Americans React to Top 10 British Words You're Saying Wrong!
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- Опубликовано: 26 ноя 2023
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Reacting To My Roots
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In this video we react to the top 10 British words you're saying wrong. We explore the fascinating differences between British English and American English, and it's both shocking and amusing to see how the same language can vary across the pond. While we were aware of a few mispronunciations, we were genuinely surprised by the number of words we pronounce differently from our British counterparts. Get ready for an entertaining and eye-opening linguistic journey!
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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"English did technically come from England". Sorry but there is no technically about it, English came from England.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🇬🇧
Well yes but it's mostly a mix of French and German and other languages. It just all evolved into the mess we call English.
Yes, I giggled at that one too. LOL.
@@faithpearlgenied-a5517 Actually it's Latin. The countries were all dominated by Roman Latin before they went their seperate ways after the fall of the Empire. The Saxons then influenced Anglo language followed by the Normans and it evolved over a millennium. The similarities over Europe are purely Latin.
"There's a clue in the name".
I am a Chemistry teacher..... all our textbooks and Periodic tables have Aluminium on them.
How about ‘Vehicle’. Surprised that wasn’t on the list
No one on the UK (or anywhere?) says "po-tah-to" except in the song.
They definitely do.
@@TarfuLukeI am in my 70th year and can tell you categorically from my many years of "lived experience" that no native speaker of British English would ever say "po-tah-to" and none ever has. No English dictionary would cite it as an acceptable pronunciation for the word.
Where are you getting your information to the contrary?
@@MrBulky992 For some reason I read po-tah-to out loud as as po-tay-to I don't know why. Yeah you are very much correct. Po-tah-to is wrong in every sense of the word. I'm from Manchester.
English technically came from England 😂that’s like saying Spanish technically came from Spain. You guys.
*Spanish is an English word. *Española or español
English wasn't created in the British Isles, it arrived in the British Isles, with different names for the language having different "names" depending on which country you're in.
When we settled America Mark it would have been english as it is today so suck it up snp boy
@@Mark-Haddow The English language developed in England.
@@hardywatkins7737
No, it didn't
The germanic language used in the British Isles developed throughout the regions, not just "England." It has been used in the older nation, Scotland, as long as it has in the regions now called England. Mostly because it arrived there before England was created. Scots is a variation of the Germanic language, the vikings, saxons, normans etc introduced
@@Mark-Haddow You said above it wasn't created in the British Isles, and now you're saying it was developed in the 'regions', not England.
i love how much it pains americans to say english came from england
It doesn't come from England. It has different names depending on where in the British Isles you come from. Or do you think England (founded after Scotland) created a unique language and everyone else adopted that. 🤭
Many of them don't even know, they think it's their language 😂
The English language we know today ( with some differences ) pretty much came about between 14th _ 16th century before that you would unlikely be able to understand what they were saying .
@@Mark-Haddow Err that's precisely what happened. English overwhelmed the indigenous languages of the other four countries and Cornwall almost, or actually, to extinction.
@@rayaqueen9657
Nobody speaks English in Scotland. We speak Scots. Also, Scots Gaelic...
😊potasium, sodium, zirconium, uranium, calcium, duterium, plutonium, titanium and aluminium are metalic elements.
We in the Netherlands also say Aluminium, because thats the way to pronounce it and how the stuff is called 😂
In the UK, cilantro is pronounced "coriander".
lol. It is CALLED coriander. Like we have turnips or swedes, and they have rutabagas. We have marrows or courgettes and they have zucchini.
And Aluminum is pronounced "Tin".
@@StormhavenGamingsacrilege! 😮 Cornish and Devon tin has been one of our greatest exports for thousands of years! There aren't any bauxite (aluminium) mines in the UK
@@deja-view1017 No disrespect intended to the hard-working Cornish tin miners (some disrespect to the Devonians though, simply for being from Devon). It was merely a joke based on the American habit of using Aluminum Can or Aluminum Foil, when everybody knows it should be Tin Can and Tin Foil.
@@Ollybus Oh I know. Hence the 'lol' in my response.
Pronouncing a word in the UK not only often changes from north to south but also by social class. Someone of a higher class will pronounce a certain word totally different to a working class person like myself.
I'm in Scotland. What is this "class" system?
It's one where we all go to school and have to sit in cold classroom throughout the winter, freezing our bllox off 😅@@Mark-Haddow
@@lifesbutastumble
I've never sat in a cold classroom. I did however sit in a few cauld rooms, at school.
scone is the apocryphal example
@@spacechannelfiver
So, how would you pronounce the Stone Of Scone?
That Scottish stone the regent sits above as they are crowned?
To me when you say "ball" it sounds like "Boll" which is what he was trying to say. So Bald with an american accent does sound very similar to the UK style to Bowled.
You mention the variation across Britain. I live in the City of Bristol and there are so many differences in the city alone that is possible to guess what district they are from.
Caramel - In the Uk we say Car-a-mel whilst in the US you say Car-mel seemingly ignoring the a in the middle.
Depends on the region and who you ask...we say it both ways in the US.
@@reactingtomyrootsyeah BUT WHY would you say it car mel ,when there is clearly an A in the middle. It only has one correct pronunciation, car A mel .
I say Bald the same as you guys do
@@davidmellish3295 do you know of the 'schwa' sound in English? In case you don't, It's where certain vowel sounds are not really pronounced e.g. November pronounced as Novem- buh ( this , the 'er', is not applicable where pronunciation is rhotic such as in Scotland) or caramel said as car-uh-muhl (2nd 'a' and the 'e' aren't fully pronounced)etc. It's a more relaxed pronunciation of vowels in certain cases ( tongue drops back) . Very common. The car-mel is the result of the a vowel , which wasn't fully pronounced (schwa) anyway, becoming barely audible. A natural development with certain accents, perhaps.
