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?

Surely in a call centre, when spelling something out, the phonetic alphabet would be used?

Where do you stand on woof?

Where I work, nobody seems to use the word 'was.' It is 'I were in the toilet' or 'I were at the shop.' It's accepted locally, and the meaning is understood, but it's still non-standard so we don't teach it, and we correct it in their written work etc It's 'aitch' in the dictionary so I don't know why people can't accept that regional, non-standard variations are fine in local, everyday use whilst also being technically 'wrong' (or non standard maybe) I guess the exception is Irish Catholics, who are taught haitch at school.

I expect the OP doesn't know the difference between rhoticity and rotisserie.

There's some kind of weird thing where some posters seem to think the English language is somehow "owned" by England, cos like the clues in the name.

If I had an account with this money-laundering, crime-enabling bunch of scumbags I would, in all seriousness, close it because of their egregious pronunciation.
But I don’t.
YADNBU OP.

It's so funny reading these threads as someone from a naice area, accent to match, private education, qualifications, professional career. All those middle class markers. But because the naice area and naice accent and private education are Irish, I'm common as muck

(Not that it matters one way or the other, obviously. But it's so blinkered.)

Is he from NZ, or maybe SA?

I didn't have a choice, my marking was marked by compliance. It was my job, it was also 10 years ago.

But I disagree that it's racist- it's nothing to do with race. The laguage standards were so tight because they wanted to make sure phone agents were understood clearly and easily by the majority.

The right of the majority of customers (particularly those with hearing impairments) to be communicated to clearly and consistently trumps the rights of the odd person who preferred to pronounce something differently.

I go yelled at to “get someone that can speak English” on the phone once.

I speak English. I am also Scottish.

That was fun.

Racism tends to do that. People do get cross when they're subjected to it.

Indeed. Class. Or clarss? I have no idear. 🙊

I think I must be in the minority because if I am told that I have got something wrong, something objectively wrong, I dont feel at all offended. I prefer to be told. Then I decide whether I will continue saying it wrong (was corrected on name of local restaurant but everyone I know says it incorrectly so if I say it correctly I feel like a dick) or whether to start saying it correctly - was very interested and pleased to be corrected on pronunciation of Moet & Chandon.

Northern Ireland is still in the UK.

Training taught agents to spell in the first instance, NATO alphabet second attempt.

I hope you didn't get someone else!! I've heard similar from a few Scottish people. I find most Scottish accents easier to understand than most English ones.

Of course it's racist. Think of the characteristics of people who say "haitch" or "aks" - which is what I assume you mean, not "arks", which I've never heard.

The common English use of non-rhotic pronunciations is non-standard internationally and difficult for many of us to understand. Were staff told to say "Oar" not "Ahhh", or "car" not "cah"? If not, why is one regional variation more acceptable than another?

How is Moët and Chandon pronounced? I would say it Moe Et. I struggle with French pronunciation as I didn’t study French at school.

I know I'm repeating myself (and many others) here, but once more with feeling: Haitch isn't wrong.

But it isn't wrong in Hiberno English? Why is that so hard to understand? Do you tell Americans they are pronouncing herb wrong or oregano wrong(I mean you probably do but still)?

It taught them how to spell? What kind of call centre did you work in where people had to be taught how to spell?

We were handed a sheet with the phonetic alphabet on our first day which we stuck to the sides of our monitors. Seems counter intuitive to teach someone to do things incorrectly before teaching them to do things the way they actually need to be done, no?

It'd be interesting to know the name of the company. They deserve to be named and shamed (and contacted via Twitter at least) both about having racist policies and knowing fuck all about language.

@ItisSailingTime care to tell us?

m'wet. because Mr Moët was Dutch. Lots of people assume it's a French word and therefore pronounce it as mo-ay.

No, born & raised in the East cost of Scotland to Scottish parents 🤷‍♀️😂

"How is Moët and Chandon pronounced? I would say it Moe Et. I struggle with French pronunciation as I didn’t study French at school."

Lots of people pronounce it mo-ey because they assume it is a French name and 'et' should be pronounced 'ey'.

But it is mo-ett as it is actually a Dutch name.

I was wrong for lots of years.

Ah there’s me assuming it’s French because it’s a champagne brand! My mispronunciation is almost correct! Thank you.