Americanism

archangel

archangel

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Mike
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What is with Americans calling herbs ....."erbs"......can they not pronounce their "H"
 
lerbs :)
 
'Erbs' is probably the only one that really bugs both me and my daughter when we watch stuff on netflix
 
I could care less.
My bad,
Using # instead of No. (or number),
That's what I'm talking about (when something not being talked about happens),
Mom,
Their pronunciation of Notre Dame,
A ways to go (really? a singular plural?),
Legos,
etc.


Steve.
 
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No worse than the Welsh pronouncing here as yer.
 
I really don't think we are in any position to criticise. English is one of the most stupidly inconsistent languages when it comes to both spelling and pronunciation. The Americans probably wonder why we say lieutenant as if it has an "f" in it.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I really don't think we are in any position to criticise. English is one of the most stupidly inconsistent languages when it comes to both spelling and pronunciation. The Americans probably wonder why we say lieutenant as if it has an "f" in it.
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Do we?
 
To my knowledge, it was originally pronounced 'erbs on both sides of the Atlantic and then Britain diverged by starting to pronounce the H. So, it would seem that it's not the Americans that are the weird ones in this case.
 
archangel said:
What is with Americans calling herbs ....."erbs"......can they not pronounce their "H"
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I think it depends which part of the U.S. you're in. In Texas in particular they seem to miss off lots of Hs, so "huge" becomes "yooge". Weird!
 
TopBanana said:
I think it depends which part of the U.S. you're in. In Texas in particular they seem to miss off lots of Hs, so "huge" becomes "yooge". Weird!
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The standard American pronunciation is definitely without the H for herbs.
 
I think old english and french influence comes through in a lot of Americanisms
I've only picked upon the 'erb thing recently, but maybe that's because i hadn't seen many American shows featuring cookery/food before.

I think some people just get wound up by such things for the sake of it.
 
Or people could just stop being so uptight about something that does not effect them in any way at all. It's the way they speak and spell. Language evolves. Get over it.

Stick a fork in me and color me bad. I'm done.

Lol.
 
norters said:
Or people could just stop being so uptight about something that does not effect them in any way at all. It's the way they speak and spell. Language evolves. Get over it.

Stick a fork in me and color me bad. I'm done.

Lol.
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You're just not old and grumpy enough :)
Do you really think anyone is actually bothered?
 
I can't help it if I have an ...............addiction........:D
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Unless some here folks, I am happy to admit when I am wrong. In this case I had a total brain fade. It's Spanish where they don't pronounce the "h" in hotel.
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I often get a touch of "oldtimers" on days with a "y" in them :lol:
 
One mispronunciation that REALLY bugs me is NUCULAR. :runaway:

It's nuclear....NUCLEAR! :banghead:

(Granted, it's mispronounced here as much as in the US)
 
The mispronunciation which annoys me the most is the pronunciation of the word pronunciation as pronounciation. As uttered by BBC radio presenters on a regular basis.

Second to this are the American pronunciations of controversey and contributing - also regulars on the BBC.


Steve.
 
Steve Smith said:
The mispronunciation which annoys me the most is the pronunciation of the word pronunciation as pronounciation. As uttered by BBC radio presenters on a regular basis.

Second to this are the American pronunciations of controversey and contributing - also regulars on the BBC.


Steve.
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I bet SCHEDULE drives you up the wall too ;)
 
If the Americans refer to petrol as "gas" and indigestion/wind as "gas", what do they actually call gas for cooking & heating? :thinking:
 
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