@@camriley Middle aged Highlander here and I've never heard a fellow Scot say it as 'Novembruh', always as 'November', so I don't know where your idea came from but it is not correct.
Americans use the word “nothing” incorrectly which creates a double negative, which equates to a positive statement.
E.g. American: “You haven’t given me ‘nothing’”.
British: “You haven’t given me ‘anything’”.
To say “you haven’t given me nothing”, means you have in fact given them something.
umm yeah ive never said this and dont encounter it much but thats just my experience. we're taught about double negatives in school. speaking "incorrectly" or "improperly" isnt exclusive to americans
There is also 'I could care less' for when they mean couldn't. Saying could care means that they did care about it.
@@CrazyInWestonYou beat me to it!! 🤣
Some do, I suppose. We don't.
@@CrazyInWeston This is the one that makes me shudder. If you "could care less" about something: you must care about it for there being a quantity that could be decreased!
Just say it like we do in the East Midlands, England. "I cvnt care less" it really is that simple.
In the UK, we say "vital" to rhyme with the word "title" and "vitality" to same way. Well done, Steve's wife, for spotting the inconsistency in the UK with the word "vitamin"!
Yes, but vittles are vital - imagine pronouncing those two words the same....
@@fordcorsair That's a word not much used these days in the UK unless you're going on an expedition to the Antarctic. It's spelt "victuals" here (I hope it is on the States too). We more often use the word "victualler", almost exclusively in the phrase "licensed victualler", the official title of one who is licensed by the local authority to sell alcoholic drinks (intoxicating liquor). The landlord of a pub would be one such.
The spelling betrays the fact that the word has different roots from "vitamin" but I think you knew that already and are pulling my leg!
Much happiness in the new year to you and your family!😊
Yes don’t be fooled into thinking there is any consistency in the way English stuff is pronounced 😂 it’s a mishmash of a variety of language influences!
I've never heard an English person say 'vYtamin' - its always "Vit-a-min" ( note: with a 'T' not a 'D'!
@@jomc20It's rare but not unknown. As a British person, I have always said "vitt-amin" and not "vyte-amin": it's less effort to say, for one thing (no diphthong, shorter vowel) but it is inconsistent with every other word I can think of in English which derives directly from latin "vita" meaning "life".
It is consistent with some words deriving from latin "vivo" (I live) such as "vivify" and "vivisection", but not others e.g. "revive", "survival".
I love when you folks do videos like this, watching my uk brethren go at eachother in the comments in effing glorious. Might even join in for the first time and see how upset they get.
Aluminium was proposed as an element by Humphrey Davy in his 1812 book "chemical philosophy" and was refined to a pure metal by a Dane in the 1830s. Davy named it and called it aluminium on every page except one that was clearly an error. The British press read the book and reported the correct name. The US press took a single quote which happened to be from the erroneous page and called it aluminum. Aluminum didn't even make sense, as metals discovered after the Roman period are suffixed "ium" to denote metal. Americans have made an error and embedded it into their language... Same as they did with phrases like "should of" instead of "should've" which is a contraction of "should have".
The UK used the aluminum pronunciation first, then changed it. The original pronunciation is the version the USA uses now.
I don't know about Americans but certainly a lot of British people have been mis-hearing "should've" and incorrectly write "should of" also (perhaps that should be classed as an "eggcorn" ? I don't know).
@@DH.2016No, "should have" is correct and is what "should've" is a contraction of. "Should of" is the common but incorrect version.
this is also the story i have heard of how the confusion began, a simple typo that caught on stateside.
@@Mark-Haddow From what i'd heard Humphrey first used Aluminium, then Aluminum and then again went back to Aluminium.
Here's another list for you:
You say "creg" for Craig
"Squirl" for squirrel
"Meeer" for mirror
"Laboratory" has the stresses all wrong, as does "library"
And for some reason, you say Carmel instead of caramel. 😂❤ One thing that also needs to be mentioned, is "toob" for tube, "toosday" for Tuesday "noo" new, "doody" duty etc, yet you actually pronounce the "u" correctly in "music", why don't you say "moosic"?
The 'squirl' for 'squirrel' always makes me laugh for some reason.
I thought ‘cregslist’ was an entirely different thing until I realised it was just pronunciation. Squirl is quite amusing but carmel is a no. Where has that ‘a’ got to..?!
all of those make me giggle the moosic thing is so true why do americans say music correctly but not any of the others
Gram for Graham. Mobil for mobile. Semeye for semi. Neesan for Nissan. Turban for turbine, the list goes on.
Don't forget Graham Crackers being pronounced Gram Crackers.
I’m surprised that “Premier” wasn’t in that list? Much Love & hope little’un feels better soon!🇬🇧
Even in England we pronounce words differently from one side of the country to the other. In the east of England we pronounce castle as “carsel” where as in the north they say “caasel”. There are a lot more words we pronounce differently here to other brits.
One that puzzles me is the modern American trend of pronouncing the word "route" in the same way as "rout" (i.e., 'rowt'). A "rout" ('rowt') is what happens when soldiers flee in a disorganised panic. I've heard "route" being correctly pronounced as 'root' in old American newsreels (as in the French word for road, "La route"). Plus, whatever happened to the lyrics in Chuck Berry's song, "Get your kicks on Route 66" where "route" is pronounced 'root' there? Modern Americans, please explain. 😄
Just depends on the region you're from in the US and what you grew up hearing... :)
Australia also use the “rowt” pronunciation.
I just find it amusing! 😁Who’s to say who’s right or wrong! The only word that Americans use that I can’t bear,is “asked”They always pronounce as “axed”😬😂🏴❤️🌎🇺🇸
@@sallyannwheeler6327 I haven't notice that way of saying 'asked' by US Americans but I have noticed it a lot from those who originate from the West Indies.
@@sallyannwheeler6327 That is only said by Black Americans, some Hispanic and also some poorly educated, gang wannabees!
The trouble is, this is a Mojo video and they nearly always get it wrong.
