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AIBU?

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Original poster

The alphabet and 'H'.

458 replies

Thatbliddywoman · 01/09/2020 22:50

So we say
Ay.
Bee
Sea
Dee
Ee
Eff
Jee
Aitch. Except we don't. We say 'Haitch'.
Why?
We make the aitch have its own letter as the sound of the word for it
We don't do that with any other letter. Why H?
We don't say 'wubbleyew' do we, It's 'doubleyew'?
I don't understand it.

OP posts:
GlendaSugarbeanIsJudgingYou · 02/09/2020 10:50

I call him a planter and he calls me a bogger. True love.

Awwh... :o

sanityisamyth · 02/09/2020 10:53

@tobee

I think "pardon" is non U isn't it? It should be "what?". I probably use both.

But I say "aitch", and "haitch" grates, but did not know about the catholic/Protestant issue.

Definitely Aitch.

I also get really irritated when people "correct" DS or me if we say "what". Hate the word pardon. I was taught to say "what".

Doccomplaint · 02/09/2020 10:55

Lets call a spade a spade here. It's racism, pure and simple. (And yes I am well aware of the argument that white people can't be subjected to racism but the legal definition of racism includes this kind of 'punching down.') We can call it ethnically based prejudice possibly. Either way from a historical context it is 100% a case of 'punching down' and an absolute refusal to see the people of a former colony as being of equal worth and standing. Our ways are not as good as their ways, our way of speaking is like 'nails on a blackboard' etc. It's genuinely disgusting.

This

luckylavender · 02/09/2020 10:55

Well Haitch just isn't correct, no matter how much it's defended.

MindyStClaire · 02/09/2020 10:55

Amazing how many people willing to freely admit their prejudice, 250 posts in.

earthyfire · 02/09/2020 10:56

I used to say haitch when I was a child, now I say aitch. I don't really care how people say it tbh, it isn't something I lose sleep over.

Doccomplaint · 02/09/2020 10:57

@luckylavender

Well Haitch just isn't correct, no matter how much it's defended.
Well, it is. If you’re Irish
Prettybluepigeons · 02/09/2020 11:00

No it's not! It might be the way the word is pronounced in the local accent but that doesn't make it correct!

I might be perfectly acceptable but that doesn't make it correct!

Doccomplaint · 02/09/2020 11:02

@Prettybluepigeons

No it's not! It might be the way the word is pronounced in the local accent but that doesn't make it correct!

I might be perfectly acceptable but that doesn't make it correct!

So the Irish are just a local accent.

Not an independent nation or anything.

Ok. Got that.

1922 called. It wants the country back. Hmm

CatteStreet · 02/09/2020 11:03

@luckylavender

Well Haitch just isn't correct, no matter how much it's defended.
Mind is boggling here at people who have (presumably) read the thread and still come out with this sort of thing! Can you not hear yourselves?

As for the PP whose boss 'corrected' her out of her irish parents' pronunciation and she has subsequently made sure her children don't repeat the 'error' - that is very sad.

CatteStreet · 02/09/2020 11:05

@Prettybluepigeons

No it's not! It might be the way the word is pronounced in the local accent but that doesn't make it correct!

I might be perfectly acceptable but that doesn't make it correct!

Please define 'correct' (and don't just say 'well, "aitch"'. Which variant of English is 'correct', and why?)
sanityisamyth · 02/09/2020 11:05

@FOKKYFC

'Aitch' is in the dictionary; 'haitch' is not (so fucking far, although I'm sure that wretched day is coming). I've lost the battle with my sons for 'toilet' but I'm fucked if I'm losing the war with 'haitch'. Not in this house.

DS6 so far doesn't say toilet but he's bombarded with it at school and other places and his father so I'm sure that day will come 😭

Prettybluepigeons · 02/09/2020 11:06

The dictionary version is correct.

Lozz22 · 02/09/2020 11:07

Haitch!!! Aitch sounds like the hull accent

SerenDippitty · 02/09/2020 11:07

I’ve googled a bit, and can not find a definitive answer as to why witch is correct and haitch is wrong. It seems to be a u/non u thing.

Can anyone else provide an explanation?

alittleprivacy · 02/09/2020 11:07

No it's not! It might be the way the word is pronounced in the local accent but that doesn't make it correct!

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! It is is 100% correct in Hiberno-English, just like "color" is 100% correct in American-English. Denying that is ethnically based prejudice and insistence of your own ethnic superiority. Which is really, really not ok.

CatteStreet · 02/09/2020 11:07

@Prettybluepigeons

The dictionary version is correct.
Which dictionary?
eggandonion · 02/09/2020 11:08

Catholic Dh says haitch and a as in cat. I say aitch and a as in late. We are from northern Ireland.
When I worked in England the cafe beside me had a chocolate bun with a piece of flake on it. We couldn't have it as neither of us could say flake cake so staff could understand. And our kids growing up in the south of Ireland , as in Munster, still say eight in NI way.
Regional variations are great, not awful. What's awful is the existence of Catholic speech and language units!

Original poster
Thatbliddywoman · 02/09/2020 11:10

Polkadots, I'm going to research that! I like it. :)

OP posts:
MileyWiley · 02/09/2020 11:11

haitch here in Manchester but also a high proportion of descendants of Irish catholic's?

Pluckedpencil · 02/09/2020 11:11

I used to be snobby about aitch and pronunciation "mistakes" in general. As I get older, I am realising that true stupidity is not having the cultural understanding or open mindedness to see that the "received" way or my own way is not the only and right way.

SerenDippitty · 02/09/2020 11:13

I also get really irritated when people "correct" DS or me if we say "what". Hate the word pardon. I was taught to say "what".

I say “Sorry?” if I haven’t caught what someone said. “What?” sounds abrupt, bordering on rude, to me.

sanityisamyth · 02/09/2020 11:16

@SerenDippitty

I also get really irritated when people "correct" DS or me if we say "what". Hate the word pardon. I was taught to say "what".

I say “Sorry?” if I haven’t caught what someone said. “What?” sounds abrupt, bordering on rude, to me.

To be fair I think I probably same "sorry" more than what. But it really annoys me when people tell me I mean pardon!

BoingBoingyBoing · 02/09/2020 11:23

"When we say " oh it's a regional thing" we are just insinuating that people from a certain region can't speak correctly which is insulting."

Oh ffs.

Both are correct depending upon where you come from. It's not hard to understand, although there are plenty of people on this thread who are clearly struggling.