20 Words Brits and Americans Say Differently
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2024
- Here are 20 of my favourite words that Brits and Americans say differently
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When English is your second language and you watch both British and American TV shows, you end up pronouncing things weirdly.
I second this 😂
You're 💯 right
Agreed.
Guisela Maldonado
*cough Water cOuGhS twice*
I pronounce water as War-Tuh and they pronounce it as wa-ter
@@SomePerson_Online
Wonder if the sound of spitting water/wahtuh is different in American or British English, too....
Brits add a "tuh" sound at end?
I’m from an African country which was colonized by the British , watched a lot of American movies growing up and now live in Canada.., go figure how confused I am about accents😃
Trust me, You're not the only one. In Nigeria, we didn't have too much British stuff on tv when I was growing up, just American stuff from sesame streets to voltrons and all types of American cartoons growing up so my accent is combined.. the British show was boring to us at the time it was not gangsta like, it felt like it was geared towards old people, but they were good with comedy sitcom though compared to the Americans, in my opinion, growing up. English is my second language by the way... I speak Yoruba which my first language.. I'm aware that I need to step my punctuation game up lol
@@dayosonictv Upvoted for Voltron.
I'm from South Africa, so we had a mix of both American and British movies and TV shows. But our English is predominantly influenced by UK English than American English. Everytime you'd get a new laptop or phone, the default language setting was English UK instead of English USA because some of the words are different. Trevor Noah made a joke about this when he went to the States before he got on the Daily Show about just how different the words and accents are in America.
@@_Odyssia_ Very true...Im S.Aan too🇿🇦
I’m just finnish
I grew up in New England and use the British version of "aunt", "adult", "either", "neither", "address", "fiancee", "defense", and "semi." and "route." I think you'll find that the pronunciations of words is very region-dependent when it comes to American accents, much like in Britain.
Of course, it's New ENGLAND, duh 🤣
Yes, so do I. I'm from Mass.
You are correct. The British version of route is used in Massachusetts, like Route 9.
Great lakes area is quite the same here too
Especially in the original 13 colonies, I think. Many of our words in NC tend toward more British pronunciations.
Your American accent is impressive! You definitely have a bit of a Midwestern accent in your American, but most Brits doing an American accent sound Canadian to American speakers. You sound very authentic.
I’m from the American south and I say as many of half of these words with your “British” pronunciation (route, aunt, address, World Cup, defense.) But I do hear your American pronunciations commonly in my area of the US.
On the "tomatoes" section. I'm American and I feel like that waiter was just dumb.
AN immigrant maybe?
Kyle Crary I know right.
Haha
I don't think so. Most Latin and Oriental languages pronounce the word the same way was the Brits, so it's unlikely that a foreigner wouldn't understand. Maybe the waiter was just not prepared to hear a different accent and didn't get the word.
Same
So a linguist was asking an Irishman whether they said proncounced "either" as eether or eye-ther.
He replied, "ah, sure, ayther will do"
Funny! :)
Loov it and luv it!
Neil,I always loved this one 😂😂😂😂
Haha, as my second language is English(my mother tongue is Spanish) sometimes automatically I pronounce "either" like that, because that's more similar to how it'd be spelled in Spanish.
Lol.... That's me the first time I took English class... Very funny :)
1:00 water
1:46 tomato
2:44 adult
3:03 advertisement
3:28 either
3:57 neither
4:07 schedule
4:37 mobile
5:01 address
5:14 massage
5:32 fiancé
5:54 aunt
6:32 herb
6:57 world cup
7:22 defence
7:44 garage
8:01 mayonnaise
8:22 semi
8:52 route
9:20 zebra
THANK YOU
@@everlong7012
You're welcome! ;)
I heard some Americans pronounced "route" the same as the Brits.
When I was learning english, I thought the difference in stress was just because it meant differently. For example, àddress meant the “location” while addréss meant “to speak about, to write to, etc”
As an American if I think about it, that is actually how I use both of those pronunciations, but this is in no way formalized or a rule.
As an American I hear that difference very strongly as you described correctly. There is a similar difference in regarding defense. In sports you would say “I play défense”.
In an argument you would say “In my defénse”. I hope this help anyone who might be reading this. It would sound very strange to an English speaker in the US to pronounce address and defense the same way in all situations.
That's how it works in American English.
@@Emily-uw7rk It's also, always, the Department of Defénce.
I'm American and I'm amazed by how good your American English is.. You sound so British then suddenly American comes out! lol
Ha! Thank you very much Zay. It's years watching American TV shows I guess lol
I know it made me laugh when he was switching back and forth idky
First of your videos Ive watched, well done. Now, Aussie here. You have many generalisations of "England" English. To start.....as from where I live, we speak the King's English. ie ...Address:- Hi mate what is your ADD-dress?... Excuse me Sir, I am A-dressing you? See. different inflection for different meanings......that's why English is hard to master for Non English speakers. The North country poms, would say, Erb, Enry, Arry, etc all dropping the "H". English are known for it. The "R's" in all the American speak, would have come from the Irish in the Americas, mixed with Birmingham, etc ie the old "Hollywood Pirate" type of speech. My friend was born in Manchester, of Irish heritage, been here for 50 years and still says..."ANT-ie" when talking about his aunt. We speak mostly London English in Oz, but still have different inflections for different areas. Some of the old folk still say "Orf" for Off. And yes, everywhere you go you still hear English accents, even people you have been here for 90 years, still have their Engilsh, Scotish, Irish accents.
At least (unless you are a recent import) noone here says, "SomeFink", or "I Fink"...or other dropping the "Th"....except some drongos say Free instead of Three here.
My Father travelled to the US in 1969, thru the Mid west on business.....They all thought he was a movie star, with the way he talked.......because he sounded like Errol Flynn, whom, as you know was an Australian Hollywood Superstar, and spoke just like an Aussie. (tho a refined one for the times). Keep it up.
