The alphabet and 'H'.

[Thatbliddywoman]

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.

It's aitch.. perhaps they don't teach the correct way to pronounce things in schools these days.

I say both.

I don't actually give a toss how other people say it.

Lot of dramatics on here over regional differences.

It's aitch. It is agony when people say haitch.
I've got a DP of midlands origin. The battle of ways to pronounce words for our DD is real. Sometimes she sings the alphabet and says 'haitch' every other letter just to torture me.
Also banned: 'somethink' (something), 'gev' (gave) and 'off' (from).

Oh and agree with a pp that 'pardon?' is not good.

I've always said aitch, DD said haitch for a short time after starting primary school, not sure if it was phonics or the teacher.

Just to throw some more fun into the mix, it's often pronounced "itch" in my area.

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.

I'm welsh and we say haitch although it's more like haaaach, like haitch but without the obvious i. Similar to the name Shane, we say Shane whereas in England (don't know about other places sorry) I believe it's said more like Shaine.

Although when I say nhs out loud in my head I say it like enn atch ess, I seem to drop the H part.

In the part of wales where I live (not born in this part) they drop the H part too much. This woman used to live by us and her daughter was called Helen, for about 5 years I thought her name was Ellen because of how my ex pronounced it!

I say aitch! I've just noticed most humans don't!

Maybe most humans where you live don't, but I've never heard a person say haitch here in Ohio.

Nothing like a H thread to get my blood pressure up.

As others have said, it's a dialect thing. Haitch is correct in Ireland. As has also been explained, it's a shibboleth in NI as people tend to fall into one of two camps - Catholic/Nationalist/Irish/haitch or Protestant/Unionist/British/Aitch.

Perhaps those who can't stand haitch to the extent expressed on this thread might want to consider why something Irish is seen as so unacceptable?

Oh, and yes, I pronounce it haitch in NHS, GBH etc.

"Perhaps those who can't stand haitch to the extent expressed on this thread might want to consider why something Irish is seen as so unacceptable?"

This is the warm up act for the upcoming annual Hallowe'en/ Santa threads.

With the usual sprinkle of toddlers "having a paddy" thrown in.

I need to stop opening these threads...

This is the warm up act for the upcoming annual Hallowe'en/ Santa threads.

Actually, I think we in the US get most of the blame for Halloween on MN.

I say haitch and so does everyone I know. This is a weird thread.

I know "aitch" is supposedly correct, but "aitch for Harry" sounds wrong.

Apparently, we've been saying "haitch" for almost a thousand years.

In Britain, H owes its name to the Normans, who brought their letter "hache" with them in 1066. Hache is the source of our word "hatchet": probably because a lower-case H looks a lot like an axe. It has certainly caused a lot of trouble over the years. A century ago people dropping their h's were described in the Times as "h-less socialists." In ancient Rome, they were snooty not about people who dropped their Hs but about those who picked up extra ones. Catullus wrote a nasty little poem about Arrius (H'arrius he called him), who littered his sentences with Hs because he wanted to sound more Greek. Almost two thousand years later we are still split, and pronouncing H two ways: "aitch", which is posh and "right"; and "haitch", which is not posh and thus "wrong". The two variants used to mark the religious divide in Northern Ireland – aitch was Protestant, haitch was Catholic, and getting it wrong could be a dangerous business.

www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2013/nov/04/letter-h-contentious-alphabet-history-alphabetical-rosen

Maybe most humans where you live don't, but I've never heard a person say haitch here in Ohio.

Surely, though, America isn't the authority on the English language?

Wow, what a nasty piece of work you are, @ForestTrump. The English we speak in the US has evolved less from the original language than what you speak in the UK has, so perhaps we are.

I say haitch and I don’t get why people have a problem with it.

Is any one else sat there repeating “aitch” “haitch“ trying to figure out which one they use? Poor DH has just pulled the duvet over his head! To be fair I’ve taught early years for the past goodness knows how many years so I mostly stick to a nice breathy /h/. “Huh“ however now that’s the hill to die upon!

@PhilSwagielka

I say haitch and I don’t get why people have a problem with it.

It's not that people genuinely have a problem with it, it's more that it gives a certain type of English person an opportunity to indulge in a bit of casual xenophobia without feeling a like a bigot.

Yes, I went there ...

As long as we’re getting annoyed about the important issues!🤣

Catholic/Protestant shibboleth in NI, as PP said.

Which is weird, because my family is Irish Catholic and I say aitch.

It’s so culturally ingrained in NI and I find the attitude to haitch In this thread offensive and colonialist.

And having a paddy is offensive as well.

So is describing something as a bit Irish when it’s broken.

Or irishing up a drink being used as meaning to put more alcohol in it.

You wouldn’t be so offensive about any other ethnic group, why do it about the Irish? It’s racism.

My whole family and partner's family say Haitch, it's the regional way we pronounce it.