The guy didn't even know the difference between short and long vowels lol. As an English teacher, he had me cringing 😅
@@lifesbutastumbleI guess getting it right would take some effort.
I swear these mojo videos are made to wind peoe up as opposed to educate and inform 🤣
Devonshire here and I was taught scon.@@stevey5151
It's nice to see both of you in your video again. I can thoroughly empathise with Lindsey'slove love of words and their etymology.
I do hope your little girl, Sophia is well again very soon
On the subject of regional variations of accents, there is also variations within those regions. There is often clear differences between neighbouring towns such as mine and the next which is only 5miles away.
I've noticed on American cooking shows they say herb like Erb and in Britain we pronounce the her in herb. And lever vs American sounds like leather.
Don't tell the Erbivores.
Unless you come from Northern England where H's don't exist in our pronunciation.....
@@ScratchySlideIn parts of northern England but not all.
@@MrBulky992 Yes, there are some exceptions. But we never mention them...🤣
Herb is French is origin .
Many years ago, in the US with (all) American friends and looking out to sea, watching dolphins, one said something like "Oh! just there by the BOO-ee..." - Being the ONLY Brit there I said "by the WHAT???" And she said (paraphrasing) "to the left of the BOO-ee", while pointing at a BUOY! Now everyone in the UK and Ireland knows what a _(our pronunciation)_ 'BOY' is. As in a 'nautical' float or an object moored to the bottom of a sea or river, to mark a sailing channel or something _(such as a danger)_ lying under the water; or you might say someone 'swam out toward the buoy'. Pronounced 'BOY' because it comes from the word BUOYANT! I got into a whole conversation about WHY do Americans say BOO-EE, from the word BUOYant!? Not one could tell me. Then watching _(I think?)_ 'Deep Space Nine' or 'ST Voyager' - they said "...I have launched a BOO-EE to warn others..." _(or something very similar!)._ 😅 😂 🤣
Hope Sophia feels better soon 🤧 poor girl bless her 🤗 sending a hug to her from across the pond 🏴 🦄✨🦄✨🦄
Vital and vitality is said as you say it. Vittels is an old english word for food. We also say Caribbean differently to you putting the emphasis on 'be' rather than the 'rib'
In northern england we say Spuds instead of patatoes 😊
Totties in Fife, Scotland. Tatties elsewhere😂
In East Anglia we also say Spuds.
i mean down south i hear spuds too
In the UK we used S instead of Z in almost all cases.
Randomised, customise, advise, disguise, supervise, revise, televise, franchise, exercise, clockwise...
Laser
Bastardise (A bit of irony there)
Westernised.
half of these dont have a Z spelling in the US either^
@@strawberrydialectics Well, I'm not American so I wouldn't know...
It is recognized that in some parts of the US American English is closer to 17th century English especially in the Appalachian mountains. Great video guys. Thanks.
lol no.
There are some completely unconnected parts that sound close, but they sound close because they are obviously not American having being so disconnected to not sound American. So to call that American English is a level of mental gymnastics that is beyond silly. Not only that, but those areas actually sound like some accents in Britain right now - so all you are really saying is that some areas that don't really speak American English sound a bit like some areas of Britain today, and as a result even those areas are not closer.
😂 sure, recognised by Americans. It’s not, it couldn’t possibly be. There was no standard 17th century English for it to be “closer to”.
@@danielriley7380recognized* get rid of that reta-r-ded S
@@danielriley7380you on an American channel, spell things American
Thanks for the video both, enjoyable as always and I love your enthusiasm for the UK 🍅
A Tobogan is a kids sledge in the uk for playing in the snow , i think ive heard us people say they go tubeing ,we say sledging.
We also say toboganning
The hat is called a toboggan (two g's) and is a woollen cloche-like hat, whereas a beanie can be made of any material.
Sledging can also mean abusive comments made tot a batsman when playing cricket, for some reason.
Don't we say "sledding"? I've not heard many people say sledging to be honest. Also, I am used to calling the item a sled, not a sledge. I suppose it changes with the area one comes from.
@@sharonmartin4036 well they say it where i come from
I can 100% confirm we in the UK say Bald with an A (like Balled)...wtf is Mojo taking about?
The quality of the a in bald is subtly different... In England it's BAWld whereas in the U.S. it's BAHld
In the Musical My Fair Lady, Professor Higgins says in a song, In some places English completely disappears , in America they haven't used it for years 😃
Route and vehicle always gets me you seem to add in letters lol
English isn't "close" to the origin of english language. It is the origin!
I think the French, Germans, Turks, Italians, Spanish, Indians and several others may disagree with you in many cases!
@@GavinRegnartThe lingua Franca of the world is English, but the origins comes from the Germanic tribes, the Angles, Jutes and Saxons. Poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to write his works in English whereas the Kings courts at the time all spoke French, he basically stuck two fingers up at the Norman tongue being spoken since the invasion and chose to write them in English ( although it was a very different dialect of English that we have today ), we borrowed a few words from India such as Tiffin, Bungalow and Pyjamas and they are part of our language now too. Our language and spellings were altered by Webster, the American English comes from British English only with spellings and pronunciations changed by Webster because he didn’t like the French inflection within it.
Route is another word that’s pronounced differently in the U.K. Here in the U.K. we pronunce it like the word ‘root’ whereas in the U.S. it sounds more like ‘rowt.’ I always notice this word when it’s used in American films or TV shows because it sounds so different to how we pronounce it here.
Except with Route 66 for some reason, even Americans seem to pronounce it the British way in this case.
'Route' was definitely on my list - why is it pronounced 'rout'! Are they routing the enemy or the rodents!? Please add this to the American dictionary... Eye-Raq versus E-Raq (IRAQ)! Hai-maas instead of Hamas! 😅😁
While that's true, the woodworking tool, the "router" is the same as the American pronunciation.
