Haitch in HSBC phone message

[ClaudiusTheGod]

Phone HSBC. A voice will thank you for calling Haitch S B C.

This is all kinds of wrong, isn’t it?

The correct pronunciation...?

Oh I hate these "this is the correct pronunciation" threads. They are so ignorant and discriminatory.

Those of you insisting that they know the "correct" pronunciation - that there even is a correct pronunciation - do you really believe that whole swathes of people, be they in NI, Wales, Scotland... wherever, are all speaking incorrectly?

Are you not aware of regional dialect and accent? And that those are all just as regular and rule-governed as RP or whatever Southern English accent you deem worthy and 'correct'?

Haitch here too (Irish). Now live in NI where spelling out my name reveals my religious background which is always fun.

Both are correct.

Gotten is also correct, as is the Irish use of bring and take, paddy isn't an acceptable word for a tantrum, Halloween isn't an American import and neither is Santa (just to fill the bingo card).

This thread can't be serious?

Slippery slope. People some think 'a apple' is correct, which is harder to say than 'an apple'
But hey, SPaG isn't important to the lazy

Jesus christ with silver bells on . Have you nothing better to do than criticise the speech of some poor sod trying to earn a living?
Are you so picky about everything?

The spelling rules generally come from the dictionary...

I'm Irish, it's Haitch to me and as it's an international bank (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation), as a PP has said, there's no reason their answering machine should conform to English RP.

Slippery slope. People some think 'a apple' is correct, which is harder to say than 'an apple' But hey, SPaG isn't important to the lazy

You really don't have a clue what you're talking about. For a start, SPaG only applies to written English in the context of exams (and it's actually called technical accuracy now). It isn't some set in stone concept to the moral fabric of this great nation.

And where do dictionaries 'come from'?

Amy dictionary I have seen says aitch. Haitch makes me cringe- I grew up among people who'd add an H where there was none, and drop one where there should have been. E.g. " Did you know 'enry 'ad to go to 'ospital? They fink its hangina"
"I 'eard 'e 'ad hasthma."

This is about pronunciation, not SPAG, and this varies, i.e. is different throughout the Anglophone world. Nothing to do with laziness.
These variations will have been around for a very long time and will be common to whole communities of people. It's not a slippery slope: they're already there.

It is not the same as a basic, individual error such as "a apple", which frankly I have never heard anyone say.

It's not so bad as the recorded announcement from my GP surgery, which clearly states going to 'ospiddle' (meaning hospital). That really does grate...

Haitch was present in Old English and English until it became fashionable in the 1700 to drop the H. Haitch is historically correct, Aitch is merely a fashion.

Here in South Wales, I’ve only heard Haitch - Aitch is used by those who are no better than they ought to be 😁

This thread topic is grounds for an employment tribunal here in NI.👀

And likkle. Bloody awful

You sound like someone who would definitely say Haitch.

It is not for me to criticise how people in different regions pronounce letters. I am however curious to know if people say N haitch S (NHS), as it does not seem to roll of the tongue with ease. Incidentally I went to strict Catholic primary where all of the teachers were Irish, most of them nuns. I do not recall hearing anyone pronounce it as Haitch.

Oh no. How tragic.

If posh people can say hu-what and hu-why then us peasants can say haitch.

Hmmm. I’m an Aitch but Aitch S B C sounds wrong. Haitch for me in this instance! No big deal.

Blimey, were you this butthurt when they stopped saying ‘Thank you for calling Midland Bank’?

Haitch is the accepted pronunciation in some areas

Yep.

wubblyou

😂😂

YANBU. It's like leaving the second i out of liaise, or the first r out of February, or writing Wensday. They are an international bank and so should use the standard pronunciation. I think people just aren't taught that it's aitch and not haitch. This wouldn't bother me as much as the there/their too/to etc errors we see all the time, though. And the lack of full stops/capital letters, and over use of exclamation points.