Saying haitch.

[Chunkymenrock]

I almost never hear anyone saying aitch anymore. It's so infuriating! There is no such word as haitch. Am I alone in feeling so irritated? 😕

@Chunkymenrock

How can it be correct? It might be said by the majority of the population but that doesn't mean it magically becomes correct.

It's correct in Ireland.

@Arcof I had a Scottish boss who did this. I worked it out eventually, but at first I would say ‘was that gee or jay?’ Because how could I know, and he would say ‘jye’.

J to rhyme with “eye” is specific to parts of Scotland, but I think it’s also generational- more likely to be heard among older people in my experience.
Haitch was not heard much in Scotland, in my 70 year old experience at least, but seems to be gaining currency, probably because it’s being heard so much on TV etc. My parents definitely disapproved of it.

It's haitch where I'm from in the North West, and I'm really baffled about why it upsets so many people? What a strange thing to waste energy on.

@Belleager
“ So if people think haitch is right, it seems as if the pedantic aitchers are themselves dropping the aspirate, and that's worse than any other irregular pronunciation because of the class implications?”
I think on top of this, there’s always more derision for hypercorrections like the aitch in ‘ardly hever’ than just dropping aitches. It’s the schadenfreude of seeing people trying and failing to rise above their station.
So, the thinking is if we can’t look down on people who say haitch any more, what’s happened to our place in the world.

@AnnieSnap

I hate it with a passion. I can regularly be found shouting AITCH at the TV! I am outraged that Journalists, for whom the tools of their trade are words, don’t bloody pronounce it right!

Calm the fuck down.

And never come to Scotland.

@Deletesystem33

Or Ireland, America, New Zealand.....

@AnnieSnap

I hate it with a passion. I can regularly be found shouting AITCH at the TV! I am outraged that Journalists, for whom the tools of their trade are words, don’t bloody pronounce it right!

Who says it’s right? Hiberno English says they’re right and you’re wrong.

There’s a real undertone of racism and classism in the posts from those who dislike it. I wonder how they’d react if the pronunciation was that done by an obviously different looking ethnic minority.

@AnnieSnap

I hate it with a passion. I can regularly be found shouting AITCH at the TV! I am outraged that Journalists, for whom the tools of their trade are words, don’t bloody pronounce it right!

@AnnieSnap

You sound a bit unhinged.

Haitch is not in the OED.

@Acarp Really? And you sound like you have had a sense of humour bypass! Is this the right thread for you? 🤔

No because that's an English dictionary. It is in the Hiberno-English dictionary though.

@lemonyfox

It's haitch where I'm from in the North West, and I'm really baffled about why it upsets so many people? What a strange thing to waste energy on.

It isn’t Haitch in the North West. You just think it is because it is pronounced incorrectly so often!

I work in HR. Feel my pain...

It's most definitely 'haitch' in Ireland. I remember a very rude English colleague complaining about all us co-workers sounding unprofessional on the phone for using it. Our office was in Dublin, her 'aitch' was far more out of place.

The sooner people realise that regional variations in language are completely normal, the better.

@HasaDigaEebowai

I work in HR. Feel my pain...

😂😂😂😂😂

Saying Haitch would get a clip around the ear from my grandmother who was very concerned with not being seen as ‘common’.

So many things in the U.K. are class signifiers. Until I moved back here I didn’t know I had a class.

I still say Aitch and have mithered my 3 to say the same. I’m losing the battle for the Ts, though. “Twenny minutes til the par’ee” for “Twenty minutes until the party” etc

@HasaDigaEebowai

I work in HR. Feel my pain...

Oh gosh. I bet all the gobshites call it Aitch Arr instead of a nice polite Haitch Oar, don't they. That would annoy me too.

@Chunkymenrock

I almost never hear anyone saying aitch anymore. It's so infuriating! There is no such word as haitch. Am I alone in feeling so irritated? 😕

Yes there is. It depends on the variant of English you use. I speak Hiberno English and it is pronounced haitch.

@DuckonaBike

Yes, the word is spelt aitch and pronounced aitch.

No, adding an extra letter to a word is not a correct pronunciation. It doesn’t make any difference which country you’re in; it’s still wrong.

I wonder why so many people are confused by this?

It may not make a difference what country you are it but it does make a difference which variant of English you speak.

[quote AnnieSnap]@Acarp Really? And you sound like you have had a sense of humour bypass! Is this the right thread for you? 🤔[/quote]
Yes, bragging about how you start screaming when people pronounce something different to you. Totes hilaire.

@Sakura7

It's most definitely 'haitch' in Ireland. I remember a very rude English colleague complaining about all us co-workers sounding unprofessional on the phone for using it. Our office was in Dublin, her 'aitch' was far more out of place.

The sooner people realise that regional variations in language are completely normal, the better.

I’m 1/2 Irish, a family of school teachers. It’s Aitch in Ireland or anywhere else. Being commonly mispronounced does not make it a cultural issue!

@Acarp. My comment was tongue in cheek. I hadn’t read all of the comments before it and hadn’t realised the thread had taken a dark turn! I do shout Aitch at the telly, but not in an angry way 😳

Saying it's right because that's how it's said in Ireland is like saying color is the correct spelling of colour because that's how it's spelt in America.

Don't start me on how the Americans pronounce herb either - it begins with an aitch!!!!!

@Tal45

Saying it's right because that's how it's said in Ireland is like saying color is the correct spelling of colour because that's how it's spelt in America.

Don't start me on how the Americans pronounce herb either - it begins with an aitch!!!!!

Look up descriptivism. Look up David Crystal's article "if it is said, then it is correct" (he's our greatest living linguist and one of the greatest of all time)

Color IS correct. British examination boards accept it. It's in dictionaries. What's important is that you are consistent with your choices.

The reason why "herb" is pronounced without the /h/ in US English is because of its latin etymology.

Most US spellings and pron are the original ways words were spelled and pronounced when the first settlers went over. As many people don't like modern ways and language change, one could argue that US spelling and pron is MORE correct.

Hour, honest, honour, heir begin with H as well. How are we pronouncing those?

@AnnieSnap

I’m fully Irish, from a family of school teachers and it’s haitch.

After being on a thread this week about some English people admitting they can’t pronounce the ‘r’ in iron, I don’t think you can look down on the Irish or others for (correctly) using haitch.