Yet the thing that sends our WiFi around the house, the "router" is pronounced the English way.
What a crazy language.
I’m English and from the south. I’ve not actually heard anyone say ‘aluminium’ as ‘al-oo-min-ee-um’ like the narrator in the video. Anyone I’ve ever come across pronounces it ‘al-uh-min-ee-um’.
We pronounce ‘carriage’ pretty much the same as you.
Only other one not in the video that I hear a lot from American colleagues at work is ‘tube’ - they say it like ‘toob’ forgetting the ‘u’.
Oh, and my name! Pronounced ‘Kady’ by you guys, and ‘Kate-ee’ over here.
Anyway, thanks for your videos; you’ve given me a new love and appreciation for my country!
English in itself is an amalgamation of several languages from the island's long history. First, native languages from the tribes in the various areas/countries, (including the variations of Welsh and Gaelic) then there is Latin from the Romans, Norse languages from the Vikings, French from the numerous interactions with France, and even Shakespeare literally making up words that have become everyday words due to his popularity, and so on. As a result English is a very strange language comprised of many other languages and helps explain why different pronunciations happen, not just in different areas, but also why similar spelling "rules" for different words actually sound different.
Well said.
@@ed.z. Thank you 😁
Greek's in their too.
Don't forget the odd Indian word. Eg. pajamas
@@britsticher8889 YES and, karma, curry, and Cherokee or “Cher” ooops I got the wrong Indian. But there’s also bamboo, yoga, Yogi as in Bera. And GURU, and my favorite: Houdini.
Lovely to see your wife again. Love seeing how Lindsey's confidence is growing in front of the camera.
Just about to put my Christmas tree up when I finish watching your video. Have a great week ❤
@@charlesjames799what a rude, weird reply to someone you don't know? I've had mine up for 2 weeks now, you get it girl!! Have a great time putting it up :) ignore this negative buffoon
@@charlesjames799 Bah Humbug to you too. We've had a really hard year and my kids could do with a bit of sparkle. We can't put it up at the weekend due to commitments... not that I owe you an explanation. It doesn't cost anything to be kind and respectful to others.
@@kdog4587 Thank you 🙂 Some people just get a kick out of being nasty. Maybe they need a hug.
Not really, especially when we've been getting xmas jingles in the shops for a good few weeks now, and come christmas, everybody will be just sick of it @@kdog4587
@@kdog4587 Exactly so, I've had mines up for two weeks now too, my first for November so why not! Funnily a Xmas movie came on TV at random shortly after I've sprung it up lol! 🎄
Aluminium is spelt and pronounced that way in all except American/CanadianEnglish. About 30 elements end in 'ium', whereas only a couple end in 'um'. It was the British that named it (originally as "Alumium", then changed to Aluminium). Americans got it wrong. - The one which annoys me the most though is 'buoy', pronounced like 'boy' but with a longer and rounder vowel sound in all but the USA. How Americans got "boo-ey" out of that is a a mystery, especially as they pronounce derivative words like 'buoyant' and 'buoyancy' like the British. - And don't get me started on 'ass' vs 'arse'.
Have to agree about _buoy,_ it's a Spanish derived word from _boyar,_ - to float.
Especially as a major historical figure was Jim Bowie who the late David Bowie had as his rebel hero hence taking his name.
🤣🤣You sound as angry as me when it comes to 'American English' which is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned, perhaps we should pity them and allow the annoyances as they don't have a language of their own 🤣👍
Lol good one it's def arse or should be, didnt jesus ride on an ass easter sunday in the bible , some thing like that I'm not that good on the bible but there's a big difference riding an ass or an arse. Ass has always been a type of donkey or mule.
No, it was a Dane who first named it Alumium then changed it a few times before settling on Aluminum. It was a British council that renamed it Aluminium. Americans and Canadians adopted the Danish discoverer's term while the Brits changed it to fit their sensibilities. Both are considered correct.
The one i love Americans saying is the word vehicle.
There's so many letters in their pronunciation.
I think for me was the discussion between myself and an American Business person who spelt Night, Nite
Nice video guys, I am always amused by our different uses of the language. Many Americanisms used to be common in the UK, centuries ago. But your use of the French pronunciations of _herb_ and _fillet_ still crack me up. Speak English, dammit 😂!
Yes, when most of their English is influenced by Spanish from Mexico, why are they hanging onto French pronunciations? That's our prerogative 😂. What annoys me is when they come up against a word containing a prefix, usually, which has the same few letters and don't do what we do. If it comes to us from a different language it is going to be pronounced differently, probably e.g. "schedule". Every other word in English is said with a "sk" sound, like scheme (skeem) but schedule is shedyule. It is my most hated difference of pronunciation.
Friend is pronounced frend, so why is leisure pronounced leezure? If it followed a rule is should be lizure; also ceiling which is sealing comes from French "ciel" meaning sky. I could go on but I'd be here all night 😂. ❤ from UK 🇬🇧
@jenniferfox301 why would an ie word and an ei word need to rhyme?
@@aodhanmonaghan1268 they don't rhyme, but probably their roots come from different languages which pronounce combinations of letters differently than others. As many times England/Britain invaded other countries we were invaded many times by our closest neighbours hence the English language contains many contradictory "rules" for pronunciation, being derived from many other languages.
@jenniferfox301
ceiling is from the Latin celo (keh-loh) meaning "to hide", as a ceiling hides the roof. Celo is the same origin of conceal. Middle English had celing pronounced like say-leeng and meant wooden panels to cover the walls (and the roof).
Leisure is from Latin licet (lee-ket) meaning "to be allowed", via the intermediary Old French loisir (lwah-zeer) meaning "permission, respite, free time". Middle English leisir was pronounced like lie-seer. Not the modern leh-zhur.
Friend is from the Old English frēond and was pronounced like freh-ond. Middle English frend was pronounced as frend. Just like the modern word that has an unnecessary i added in.
