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

[giddypig]

"Woryer" and "Aloominum"

Just 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

Only Brits from certain regions/socioeconomic groups do that*

If the examples posters were providing (of supposed universal American pronunciation) were classic Boston Brahmin, I would be pointing this out, and not to imply that Americans of this group are stupid. It really isn't that difficult to understand.

Acrossthepond it's actually pronounced woo-ster in the U.K.

I realise that makes no sense, but there you go.

And no, the many threads in which British people poke gentle fun at regional variations within their own nation are not the same thing as this thread, in which posters of one nationality are proffering up ill-founded generalizations about people of another nation. See how that works?

What is even more irritating is the number of Brits asking for a lahhh tay. It is pronnounced lattay.

Thank you for the apology Ratatatouille

And thank you for the character reference treacle, and seneca. Very sweet of you!

Acrossthepond it's actually pronounced woo-ster in the U.K

I realise that makes no sense, but there you go

Plunkette, I think Acrossthepond was speaking about the county, not the town. Actually, I would pronounce it woosh-tuh-shuh

it's actually pronounced woo-ster in the U.K.

Are you saying that you don't pronounce the "shire" part?

I pronounce it "wooster-shur," which is how most Americans I know say it.

And as for taco, as mathanxiety pointed out the American pronunciation is based on the Mexican Spanish pronunciation. It's a Mexican food after all. Spanish is the second language that most Americans are most familiar with, but it is various versions of Latin American Spanish.

And I think oREGano is closer to the Italian pronunciation (of origano) than OreGAHno. Oregano is actually a Spanish word and the accent is on the second syllable as in the American pronunciation.

Has anyone mentioned "nuclear" yet, no it's not nu-cue-la

Oh, my mistake needmy I was assuming that she was referring to the sauce?

Not many Americans having the need to refer to the county on a regular basis...

I don't like hearing the 'l' in calm, it makes me twitch.

I pronounce it "wooster-shur," which is how most Americans I know say it.

The 'shur' part we'd pronounced 'sheer' where I'm from in England, so wooster-sheer. The same applies to any other 'shire' counties.

Across Seneca It is woo-ster sauce, the shire bit isn't mentioned for the sauce; if you use it in UK, you can just call it Lea and Perrins, which is the most common make.
I am a great Barefoot Contessa and Pioneer Woman fan, and it makes me smile each time I hear them try to say it. They in turn, have introduced me to Sriracha sauce, which dh adores and goes through at a rate of knots.

If either of you would be so kind, can you explain what half and half is please, as it's not something I've seen in UK or Belgium?

Worcester as a place is not unknown in the US. There is Worcester, Mass., pronounced "Wooster" or more likely "Woostah" by locals.

The mention of herb reminded me of this.

Half and half is half cream and half whole milk. I'm drinking it in my coffee right now.

When I am in the UK, I use light cream.

Single cream in the UK is what I meant to say.

Oh my god. Is graham cracker what they are saying when they say gram cracker? The penny has only just dropped on this one.

I remember being Confused for ages about whether the CSI character was called Greg sanders or Craig sanders - they sound exactly alike!!

Also, the worst American pronunciation is oregano. Hands down.

Half and half in the US has a fat content of 10-18 percent.

Also, the worst American pronunciation is oregano. Hands down.

Why, exactly? It's a Spanish word pronounced in Spanish with the accent on the RE part. In Italian, it's origano, accent on the RI part. One could argue that on the "worst" scale, the British pronunciation ranks higher, but I won't argue that because I just see it as a linguistic difference, not a moral failing.

I love pronunciation threads. Not the nasty bits, just about the differences. There's a great podcast called A Way With Words that discusses local phrases and pronunciations.

Can someone explain why some English speakers wouldn't get the Shaun the Sheep pun?

How do "shawn" and "shaun" sound different in America/Scotland/wherever?

You Shaun the Sheep is a joke because in lots of English accents Shaun and shorn sound the same. (As in a shorn sheep)

If you have an accent which pronounces "r" sounds eg Scottish or Irish they don't sound the same so the joke doesn't work.

"shorn", sorry.

Oh wait, I get it!! Haha, it's because I thought the past tense of shear was shawn and not shorn. Oh the shame :(

And similarly, Farmer's Llama doesn't rhyme for people with rhotic accents. We pronounce both "r's".