Agreed! I'm impressed.
Idk if you have noticed that even British actors are great at playing Americans, to the point you cannot even tell they aren't. And American actors cannot even make an accent from a region different from their own well.
That moment you realise how much of American English you speak when you thought you spoke fully British English
I actually realized how much British English I speak even though I mostly leaned American pronunciation 😅
But it's the language English either way so I don't really care haha
I watch so much American yt videos without knowing so I say some words in American English but I'm actually British
I bet all the cool kids in school speak American.
I've realised most Brits mix both American and British and don't even notice it... when you ask them, they go "oh, is it American?" lol like the word "either", which most people say the American way... back colonisation! :D
Haha me too 👍🏻
Totally with you on American pronunciation of 'aunt', always takes me a minute to realise they're not tallking about a tiny crawly insect 😄
I'm an American linguist and English teacher. I was blown away with your American accent! Just one word really gave you away -- it was your pronunciation of the American "either". You still kept the British "tha" at the end instead of the very American "errrr". So eeeeetherrrr instead of eeeetha. Also, I thought you might enjoy knowing that many of us Americans say "Man-nayz", making it a 2-syllable word. I really enjoyed your video. Well done.
You obviously wouldn't understand English regional accents.
The American pronunciation of "aunt" is not always as you indicated. We pronounce it different ways if we were brought up in different regions of the country. I personally pronounce it the way you indicate as British English. As for the word "address" it depends on whether it is the noun or the verb. For instance if you say, someone is going to "address" the group, we pronounce it the way you indicate as the pronunciation for British English.
right! We 'ad DRESS' an envelope to mail it (or 'ad DRESS' a group of people)...but we write down the 'AD dress' and ask people for their 'AD dress'
That's why I mentioned that some people call their aunts "auntie/aunty" with the pronunciation being the British way.
As an American, I find myself pronouncing “defense” differently depending on the context. If you’re speaking about someone playing defense in sports, then I would pronounce it “dee-fence”, stressing the first syllable, but in any other context, like military defense, I would pronounce it “duh-fence” (A.K.A the British way). A lot of American pronunciation can be conditional. Thanks for making the video! Interesting stuff.!
Oh, you’re right! I do the same thing.
Me, a Singaporean, speaking both ways at different points because we learn British English but is exposed to a lot of American media online.
Two words I find interesting...
“Laboratory” - I have heard Brits pronounce it as “la-BORE-uh-tree” but in the US we say “LAB-rah-tor-e”
I have also heard Brits call the severe headache “ME-grain” and in the US it’s “MY-grain”
Yup, those are standard British.
both can be used in British English
I beleive its La BOR a tory not sure where the Americans find the bra in LA bra tory
In the US I think you can use both of the different pronunciations in one sentence and nobody would bat an eye.
It honestly doesn't matter how you pronounce tomato. The waiter was just dumb😂
😁😁😁
My thought exctly!
Honestly tho 🤣 (unless English was not their 1st lang)
I agree.
If the American went to Britain
American Guy: I want tometoes please
Waiter: The foreigner wants a potato in his salad
🇺🇸For Address, I say
as a noun, ADdress
as a verb, adDRESS
yes that's what i say too
I was looking through the comments to see if anyone else mentioned that.
Very true
Also, if I say "home address", I would say "home adDRESS". (new yorker)
YESS
I never knew the word zebra was pronounced differently in England. I actually thought we pronounce that one the same, I learned something today.
Some countries pronounce the letter Z as ZED.
All that different pronunciation is due to the zed vs zee thing. So it's ze-bra for brits and zee-bra for Americans
As an American I think you do a great American accent. interestingly most of the words you just showed were used interchangeably when I was growing up. I grew up in Delaware with a family who had deep roots there. at 9 years old we moved to Arizona and it was really like a different language, I learned to pronounce "water" wooder. Hard to ask for a drink. I was also taught when you had to go to the restroom you asked to use the hopper...imagine the frustration on a 4th grader who needed to pee. those people had no idea what was wrong with me🤣
The word "address" pronunciation also depends on the usage. For example, "What is your address?" and "Your comment did not address the issue.".
Same goes for many other words.
Dan Kelly Noun vs verb
Like contract or contract. Contrast or contrast!
One is noun the other is verb in this case though..
Yes, I made the same comment.
I say em the same.
Your waiter must have been a bit slow in the head if they couldn´t make out the word tomato regardless of accent.
Hayden Arias Nope, my husband has a slight barely perceptable Caribbean accent and he uses some Brittish pronunciations as well due to how he grew up. Waiters, cashiers, everwhere they cannot understand him. They always say huh, or get things wrong but when ever I ask ppl if he has strong accent they say no.
That's what I was thinking. Everyone knows the two pronunciations of tomato. Lol
Hayden Arias Absolutely. I was going to say, what kind of idiot couldn't figure THAT out!!
Hayden Arias His waiter was probably an Hispaño playing juegos about not understanding him!
People from Latin America working in the US might not be able to understand British pronunciations because you're expecting them to effectively learn a third language.
When I learned English back in my country Dom, Rep. they taught me with British English. Now that I live in the USA, I understand why Americans sometimes cannot understand my pronunciation. In addition to my Latino accent. Good video.
One thing i noticed , being French Canadian, is that due to the proximity between UK and France, the pronunciation of words are closer between British English and French than in the US, which are not much influenced by French...Like Tomato(tomate), Route ,Massage,Mayonnaise,Zebra(zebre)
I'm really impressed how experienced and proficient you are at the standard American accent. Well done bro. Bonus points!
Most Brits switch into unaccented undetectable American English easily but the reverse don't. The Americans sound affected!