The language has gone through a number of vowel shifts over the centuries, each covering most but not all of the dialects on the island.
I'm confused why you think 2 graphemes, i.e. two clusters of letters that are spelt differently, would rhyme/be homophones. It's far more understandable to think the same grapheme would rhyme in instances it doesn't, like friend and science (again, the late addition of the letter i to frend is helping nobody).
The Americans use French pronunciations for a lot of words because they more often than not came from England or its conquered lands, and the English were using French pronunciations. After all, from 1066 to the 1400s, the Kingdom of England was ruled by nobles in what's now France who merely saw England as an overseas territory. It's only after the conclusion of the Hundred Years War when most continental lands are lost that the monarchs start to see England as their primary land, and shift from using French to English as the language of governance within England.
This is why we say literature instead of bookcraft, amorous instead of lovesome, port instead of haven, dictionary instead of wordbook, and cause instead of ground/sake (we do still say on what grounds, but most other usage has been replaced).
As for schedule, both pronunciations are as right and wrong as each other. For most of English history, the word was pronounced sejuul or sedyuul. Until the 1700s it referred to a piece of paper. It's from the Old French cedule pronounced sedyuul. In turn it's from the Latin scheda pronounced skeda, which is in turn from Ancient Greek skhédē which is pronounced with a combination of S and the CH of Loch. The current shedyuul and skedyuul pronunciations are pretty new and both influenced by the spelling and the etymology. It's why you pronounce Greek ch words with a k today, like chiropractor and psyche, even when we often had an intermediate time of pronouncing those as ch.
This is why the Americans still retain the Middle English fall, as Britain changed from using harvest to fall and later to autumn, the colonists just kept using fall and didn't make subsequent change to autumn as much. A lot of so-called Americanisms are actually features of Old English and Middle English that the UK has moved away from but other parts of the former empire retained.
@@jenniferfox301 Don't get me started on 'quinoa'
The way Americans pronounce and use words doesn't (generally speaking) bother me, but it does bother me when British people use American pronunciation or variants. Lever and leverage, privacy, oriented instead of orientated and many other things.
Btw, I do object to the term British English. The French speak French, the Portuguese speak Portuguese, the Spanish speak Spanish. I'm English and I speak English.
Right, but you're missing the context that all 3 of the countries you named also exported their language through colonization, and your languages have continued to evolve in your prior colonies. British English is a phrase intended to differentiate it from American English, Jamaican English, Australian English, etcetera.
I love that Apple MacBook Unibody 2008 keynote or whatever, where the British English-speaking Jony Ive says *_aluminium_* a load of times, and then after he goes off stage, one of the American English-speaking employees ruins it straight away with "so, the beautiful new *_aluminum_* unibody enclosure on the new MacBook Pro" or whatever 😂
Hey guys. I'm from the South West (born and raised) and I always pronounce Scone as "scon". As for garage (I pronounce as "garidge"), I don't think I have ever heard someone say "gaRARj". Finally, I have never heard anyone here pronounce tomato as "to-may-to" unless they are being silly and mimicking. I mean there may be a few people who say them in alternative ways, but it's very, very uncommon.
I live in the West Midlands England and find it amusing that I can understand you two much easier than I can understand people who live only a few hundred miles north of here. I mean the American pronunciation of tomato for instance is easy to follow and is obvious. When the word changes completely its more tricky and needs to be learnt.
That is very interesting! :)
As a Londoner I once had to ring up a farmer in Norfolk. He was an old-timer and spoke real old Norfolk accent. Three times I said "sorry can you say that again, I didn't quite catch it." To this day I still don't have a clue what he said!
As you live in the West Mids, you may know that Cannock is less than 10 miles from Stafford but the difference in the accent is huge!
Was once invited to a fancy dress party in Birmingham and the host told me over the phone that the theme was Spice - I was the only one who turned up dressed as an astronaut....
Yeah I'm I'm from the West Midlands too and Southern US uses so many of our sayings and pronunciations
The other one (of many)😂 is "route" pronounced "root"
Where in the US they pronounce it "rout" as in. "Out"
Except of course in the song "Route 66" where its pronounced with the oo sound.
If Americans are wondering where we get the "z" from in "vase" in the UK, I would venture it's the same place where we get the "z" sound in "raise".
How do Americans pronounce "raise"? Does it sound like "race" or "raze"?
I like hearing you start by saying Proberly when the word is Probably. So that's 9 more required.
You're right about the different accents we have here in the UK. Taking a selection from my neighbourhood there are 6 different accents from the same number of houses close by. RP (Received Pronounciation), Cockney, Estuary English, Welsh, Irish, West Indian Patois. That's London for you. They say that you only have to go a few miles until you hear a completely different accent & even London accents differ from each other.
Interested to see a video about why many Americans replace 'T's in words with a 'D' when they say the word. And adding random 'Y's ("And" becoming "Aynd" for example).
I'm sure it's just a regional accent thing, depending on where you grew up.
T and D is interchangable in many languages over time for instance Deutschland in some old texts is spelt Teutschland. Same for Tag and Dag (day) Danke Thanks. A lot of Americans originate from german and low german countries too. Then it starts to make sense. Its speaking english with an accent in a way, same as how a lot of our regional accents originated.
Hi Steve our the amount of different accents we have is fascinating I can always remember an old friend saying about a tv series set in Glasgow that it could do with subtitles. Also I can remember being part of a guided tour group and being asked if everybody in the group understood English. Somebody behind me said we're German but understood English only to be told you had better have a printed guide as the person guiding the group was a Geordie (from Newcastle). I can also remember hearing a guide with a Geordie accent speaking to the group of French tourists about the plan for the day, I often wonder to this day if they could understand Geordie accented French.
Geordie is easy compared to the Glaswegian accent. Think Rab C. Nesbit. Even I struggle with that accent.
