How do your pronounce tortoise?

[Newmumatlast]

It isn't a word I often use. I don't have one. I rarely see them.

My husband pronounces is tour-tus and I say tour-toy-suh

I've actually googled this and I think I'm wrong?!

Please tell me someone else pronounces it as I do.

Don't get me started on porpoise

Tor-tus and por-pus with the stress on the first syllable (Midlands)

Tortus, porpus.

I thought your spelling looked really weird, said it out loud and realised I pronounce it exactly the same way as you do op 😂

@tabulahrasa

Tor is like t-or that was supposed to say

I say tour and tor like that. Tuh-or (but fast together!). I don't say too-or

@Kaliorphic

I thought your spelling looked really weird, said it out loud and realised I pronounce it exactly the same way as you do op 😂

Haha yes!

@Alloftheboys

Tor- toyce

Then again I say Chews-dy and OH says Toos-day for Tuesday.

So I saw chews-day. But where I'm from in the Midlands they say toos-dy

@melisande99

Tor-toyz. I also don't pronounce "tor" the same as "tour", so the way you've spelt out the pronunciations confused me for a minute. I say "tour" more like "too-er".

Sorry! I forgot people say tour differently.

What a can of worms this thread had opened haha

Tor-toy-suh same as you OP

I love these threads. Everyone writing out in different ways they interpret as describing how they say it. There's so many variations of what is probably the same pronunciation yet, I can only imagine every reading them differently too!!

Also on this thread there's delightfully few of the usual tunnel visioned lot!! (Those that command their way is "correct".)

For what it's worth I'd say tortoise so it works in Alison in Wonderland, as it sounds like "taught us"

(Also interested to know how tor and tour sound different to some people. They are the same for me!!)

“I say tour and tor like that. Tuh-or (but fast together!). I don't say too-or”

My tor is like the word or, but with a t and like I said my tour has two distinct syllables... so very different sounding.

To be fair though, I have a lot of words with extra syllables, lol

Further disclosure
My tor - tuss
Tor has quite an r at the end. As in tortuous (?! Apposite?!)
I also pronounce tour exactly the same way - one syllable but my lower jaw is slightly different and mouth slightly less round there.
The tuss is close to tiss but not full on tiss. Short. Maybe more of a tuhss.
I’m now imagining tortoise in a strong highland accent and it sounds fantastic - so complex so many syllables.
Spend a lot of time extreme west - thinking tart-uz. With glottal stop ?

@MonkeyPuddle

I’d pronounce it tor-us, with the second syllable being the most pronounced, there’s a proper term for it but i can’t remember it. My accent drops T’s from most words where they’re in the middle. Common, as my mum would say.

That’s a Glottal Stop - which is an ironic name given it’s all about dropping your Ts

I say tor-toys (I'm Scottish)
but....
I pronounce "tortoiseshell" as tor-ta-shell so it took me a few years to realise tortoiseshell is actually the shells of tortoises (at least it used to be).
The Alice In Wonderland thing bothered me when I was little - makes no sense as a rhotic scottish person.

Tor-tus and por-pus.

Not RTFT but hope the link works. English is not my first language so this word has been a bugger to me. Given that you pronounce it differently depending where you are from, it really isn'making it any easier .

I say tor-toice but dh says tor-tuss and laughs at me!

Tor-toice and tor-toys are very different in my accent, tor-toys would sound very odd! Tortoise rhymes with voice and choice to me!

(Also interested to know how tor and tour sound different to some people. They are the same for me!!)

They are different to me! Tour is like too-r. Tor rhymes with for. Toh-r.

Tor toyz but we just refer to her as Samantha

Tor has a short 'or' sound
Tour has a long 'oor' sound

Tor toy SS

Tor-Tuss

Tor-tus
From the SE

Same as you. West Midlands.

Can't remember what 80s or 90s kids film it was when I was a child but this quote always stuck with me, and it's my pronunciation:

'We called him Tortoise because he taught us'

@MolyHolyGuacamole

Can't remember what 80s or 90s kids film it was when I was a child but this quote always stuck with me, and it's my pronunciation:

'We called him Tortoise because he taught us'

Oh, it was Alice in Wonderland, just checked and it's a Lewis Caroll quote 😂