-ZakattacK- Ikr
I love hearing brits do American accents. I’m not sure why it cracks me up but it does and they’re honestly really good at it! Often much better at doing our accent then we are at theirs! We usually mix up cockney and the more proper Londoner for some reason lol. Probably over exposure to the Beatles or something lol
Robert Telarket we are totally awful at it for some reason. Strangely brits often sing in an American accent and the global dominance of American media over the last half century prob has a lot to do with it. It’s still a bit of a treat to hear a British accent in the states which is why we can’t really tell the different accents and tend to mix them all up which is why we suck at it
You might be surprised to know that the Beatles came from Liverpool (4 hour drive from London) and many would be offended that someone say they had cockney or more proper London accents (they would call that accent posh). To me, it seems more likely classic British cinema gives Americans their idea of British accents, earlier in the last century there were almost no "non-posh" accents on TV in the UK. The BBC required presenters to speak "the Queen's English". It's only in relatively recent years TV has embraced the diverse accents in the UK (especially with some over the top annoying adverts!). Even still most popular British TV is set in or around London, so the modern southern UK accent is becoming more known by non British people. Not many non Brits would recognise a Scouser (from Liverpool), a Brummy (from Birmigham) or a Geordie (from Newcastle/Sunderland), even though they are some of the most obviously recognisable to native Brits. Americans can sometime recognise the difference between Scottish, Irish and English accents though (Welsh accents may be a bit difficult though)
In Canada, we have a mix of the two. Some words use British prononciation. Some American. And some both, interchangeably.
No one cares about Canada 🤣
@@jefferytate8968 Relevance?
@@jefferytate8968 be nice! we care about everyone 😊
That would probably kill my ex-GF, she once had a fit when I said "h-erb" with "h"!, she thought it was hilarious!
I was looking for this comment. I flip flop between pronunciations. In Canada, we also use both spellings ...
As someone who has lived in both the USA and the UK, this was a reminder of the fun times I've had in both. Although I will admit that a couple of the above words depend on where you are in the states.
For example, the word "Semi": there are two different use cases, each with the their own pronunciation. While in the "New England States" I was taught to call the semi-finals the "seh-mee"-finals, but when we see a large truck and trailer (AKA a Lorry) we call them a "seh-mie".
Just a bit of excess information from someone who has lived all the way from San Francisco, CA to Newport, RI, and almost a dozen places in between. I've also spent a long while in the Cambridge area.
I've noticed and I think its been mentioned by some professionals that we, in America, change the stress of a word depending on if it is a noun or verb. For example I would use a different stress on the word defense depending on if I'm using it as a noun or a verb. Also, depending on where you live you may say "route" and "either" either way or both ways. I myself use both ways and I live closer to the West Coast.
Exactly, Unicorn Cupcake. In general the noun is pronounced AD-dress. And the verb is pronounced ad-DRESS.
For the word defense, it's more of a certain situation thing. If you said "defense" pertaining to sports, the stress would be on the first syllable. Meanwhile, if you said a phrase like "In my defense," the stress would be on the second syllable.
Not to mention the DOD is is the Department of DeFENSE not DEfense.
Absolutely true it’s just as you say. DEfense is just for sports.
Agreed. Sports metaphors usually use the sports pronunciation even though the subject isn't sports.
Emily :\ oh yeah
Offense also has different pronunciations based on sports or not sports in American English.
OFF-ense = Sports, and sports metaphors
uh-FENSE = taking offense at something, other uses of offense.
Being from the Caribbean, when I first came to NA, I felt that I was pronouncing everything wrong. I was not. I was using the British English pronunciation. Glad to see this video. I still use my British pronunciation for most words. Now I feel more confident.
I ran across this since I've been interested in the differences in English for decades. For most of these differences, what he says is kinda-sorta true, but with many exceptions. For reference, I am an American Midwesterner, so I have the most well-known American accent. First: either-neither. You'll hear both pronunciations in the US, and I use both. Americans rarely say DEE-fense, although you will hear it in certain contexts (sports) and expressions ("The best DEE-fense is a good offense" is one). The "semee" and "sem-eye" difference isn't clear cut either. We use both. We also say both "root" and "rowt" for route with no preference for either. I go back and forth. The British also use the American pronunciation of garage and schedule sometimes, but tend to use the ones he mentioned. We also change the stress on address freely, sometimes using the "British" stress, sometimes the "American" one. I think a more helpful video would cover common patterns of differences that occur in words like direct and dimension, berry (strawberry, blueberry), and -ary (military and functionary). These individual word differences are only very rough generalizations.
I’m also from the Midwest and agree that I use both pronunciations without preferences.
I agree with regional variations in the U.S., which has been mentioned elsewhere, and which Tom mentioned by saying he was going for more general American and London accents. I moved around the U.S. a lot as a small child, mostly on the East Coast, and then ended up on the West Coast. I remember choosing which pronunciations to use so as not to have to decide each time. ROOF was difficult for me because mine was closer to the American "Book" but not as far over as "ruff". A friend from California was once visiting Alabama in the South and thanked his host for the "Pie". They did not understand him until he pointed to it and they said, "Oh, the PA!" (with an "A" as in "PAL".) I love hearing all these variations, both American and British. When we watch a British murder mystery, we often have closed captions on the TV, especially if it's in the North of England : )
Your American accent is actually really good - as far as aunt goes in America you hear as many people saying “aunt” as you hear “ant” that changes a lot over here…depending on the person really. Auntie - pronounced the British way but adding a “eee” to the end is also very common.
In the south, aint is a thing. Jane is my aunt, pronounced "ant". When I speak directly to her, it's Aint Jane.
For “address” in American English, it really depends on if you are using it as a noun or a verb. British English “address” is used as a verb, as in you address the person you are speaking to.
This is the same with defence/defense
Thanks for sharing that with us Tessa.
Tessa Gebert has a point.