As someone who used to visit the US a lot for work, it amazed me how often I wasn't understood. I'm English, so its my first language, and I don't have a strong regional accent! So, tomato could genuinely not be understood, even in context, and they weren't even being awkward!!
Add to the list of differences, semi, US sem-eye vs UK sem-ee. Iran (and Iraq), US eye-ran, UK ee-rahn.
Had the same problem here. Kiwi living in Oz, sigh.
Vase is pronounced with a z in the same way basil is pronounced with a z. S makes that sound in many words.
Its not the S that changes, it is the A. In the two cases you cite, it is said with a short vowel sound in English (var-se, ba-sil) as in the word ham, but with a long vowel in American (vay-se, bay-sil).
Yes, that was nonsense about Americans pronouncing words as they are written. Solder is a typical word they pronounce differently to the spelling.
@@Ollybus 'a' as in ham or 'a' as in way?
@@mrfill9999 There's no R in vase though. Why English people insert Rs where there are none ( draw-ring ! ) and mostly miss them out elsewhere ( doctor , harm ) defeats me.
@@auldfouter8661 No one pronounces drawing with an R in it, what are you talking about? As for the dropping of R, most English accents are non-rhotic, like the American Boston accent. As for Vase, we got it from the French so we pronounce it closer to their word for it, simple as that.
The word that always gets me is Oregano. You say O-rag-en-oh. We say O-ree-gah-no
I am a Brit and I say
O rig gano not O ree gano.
@@DebraElias-uc6yz ... I'm also a Brit and I say O-ree-gah-no.
reh gano not ree gano
i remember in year 8 our food tech teacher going “you wouldn’t pronounce stone as ston, so it’s SCONE” and me silently thinking “yes but you wouldn’t pronounce gone as gOHn, so you may want to rethink that logic” - the way i see it, who cares how it’s pronounced as long as the message is communicated lol
Scone is also pronounced differently depending on where in uk ur from
@@charlienerd idk i think it varies person to person - i mean the whole reason there was a debate in our class was because we were split in how we pronounced it - like we all lived in the same town, but we pronounced it differently
There is also "anti". In America pronounced "ant eye" and it UK nearly rhymes with "aunty".
Hi Guys, I love watching your reactions, a little bit of home! I am British and married to a Thai Lady. I live in Bangkok with my Thai family and have noticed that much of modern Thai culture seems to be based on the USA. During lockdowns several of my Thai step daughters friends would come to our home to study together. I was asked if I could explain the difference between British English and American English. That is not an easy task when my knowledge of the Thai language is minimal. I am well aware that the land of smiles likes to show friendliness. I gave them a list of common words showing the difference between Brit & USA English. I was anxious not to give the impression that one was more correct than the other; I have seen many people say that one version is more correct than the other. They seemed quite happy when I said that it was my opinion that many of the differences were because the USA wanted their own identity and when people were being sensible it was rare for there to be a lack of understanding between Britain and the USA. Many influences on the English languages such as Roman, Viking, French, Germanic & so on, all happened before British people moved to settle in the Americas.
Accents! I originate from a rural area of North Yorkshire. I joined the Royal Air Force & in my training I was asked to go to the back of the classroom to get an item out of a biscuit tin. I couldn’t find it. The instructor asked if I had got it. In broad North Yorkshire I said “Nah. Tint it tin.” (No. It is not in the tin). The instructor laughed and said, “What? Rin tin tin.” Clearly I was going to have to teach myself how to speak in good English. At that time I was 16, I moved to Bangkok when I was 67, at a social function a friend of my wife’s asked if I would like her to sit next to me during lunch, so I could speak to her in English. I thanked her & it was a pleasure to have someone to speak to in English. At the end of lunch she told me that she taught English at a school in Thailand & said that I was the clearest English speaking person that she had ever heard.
🙏
Languages change over time, and it's perfectly legitimate for Americans to have changed pronunciation. But it pisses me off when Americans say we, who have been speaking English longer than you, are pronouncing it wrong.
Same here. We say things differently and I don't care. Its being told I'm saying it wrong that bugs me 😂
First of all, I would just like to say how much I like your channel. The one word I struggle with on how the USA pronounces is 'solder'. To me, it sounds like they are saying sod her.
I believe the "z" sound in vase comes from in french where when you place an S in front of an E it's pronounced "Z".
I'm confused by the "bald" one, too...
The quality of the a in bald is subtly different... In England it's BAWld whereas in the U.S. it's BAHld
In the UK we barely use the letter "z" at all. All "z" sounds are generally spelt with an "s".
All of our "ize" ending words are spelled "ise".
There is no such thing as "American English", it all just spelling mistakes.
Indeed the only words I know to use with "z" tend to be Brazil and Bizzare! 😄
@@jetster785 ... Zoo, Zulu, Zesty, Bazooka, Blazer, Blizzard, Fizzy, Whizz, Zoom, Crazy. Hazy, Lozenge. .... Come on now you're just being LAZY.
Prize!
Love you two. Great interaction.
Englih is an evolving language. We have German, French and others words. Colonel is German; Cafe is French. I'm in Sussex on the south coast and we have words that are local just to us. For example...'Twitten' , which is a very small lane which join two streets/roads.
As part of teaching English, I've had to teach pronunciation to very many students and find it fascinating. Apart from trying get the sounds about right, there's no point in getting prissy about it. The first thing to remember is that you cannot take the pronunciation of a group of letters in one word to enforce the same set in another word (your 'vitamin' vs 'vital' is a good example). Consistency is a rare commodity in English. Also, there _is_ such a thing as American English. There are lots of varieties of English, including British English. Some people argue that there is only 'English', but that is incorrect, even in England.
Fun tip: If you want to annoy a boiled frog, rhyme Farage with the BrEng way of saying 'garage'.
With a lot of these, there are several acceptable pronunciations in British English. 'Scone' is an example of this. I say 'scon', my wife says 'skone'. There's no point in arguing about it. What is difficult is the current trend in American English to rhyme 'shone' with 'tone'.
