are the huge generalizations that are almost always wrong.

Here's just one example: route is pronounce by many, if not most, Americans to rhyme with root, not rowt. It's true that the thing that sends the internet around your house is almost always pronounced "rowter," but "route" is pronounced "root" by many people, including me.

There's an American song "Route 66." Listen to the pronunciation of route.

Squoosh didn't make any comments at all that could be taken as a dig at uneducated people. I've read all her posts three times just to be sure, because I recognise her as being a long term poster and I know her style of posting and I was amazed that she would say that because it's so out of character (in as much as a stranger on an internet forum can do something out of character ). But it turns out she didn't say anything of the sort.

I drive on 'Root' 66, but if it's backed-up I'll look for an alternative 'rowte'.

is the insistence by some that the American usages are wrong and objectionable

Yes, Seneca, that's it exactly. It would be one thing if the thread was 'AIBU to find that Americans pronounce things differently than I'm used to'. But the 'drives me MAD', 'can't stand', 'horror', 'teeth on edge', , and implications that we're ill-educated or have sub-normal intelligence because of the way we say (or spell) certain things is, frankly, insulting.

TBH, I'm sure many of us find the way Brits pronounce certain American place names or words to be 'wrong' or 'amusing' but most of us are too well-bred to mention it.

If you want to tell me that the way I pronounce 'Worcestershire' is wrong, I don't mind. It's a British place name. But to insinuate that the way I pronounce 'mirror' or 'aluminum' is wrong, when it is the common pronunciation here, is rude.

BTW, it's 'woos-ti-sheer', right?

Squoosh I'm really sorry, you are quite right. I got you mixed up with another poster. The was Peppermint who said the comment that I took exception to

Squoosh didn't make any comments at all that could be taken as a dig at uneducated people. I've read all her posts three times just to be sure, because I recognise her as being a long term poster and I know her style of posting and I was amazed that she would say that because it's so out of character (in as much as a stranger on an internet forum can do something out of character grin). But it turns out she didn't say anything of the sort.

My thoughts exactly.

Sorry, cross-post with Ratatatouille.

I'm with Peppermint, back on page 3.

Nasty, nasty thread.