One would adDRESS a person or crowd. But one would need an ADDress in order to mail a letter.
with stress in American English can change the meaning DEfense is used for sports teams to defend and de FENSE is used for protection. For Aunt we used both AU sound and A sound depending what part of the country your from. Semi we use both pronunciations but in different circumstances as well same with verb and noun of address and record
Yup, often times our pronunciation will change depending on whether we're using the verb form or the noun form. Many pronunciations on this list we actually say both depending on the context. And that's without even factoring in regional differences yet ;)
The waiter who didn’t know tomato with a long ‘a’ is just not a smart person.
J. A. E. Seriously. There's a whole song about it! Let's call the whole thing off. LOL
susan anne lol
Haha I was scrolling through the comments looking for someone who said this!
That's a short a
Hmmmm. I believe you meant to say that the waiter who didn't understand "tomato" with a SHORT 'a' is just not a smart person. The British pronounce "tomato" with a SHORT 'a' (like in the word father) and Americans pronounce "tomato" with a LONG 'a' (like in the word bake). Since it was an American waiter who did not understand a British person, that would be the SHORT 'a' version that was not understood. Sometimes none of us are as smart as we think we are...
In Canada we use a combination of both pronunciations for the majority of these words. Also, in the US in some areas they pronounce "aunt" the British way. The reason for the different pronunciation of garage is due to the French influence on some N. American words. In Canada we pronounce Z as zed, although we hear zee daily on TV so zee is creeping into Canadian English as well. The rest of the words in your list can pretty much go either way in Canada. (BTW: Another word that can go either way in Canada is lieutenant. In the US they pronounce it Loo-tenant and in Canada it is properly pronounced Lef-tenant.)
There's NO "F" in lieutanant.
@@Cricket2731
So yall pronounce zebra the British or American way
A correction and an addition: in New England, we pronounce route like you do, to rhyme with root not rout. In America, the word shone rhymes with bone. I was born in England, moved to Canada as a baby, and then the US at 6. I never realized I pronounced shone differently until I was an adult singing in our community choir. We were doing a piece composed by an expat Brit. I noticed I was pronouncing it differently and asked how we should pronounce it. Of course, they said the American pronunciation. They said, "Why would you pronounce it like that?" and I said,"How would you pronounce g-o-n-e?" When the composer came to listen to our rehearsal, I asked him how he would say it, and of course he used the British pronunciation. He'd never realized Americans said shone differently either. So we ended up using the British shone, which was good, because otherwise it wouldn't have rhymed with the word it was supposed to.
I was born in England, grew up in Canada and now live in USA.
My Mum had her heavy British accent while living in Canada. I was so mixed up when I went to school in Canada because my Mum would say I was pronouncing words incorrectly. I was trying to speak England's English at home and Canadian English at school. It was nuts!
In America, I think we say "either" both ways depending on what we're feeling is right at the moment lol. For me, it's like how I sometimes say "data" different ways. But maybe that's just me.
Data is day-ta because according to the standard rule if it was spelled datta then it would be pronounced datta.
Not just you! I do the same.
That makes things so complicated for non native speakers
Yeah same like I usually say ither but if I’m saying me either it’s eether
Same with me and "route or root."
American: “I need a battery”
Brit: *knocks him out*
Carl Karlson oof
Didn't understand
@@AB-xx3jl battery also means assault or violence
A baruhry = American
Brits say it how? Like Bat-tree? That’s how they say it in Jersey City and the outer New York parts of New Jersey. But they also say “Tur-let” instead of “Toilet” for some reason. Half my family is 2nd gen Irish and from Jersey city and it’s fun to mock each other :).
I’m pretty sure we know what battery is in the comment example however since we seem to be the leading industrial nation when it comes to assault, battery and most likely murder as well!
All I know is that when I was in London i got along incredibly well after me and an Englishman at a bar got into a fist fight with some French “football” fans over them being creeps to a girl so we gladly were a coalition of the douche batterers :). I hope that guy and his buddies are still spending their evenings laughing and knocking down pints at the same pub!
I suppose the pronunciations of some of these words depends on where in the US you live. For example, NJ we say Aunt like the Brits and herb with the h. And route is like root as well as roof with oo and not pronounced as in rough.
Same in the UK. In Scotland we say aunt like he says ‘ant’ in the video. We also pronounce the ‘r’ in herb more than he does and in some places we add an extra vowel in words like ‘world’ so it sounds like ‘woruld’.
I'm from NJ and I say aunt like ant, I say water like wooder, herb like erb, route is either root or route. Maybe I just speak weird lol
Growing up in the New England, I pronounce many words you reviewed the same way the British do. I always said “aunts”, but my friends with Irish grandparents or parents always used “ants”. Sounded very weird to me.
In America both pronounciations of "adult" are used. Both "eithers" and "neithers" are used. Both versions of "aunt" are used. Both versions of "semi" are used. Both versions of "route" are used (for example you say *"root"* 66, not *"rowt"* 66) for the most part the differences in pronounciation for these is dependant on what region you're from, but can also differ based on the context.
We use both versions of "address" and this one relies almost entirely on context, someone's home bears an ADDress, when you speak to a large group of people you are adDRESSing them.
Same here in Britain, but the point was to show the differences in language. If yall came to Britain you’d likely hear the British pronunciation more than the American, and (I’d assume) vice versa.
IF you are in the northeast US then you're going to hear root and coincidentally, mobyle is more common.
Yes 🤗
I think most of the people I know in the US say Semi like semee unless you talking about the truck which is Sem-eye. I also say either and neither like the British apparently
I'm glad someone else mentioned this. I also realized we (in the US) use both pronunciations for "defense", but generally use DE-fence in reference to sports while we say de-FENCE if we're talking about law or politics, e.g. our military's defense budget.