A lot of British people pronounce 'bald' as 'bold'. The same goes for 'salt', which can be either 'sawt' (put a faint 'l' sound in there but not everyone does that) or 'solt'. Generally, an 'l' after a single 'a' is a silent letter that serves to change the sound of the 'a'. 'Walk and 'always' are examples of this. Not everyone makes it silent though. Consistency? What's that?
Agreed. English is a language with many, many varieties. I have a soft RP/"Southern Educated" accent and taught English in a working class area of Birmingham for several years. Pronunciation was always a point of discussion! Unfortunately, in the UK, pronunciation is often deeply connected to perceptions of class and education level. People often assume that I am more upper class, or richer, or smarter than I am based entirely on my accent.
All great points! Appreciate you providing your insight :)
We say carridge
@@christopherwatts1833 Yep, rhymes with garage and Farage. 😜
There's a rule coming from an origin in every single one, it's just that compared to some languages we have countless examples of separate rules for the same thing across the language.
But you can take the pronunciation of a group of letters in one word to enforce the same set in another word, just only for all examples where the same origin rule set can be applied.
American is officially known as simplified English.
Good to know!
So like Chinese? English (Traditional) and english(simplified)? And what about your Former prisoner colony?
@keit99 Which one .we had to send the thieving Little Bastards all over the World.
@@keit99🫣
American is NOT a language.
Garage is pronounced similar to the sound of carriage, as the carriage is kept in the garage.
Two Irishmen commented on two separate occasions : Oscar Wilde wrote: "We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language." As George Bernard Shaw said: "England and America are two countries separated by a common language"
If a person is not in your room "she" can be said, but if the person is beside you, you call them by their name ...
Depends, you should certainly lead with the name but you wouldn't say "Mary says that Mary doesn't like spicy food so Mary will just have the soup". Instead you would say "Mary says that she doesn't like spicy food so she will just have the soup".
As I heard as a child. "Who's She? The cats mother?"
No it wasn`t technically it was, English is the language which originated in England, clue is in the name England, English, Anglo. this is why we are closer to it i guess. Yes there are different forms, accents, dialects all over the world, English allows this as a language and which makes it so wonderful.
It did not originate in England. The language was introduced to the whole of the British Isles, with the *English referencing its use in the lower parts of the Isles. In the Northern regions it is called Scots. It was used for centuries prior to the creation of England. The Anglo-Saxons - created the language to communicate throughout Western Europe.
None of that has to to with modern pronunciations. Middle English and Old English were totally different. Many of the modern pronunciations (there are at least two ways to pronounce 'pronunciation'') and spellings in British English are actually newer then many American versions. Not everything, but many of the common "gripes" in British English are actual Victorian affectations and the American version was once valid including the -ize suffix.
@@paulthomas8262 well said! Many Americans speak "proper" English on account of their settler ancestors.
Webster also didn't change American English he chose form variants. Color being logical from the Latin root.
English is a Germanic language...Anglo comes from Germany. The original Germanic tribes who came here named our country after their home town....Angles. They named it Angleland...which in time became England. Angles and Saxons (from Saxony) are both German places of origin.
Telly commercials - older people (50 plus) still call them that. Ads is a transatlantic expression which has been shoehorned into the vernacular 😂
The one word that these comparison channels always miss & is IMO the most different sounding from either side of the pond is the pronunciation of the word "inquiry".
A lot of the variations between English and American English occurred partly as a result of the invention of the telegraph system and partly as a way of the USA showing cultural independence from its mother country.
The original telecommunications companies used to charge per letter for messages sent, so the practice grew up of missing out letters to make it cheaper. When Webster created his dictionary these changes became the norm in the USA even though in the UK the correct spellings continued to be used. So aluminium dropped a U, as did words like colour, honour, mould and so on. English words like anaemic lost the A, and many words that had a double letter lost one ( cancelled, jeweller etc), words ending in -ogue such as analogue lost the UE to become analog.
Funnily enough, one of the most mangled UK words is "burgled" with Americans using "burglarized".
The first time I heard an American speak I thought everyone in America was a butcher.
Aluminium was a scientist argument between the US and Europe as to what name to use noting to do with that
@@captvimes No, it wasn't between the US and Europe, as the discoverer himself was British and wanted it to be known as Aluminum but other scientists from both Britain and countries within and without Europe wanted it to be spelt Aluminium, to fall into line with an existing group of metals. There was no 'US argument' here.
@@Thurgosh_OG Yes it was only one page of Davvys document had it spelt that way Webster basically went against Europe with the whole dictionary fallout any excuse to spell a word differently the scientists including US went with the british spelling originally
@@Thurgosh_OG to add it was a typo on one page which a newspaper repeated that webster went with for some reason
To add to the pot, there's Uranium, Radium , Rubidium, osmium , plutonium all with IUM endings just like Aluminium.
and... platinum :)
Hello Steve , Greetings from Salisbury, UK .Love your content always brings a smile, keep up the excellent work . Nice to meet Mrs Steve. Stay blessed .
Another great video. However, please change the word " Wrong" that's in the heading, to " incorrect ".
It sounds and reads so much better.
Cheers from a chilly Manchester, UK, evening.
Would love to see you both react to accents in the uk it would be amazing. So many different sounds.
They'll need subtitles
He's done a video on West Country English before
@@wallythewondercorncake8657 it’s his wife’s opinion I would like to see though as well
They'll definitely need subtitles listening to a Scottish person, heck even I do half the time
Awe come oan we're no that difficult to unnerston
The pronunciation of these words is a real non-issue. It’s all to do with how vowels are sounded. How you guys say it isn’t wrong, just different 😊 the area I’m from, we say ‘carriage’ to rhyme with ‘garage’, and the ‘vi’ in ‘vital’ would rhyme with ‘cry’, so we pronounce that the same as you.