As a Filipino, I used to believe that we used American English. But after watching your video, I got to know that we used both the American and British English. Thank you for this amazing video.
No, you Filipinos don't really speak English , you speak English like a Filipino. Filipinos don't speak English as a English speaker. You use "pieces" in the wrong content all the time. For example "I want four pieces of eggs." No, native speaker speaks this way. If you want four eggs. You just say, "I want four eggs."
When Filipinos use any number of day. You never use first, second, third, never put th at the end of the number. Filipinos say December 25. No native speaker would say that, it would be "December 25th."
The Philippines really needs native English speakers teaching them English, not Filipino English, which is not English.
@@LittleImpaler Did you say "English as "a" English speaker"? If you try to be a critic to someone for their bad English, first, be sure that yours is perfect. English as "an" English speaker is the correct grammar. now don´t tell me it was a typo. To Err is human, to criticize - be sure you are perfect.
you might want to check this out...
Dates | Writing Style Guide | Western Michigan University: wmich.edu/writing/rules/dates
@@LittleImpaler LittleImpaler
LittleImpaler
1 week ago
No, you Filipinos don't really speak English , you speak English like a Filipino. Filipinos don't speak English as a English speaker. You use "pieces" in the wrong content all the time. For example "I want four pieces of eggs." No, native speaker speaks this way. If you want four eggs. You just say, "I want four eggs."
When Filipinos use any number of day. You never use first, second, third, never put th at the end of the number. Filipinos say December 25. No native speaker would say that, it would be "December 25th."
The Philippines really needs native English speakers teaching them English, not Filipino English, which is not English.
There are Filipinos who speak English fluently
I can't believe the negative replies you got. I think this person just did not know most Americans use both forms of many of these, just as you do. The two years the British had Manila could not have done much. Just too short. The nearly 50 years of American influence is far more likely to be the source of English language in the Philippines.
It’s interesting to see where Canada falls. Somewhere in between
Canadians for the most part, sound American. Sometimes they use the English way. Like the letter "Z" they say "Zed", unlike the American way, "Zee".
Or pronouncing "Nikon" (the camera brand) "Neekon" while the Americans say "Nykan" or "Nykon"
My experience is that in "Water" and " tomato" the "T" is always pronounced as a "T", not as a "D" as you suggest. That may be due to regional differences, because in North Carolina (one of the original colonies) many of our words are pronounced more like our British cousins than in other areas of the U.S.
Nah dude I think your American accent is pretty spot on!!
I'm a native of the US and we use both pronunciations of defense. In sports we always say defense, but anything related to military or national security is defence (as in Defence department or on the news talking about the National Defence). So context is equally as important with this word.
Great video, and great American English pronunciations!
I find that this is the case with many of the other words as well. I would say "root 66 is the fastest rowt" if using phonetic spellings. Its all about the context.
hoojchoons It's 'Defense Department', never spelled with a 'C'. And you say you're a native of the US?
Right, but we never spell practice with an "s" here in the States, either. (EE-ðer).
Why you mix French title with fences? From Fence? Hmm, very American with you know what.
Let's address addresses now.
Thank you, mate! You solved the "EITHER conundrum" for my Russian mind.
Love all your videos Tom, always incredibly interesting content!
Never seen this man before... My first thoughts are... Danial Radcliffe.
Oh, you're so right, he also reminded of an american TV personality whose name I forget...
Looks nothing like the man.
XBakaTacoX oh get outta here! Also pronounced: Expelliarmus!
XBakaTacoX lol
Something quite charming about him. Possibly his uncynical enthusiasm.
7:34 We Americans pronounce "Dee-fense " only applicable in sporting events, esp. BASKETBALL. Other than that we say "Defense" normally.
We don't say Secretary of "Dee-fense" , coz that sounds ridiculous!!!!!
Not just sports but sure
Yup. I just made the same exact comment lol. Shoulda read some first. Even mentioned the DOD just as u did but I think we say DE-fense in any situation where it is likely to be compared to offense such as sports or military etc. but i Totally hear ya
Haha
Yes, I can think of American usage with ' deefence' and say, ' national defence' being different.
Americans speak English wrong don’t forget where the language came from
Great content. Glad to be led here, I really love this material. So glad, thank you so much. Never too late to learn. Happy to subscribe
Great video, I realize I am writing a bit after it first appeared, but I have just found your channel (which I enjoy immensely). As you note at the start of the video, there are many accents in both countries, so there are a variety of ways or pronouncing some of the words you chose. For instance, where I grew up (Northern New Jersey) we pronounce "water" to rhyme with "oughter". The "aw" sound you find in raw. I found your discussion of "semi" very interesting; it is true that most Americans will pronounce semi as you note, but if it is part of a compound word, say "semiconductor", the first part is usually pronounced the British way (se mee conductor). Growing up in New Jersey, we pronounced aunt as you describe (like the insect), but when I went to college in New England, everyone who grew up there pronounced it the British way. Finally, Americans will pronounce "route" both ways (rout and root). If you are not familiar with it, there is a well known American song about a famous highway, Route 66, and in that song, you get your kicks on "root" 66, not on "rout" 66. Anyway, I love your videos and find language and the many ways we express it to be endlessly fascinating. Thank you for your great work.
It should be noted that in the U.S., when we are referring to a mobile device (cellular phone), we don't call it a "mobile". Generally, we say "cell phone" or simply, "cell".
I don't call them phones anymore since they are now also computers so now I call them mobile device. They used to be just cell phones about 20-25 years ago.
We do say mobile, but not "MO-bile" haha
Most of the time I just hear people call them a phone. "I can't find my phone. Have you seen my phone? I need to charge my phone." If they are referring to what people used to call a phone - i.e. home phone - they say landline.
@@jacobtucker2063 Correct! I've never heard anyone say "I need to charge my cell"
lol
Daniel Ortiz I say phone
I'm american and i say both eithers too!