What does drive us nuts is the amount of North Americans who say “I could care less” because that does not mean what you think it does 😂
I also hear a lot of Americans say “on accident”. I’m not saying that’s wrong but it’s bizarre to me. I’m pretty sure most British people say “by accident”.
Several Southern English accents wouldn't rhyme "carriage" with "garage". They use a long a sound and a soft g in the "French style".
@@StormhavenGaming well yeah, each region has different ways. I’m from South West/Bristol area and people I know say ‘carriage’ the same as ‘garage’. So I’m just speaking from my experience.
@@DeviousWeaselUK Absolutely. I wasn't meaning to argue. Just pointing out the massive variation that exists even in small geographical areas. I'm originally from Hampshire, so not that far from you.
@@StormhavenGaming no no, it’s all good! No arguments here, you were right, I shouldn’t have made it so generalised :) As Steve said, there are so many accents on this small island lol.
On accident is actually grammatically incorrect even in American English.
There are 3 types of garage in the UK: One where you park your car at home, one where you get your car repaired, one where you buy fuel and last minute flowers (e.g. "Esso garage", "Shell garage"). Aka forecourts, 'gas stations'. All 3 pronounced "garridge". 4 types if you count the 'UK garage' music genre that emerged at the end of the 20th century.
I lived for 15 years in the uk and never heard anyone say garage for going to Esso, they say fuel station.
@@maryamvannoort6970 I've lived here all my life and been driving over 20 years. It may be an old or regional terminology. I've definately heard it frequently and use it myself. Although I tend to say 'going to get some 4-star' more. 4-star was a grade of petrol that ceased being on sale before I started driving!
What does it matter, so long as we can understand each other and take the piss out of each others accents ? Take "Zee" for example. There`s absolutely nothing wrong with "Zee" other than the fact that it is quite correctly "Zed."
Hey Steve, I don't know why "bald" is even on the list because I pronounce it exactly as you and your wife do and I've never heard anybody say it any differently, English or American.
I'm sure it's a more regional thing!
Same here in North Wales too. No difference whatsoever.
This is balld not bold !
It was poorly explained in the video but:
In the USA, "bold" and "bald" can sound very similar.
In the UK in RP, "bold" and "bald" sound completely and utterly distinct from each other.
In both the UK and the US, the pronunciations of "bald" sound similar.
My favourite elements, uranum, potassum, calcum, sodum…… etc. now you
As someone who's moved from the north of England to the south, one thing I noticed over in the Bristol region is when they refer to the mall, they say "mal" that sounds like pal, however I've always known it to be pronounced like ball, mall. So some confusion there but you get used to how different things are pronounced in different parts of the UK. Funny though.
"Semi" is another word that differs. "Semee" in the UK, Semeye in the US
Garage isn’t really pronounced differently in the south of England. GarAge (the American pronunciation) sounds posh or pretentious to the British ear, and those attributes are stereotypically associated with the south of England. It’s only a stereotype
I like these reactions with your wife. It's nice to get another perspective/reaction.
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it :)
@@reactingtomyroots I think you should do it this way on every video where she is available!!!
Another good one is "Solder" for electronics.
I found this video; apparently, it's more related to the French.
ruclips.net/video/mKCz_xXICKY/видео.htmlsi=830_fFXvrhhFP4WR
In Yorkshire we have a lot of names for a short cut or a walk through around houses for instance. A foot path can be a Snicket, aback alley, a Ginnel or a tenfoot. Depending where in Yorkshire you are, even the next village can be totally different. Love you programs and insights to our strange world. Keep them coming.
Some of the pronunciations come about from the use of the “e” rule, where the e at the end of a word can change the sound also the use of y in some places. Some places people say tomarters and pertayters.
Yep it's a regional thing for sure
Me and my husband both come from the Northwest of the UK but different areas. I say scone/gone he says scone/bone 😅
If your doing regional accents soon I can’t wait till you hear the scousers say book, look and cook.
My mums family are from the south west coast of Ireland and my dads are from Liverpool so I have an interesting scouse/Irish twang 🥴
Love it! :)
If Lindsay is a fan of language and words she’d probably like Susie Dent from the British institution that is Countdown!
10:25 you say that, but every American I have met says "waader" instead of water
Most English has a Germanic or French, root, with a good dash of Latin and Greek.
US and American English also tend to have slightly different spelling.
And a splash of Danish, given we were invaded and settled by the Danes. Kind of a big one.
I mean something like 60% of the English language comes from Latin as it stands today.
As a software developer in the UK, coding is in American english due to Microsoft and other US companies while everything else we do is in British english. So we have to fix code by changing S to Z in lots of words, while some words like grey and gray still catches me out. I dont have to pronounce the words but I do need to fix all the spelling differences.
Don't Gray and Grey both work in most coding languages? It took me a while to get used to dropping the U in 'color' though I'll admit.
@@MrVisualHigh authorize is the one that always gets me still
GrEy= European. GrAy=American. That's how I remember it.
We have smaller roads so we have to be more careful, hence the many warning or advisory signs and road markings! X
I thought in Australia we would 100% follow the English but I was a little surprised to see some words we actually pronounce more like the US such as garage or vitamin. I agree with you bald sounded no different to me but then I'm deaf in one ear and cant hear out of the other :) . Its interesting understanding how accents develop in Australia everyone arrived here at the same time and had accents from all parts of Britain and Ireland . To better understand each other they started levelling out the way that they spoke so they could better understand each other. As new generations came along this way of talking became the norm. Our pronounciation seems to follow more the way that they say things in southern England including Cockney rhyming slang because a large percentage of the immigrants came from that part of England especially in the first 50 years when the accent was developing. We are probably more like the Poms with pronouncing words like scone, tomato, leisure, aluminium, advertisement, vase.. Aussie english is different to both the UK or US english as we tend to shorten everything or just make up our own words - we are far too busy enjoying life to bother saying all those long words..