Lily Twinklenoodle me too!!!
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Lily Twinklenoodle same
Neuro Demonio yeah aussies say "woodah"
I am American and was raised in Ireland and definitely switch between the two.
I believe herb is an example where American has preserved the French pronunciation. Also, defense depends on whether you are taking Sport or Military. Sport: DEfense, Military: deFENSE.
There are regional differences with "aunt" in the US. Where I live, in the New England region, we pronounce it the way you would describe as British. "Herb" is a loan word from French, which explains why we don't pronounce the "h". We do this with a lot of French loan words in the US. For a few others on your list, like "semi" and "route", you'll definitely find a lot of Americans using what you have characterized as British pronunciations as well.
OMG how did ALUMINIYUM not make this list? 😂
Absolutely!!!! This one cracks me up!!
Aluminum
Because that word is actually spelled differently, as well as pronounced differently.
@@cahinton. I never realized there's an extra "i" in the British/Canadian version of the same word!
Not alumini yum, but aluminium.Why the yum, just being funny?Or you thought that was the way it was spelled?
I‘m Swiss and I‘ve just realized that I‘m speaking a mix between British and American english😂🤷🏻♀️
pink unicorn I’m American and speaking a mix lmao
pink unicorn Same here..non English Speakers often do this.cz that makes it easy to speak
pink unicorn
Me too, guess we picked the things we liked out and then started using those.
Greetings from Germany. ;D
Truly appreciated! I’ve subscribed mate!
I'm from the US Midwest and I also use both pronunciations of "either" and "neither." I'm not even sure when I switch.
Route is said 2 ways in America. A highway is pronounced root (Route 66 is Root 66). A delivery type of pattern is pronounced "raowt": as in newspaper delivery or postal service deliver is a "paper raowt" or "postal raowt". At least this is true in California and much of the west coast.
Agreed! Same in Florida!
Isn't it interesting how one word pronunciation ended up in two!
Probably started changing around 40-50s but the song about Route 66 kept original pronunciation to highways at least
I was born in CA, and I think I say Pirates of the Cari-BEE-in and then THE Ca-RIB-ean for Caribbean - all because of the Disney ride.
Yep! Also we use both pronunciations for either and neither where I'm from
That’s interesting.
Address, fiancé, aunt, either, defense, and route can be pronounced both ways in American English. Some of them depend on where you live in the US, but most of them either way would be accepted without anyone questioning it. I'm from Texas and this is just my observation. :)
Emily - Agreed. I'd pronounce it de-FENSE if we were talking about government, military, etc. Such as the "Department of Defense." But I'd say DEE-fense if we were talking about a sports team.
Yeah I think a bunch of examples in the video are wrong. I would never put the stress on "world" in "world cup" and I have no idea where he got that information. And many of the other pronunciations sound like regional variations that don't apply to all Americans, not even close.
So, according to your argument, the Scots don't speak proper English either?
+ KansasGirl - According to who's argument? Give people a clue fool.
Dickie Chaznick as a professor of linguistics I’d think you’d know it’s “4th OF July” not 4th July! That sound worse than July 4th.
I'm really liking this channel, and I just subscribed. Thank you, Tom
As an American with a degree in linguistics, I appreciate the use of IPA. I wish it was used more widely in discussions about language.
I wish it were.
5:10 We use both forms of the word here in the U.S. We use the British version when using it as a verb “The teacher had to address the issue.” We use the American version when talking about the location of a home “What is your home address?”
That's interesting - thanks for sharing Collin Clem.
Also, a speech (e.g. The Gettysburg Address) will use the "British" version.
Similar situation with defense/defence. DEfense is a noun and deFENCE is a verb.
Same goes with either and neither.
I was gonna say the same thing, Collin!
Nathan Berrigan like “his friend came to his deFENCE” and “that team is playing great DEfence”
I’m American and I find myself using the British version of many of these words. I guess it depends on what part of the nation your from. Good video though.
Quaid McIver propably cuz you’re from the eastside!
The descendants of the original colonies do tend to use more British pronunciations, I have noticed. The way philadelphians say "water" and "garage" and "route" is more similar to British English.
Quaid McIver yeah, the entirety of europe could fit in the us, america has a ton of different accents, Im from minnesota and when I moved to Florida it was such a big change
Quaid McIver same here I'm from Illinois anyone else near there? Could explain it
+Landslave Yup, living in PA an hour north of Philly, also right on the border of NJ, I can confirm the water and garage stuff, lol. When he was saying this I was like "He should come around here. They say a mix of the first British syllable of "war" but then switch to the American version for the 2nd half." Heh. I've even heard some kids while growing up in school say "water" perfectly with the T sound and everything, overly enunciated. Sounds weird, but I've met people who say words super enunciated like that, like saying "important" with every T sound perfectly there and separated. If you say that word yourself, most of us brush over the letters without giving it too much thought. It starts to sound weird if you emphasize the first and last T extra hard in "important" but hey, I've heard people speak that way :D
All your videos are great and helpful. This one was rather entertaining. Thanks a lot ! 👍🏻
I'm an American that spends a lot of time in England, and I have to applaud you for well your American English sounds.
"that" => "who"; "for well" => "for how well".
American pronunciation on some of these words varies depending on which state you live in.
Also depends where in the British Isles a person is from. I'm from Lancashire (north west) And the way words are pronounced varies vastly just a few miles apart.
And that’s what he mentioned right at the beginning of this video
Go far south enough and NOTHING will make any sense at all.
Goto to Pittsburgh and see how these words are butchered 😂
The "address" one is kinda weird here in America, when we are talking about a house address we say it A-ddress but when talking about paying attention to a subject we say we address it! So we say both ;)
In many of these examples we say both either depending on context (like what you mentioned) or since we have so many differing accents (like the water example) I've heard people say countless different ways over here, including the "British" pronunciation he said I've heard over here plenty of times as well, just depending on the accent. The word "water" is one of the most widely differing pronunciations across America actually depending on accent, lol. "Milk" gets said differently a lot too, as well as the word "crayon."
It’s usually based on if it’s used as a noun or a verb in America.
Deathbrewer, I can''t think of different ways an American would say "water" (other than a New Englander or a southerner dropping the R, but I think the T would still sound more like a D compared to the British pronunciation. . How can a single-syllable word like "milk" with only one vowel have different pronunciations?
Todd Nicholson, yea I don't know. The only other pronunciation of milk that I've heard is "melk" with more of an E sound. And my little cousin says "miwk" but that doesn't really count ;)
"Address" used as a noun pronounces (stress on the first syllable) differently from "Address" used as a verb (stress on the second syllable).
A lot of those British pronunciations are commonly used in America too. The British pronunciation of “Aunt” is most commonly used in parts of the American north east. In America, we say both “deFENSE” and “DEfence” depending on the context. “aDULT” is the most common pronunciation in America, though “ADult” is commonly used as well. Same with “ADDress” and “addRESS”. A lot of it depends on the region of America as well.
I'm American. Here's the full list of corrections that I and other commenters have noticed. Almost all of them require at least some clarification.
2:43 "adult" - Americans use both of these pronunciations.
3:28 "either" - Americans use both of these pronunciations. Same with "neither."
5:01 "address" - Americans use both pronunciations, but for different purposes. As a noun, we say either one ("What's your ADdress?" or "What's your adDRESS?"), but as a verb we only say "adDRESS" ("The president will adDRESS the nation at 8 tonight." "I will adDRESS this issue as soon as possible.")
5:31 "fiance" - Americans usually use the pronunciation that he says is British. Americans only say "fianCE" when they're trying to be a little cheeky or playful ("So, how's the new fianCE" wink wink). But in normal conversation we would always say "This is my fiANce."
5:53 "aunt" - Americans use both of these pronunciations, and it seems to vary from person to person. I refer to my actual aunts as "ant [name]," but if I was telling a friend about my aunt, I would say "I'm visiting my awnt in Florida." Other people have different styles, but you will definitely hear both ways in America.
6:56 "world cup" - I have never heard an American say "the WORLD cup." That sounds kinda cowboy-ish for some reason. But yeah, everyone would say "the world CUP."
7:22 "defense" - Americans use both of these pronunciations, but for different purposes. "DEfense" is most commonly used in sports ("the Bills have the best DEfense in the league right now"), and "deFENSE" is usually used when talking about law or the military ("his lawyers mounted a strong deFENSE" or "America's missile deFENSE system cost billions of dollars"). It would sound very weird if you said "DEfense" in those last two examples. Also, he showed the different spellings but didn't mention them: "Defence" is British and "defense" is American.
8:22 "semi" - Americans use both of these pronunciations, and we usually use the one he says is British. "Semicircle," "semifinal," "semiconductor," "semicolon," all would usually be said "semee," not "semai." The only time "semai" is always used is when talking about a particular type of large shipping truck, which some Americans simply call a "semi" (pronounced "semai").
8:51 "route" - Americans use both of these pronunciations, but for different purposes. When talking about the way you travel to a particular place, both pronunciations are used ("We took a different root/raowt to the airport"). In fact, "root" is more common in that context. However, as a verb, "raowt" is always used ("The customer service guy on the phone raowted me to his supervisor"). Also, Americans (and British people, if I'm not mistaken) call the device that sends WiFi around your house a "raowter" - nobody says "rooter."
I'm American and I don't even pronounce Mayonaise all the way. I say manaise
I always say mayo
m'naise
Me too
I'm saying mayonnaise
May naize
British, it is torch, American, it is Flashlight.
British, fire brigade
American, fire Department.
Im going to do a presentation on the UK and this was very helpful! Thank you!
Thank you so much ! So helpful
I lived in the UK (Beds) from age 15 through 18. I still use both pronunciations for many of these. You've done an excellent job of differentiating the pronunciations here. I still say "root" and am corrected to "route". To those who give this correction, I say "wanker".
Brilliant!! You carry on telling them "wanker"!! It IS "root"!
Lol I’m American and say “root”
Americans sing root 66 (route 66) not rout 66
En rout
I say "raow-t" for everything else, but say "root" 66. Pirates of the Cari-BEE-an, and the Ca-RIB-ean for Caribbean.
In American English, "defense" is pronounced with the stress on the first or second syllable, but in different circumstances. If we're talking about warfare (defense spending), law (a vigorous defense; self-defense), and academia (thesis defense), the stress is on the second syllable. In team sports, it's on the first syllable, and it probably originated as a vocal contrast to "offense".
Correct, I think your sports proposal is probably correct.
Certainly the dee-fense pronunciation was introduced to the general US culture by African-Americans in sport. 50 years ago no "establishment" person outside the deep south would have dreamed of saying "Dee-fense.
LOL football 'OF-fense' versus minor traffic 'OfFENSE' - same thing!
Great job on your analysis!
Basil and aluminum are very different.
Coming from the southeastern U.S. we frequently use both the British and American version of the words you listed. Except for zebra, tomato, and schedule.
90% of these we use both pronunciations in America.
bis225 I agree with you on all but herb. I have heard plenty of people who live in America or are American say it with an 'h' sound.
@bis225 East coast there are people who use the other tomato. But mostly you are correct.
WTH!! "zed"?? As a kid at school, in Italy, my english teacher taught me "zed", but then my american friends would tease me for that, so I thought I was taught wrong! I'm so happy I was right all time long! Long live British English!
Think the English would be the go to given that's where the language originates from. You were right! But never call Jay-Z Jay-zed lol
You were wrong since Z is always pronounced “zee” when it is used in a word, it’s literally never pronounced “zet ” in a word in either language.
@@cheeks6310 English didnt originate in england it originated out of German and French languages therefore the americans are more correct in their pronunciation than the british. The Americans tend to keep words closed to the original Germanic languages
@@Christian-ru6op it isn't true because after English have colonized America, more other nations started go there so their English is "modified" because of all the different nationalities of the people. And by the way, American English came after, British English
@@AB-xx3jl still "Zed" sounds pretty weird and zee sounds just about right
Excellent explanation and comparison. Perfect sounds man, I'm going to apply this comparison in my classes, if you let me...hehe. A hug for you buddy from Argentina
In the U.S., defense is pronounced differently depending on whether it is a noun or a verb. Also, I apparently have several British pronunciations. Curiously, when I was growing up - at least from 7th grade and above - I kept "misspelling" several words. I later learned that I spell them the British way. For example, harbour vs. harbor.
I’m 100% American, yet I say a lot of words in this video the British way
Yes, I do as well. Maybe spending a lot of time visiting family in New England growing up and having a Bostonian father contributed. I've also listened to a number of Brits when I was there and have had British friends over the years. Hard to say. Perhaps it's regional (I live in Northern Ohio)?
I think it’s a regional thing for a lot of us Americans.
Yes, props on your American accent!
Hehe cheers Tanya : )
I thought the same thing too. I had to ask myself if you were really British! Your American accent was so good
Tanya Haley why do you say props? I always hear people say it but i don’t understand why. I know it’s a toned down congrats but I just don’t get it, any ideas?
@@jaynebyng3278 Yep, short for giving someone PROPer respect or PROPer recognition for something they said or did. :D
When you grow up with one English parent and one American parent and your pronunciation (as well a lot of descriptive words) is/are all over the place. With my father (American) I was always really aware of the different syllable stresses - my favourite syllable word my dad said was “TV”. He always stressed the “T” more and I still smile when I think about that 🙂. All my life, people have asked me where I’m from. No body believed that I was born in Australia. Gahhhhh, it’s even confusing ME now just thinking about it and writing it down. Thanks so much for sharing your videos with me. I really enjoy them, and appreciate the effort you put into each one. Thanks 🙂🐿
Thank you, Tom, for another great video. I always learn something from you.
In american English (but possibly just California English aka "TV English"), the pronunciation of "Defense" actually changes based on the definition you're using.
As a strategy, where "defense" is the opposite of "offense", you exaggerate the different syllable between the two words. This is so that you can hear your coach yell "'DEfense! Fall back!" and be more certain that he didn't say "OFFense".
"Watch out, these guys are known to have strong DEfense players."
"I'm better on DEfense than on OFFense."
In politics, it's pretty much always "deFENSE", because there's no "Secretary of Offense" to cause misunderstandings. It's pronounced this way to more fluidly transition into "deFENSive" because any time a politician talks about "defense" as a noun, it's shorthand for "a defensive position/strategy". This difference is to mimic the difference between "OFFense", as an attribute, and "offENSE", as the intention to hurt someone's feelings.
"In my deFENSE, nobody told me I couldn't do that."
"Would the deFENSE attorney please make a statement."
"Try to say it with less offENSE in your words."
Third is video games, where "defense" is a stat or a strategy that helps your characters take less damage when attacked. As the opposite of "atTACK", "deFEND and deFENSE" mimic the same pronunciation. Still, online games are so globalized that everyone gets used to hearing and saying both, and games made from all over the world with have both versions voiced into the game's programming.
"When you see the enemy atTACK, press [L] to switch to deFENSE mode."
"You'll never survive the boss fight without at least 20 more points in your deFENSE."
"Make sure you have armor with at least 100 DEfense." (either works)
I have heard Americans say offense with stress on the first syllable so the off is sounded more than we do in England. It's almost like we are saying a shorter word.
Broo when his accent drops when he pronounces the American English words is cool to listen too
his accent doesn't drop, he changes accent. literally everybody has an accent including americans.
Agreed. Americans (specifically mid-westerners) think they’ve achieved some form of none-accented English when in reality they’re just speaking with an American accent. No accent drops, but only switches from one to another.
To an international, American accents are some of the strongest and most noticeable due to the way they roll their “r” and pronounce “t” like “d” I.e budder
@@Steve_McMillen idk about that comment, midwesterners are KNOWN for having heavily accented speech. Some even pride themselves on their Scandinavian and Dutch roots which is why they sound like that.
In America "defense" can be pronounced with different stresses depending on how it's used. "DEfense" as a noun is indeed stressed on the first syllable but "DeFEnse" as a verb has its stress on the second syllable.
How you mastered the American one! 😍 I’ve been working on improving my British pronunciation and it’s extremely hard to try to say with an American one now 😅
"Route" is pronounced both ways is the US as well as in Canada, " Root and Rowt".
NO! In Canada, we only pronounce "route" as root. "Rout" (rowt) has no "e" and only means "to defeat utterly." Example: The Romans routed the enemy.
Fiddle DeeDee Route is a noun and a verb and in America is used both ways ( root and rowt ) same here in Canada . Do you say rooted or rowted ? I personally say rooted. Canadian and Americans have similar dialects.
@@pascale110
In British English, and also in CANADIAN English, the standard pronunciation of ROUTE rhymes with shoot and hoot.)
In US English, there are two distinct pronunciations of the word ROUTE, referring to a "way or course taken in getting from a starting point to a destination."
For Americans, it is acceptable to pronounce the word ROUTE as either rOOt or rOWt.
Today, the pronunciation of route as rOWt (rhyming with out) is more prevalent in the US
@@tuppencepetey It depends what part of the country you are. many areas of the US where it's pronounced ROOT. Canadians are the same. It all depends what part of the country you are.
We say cell never mobile
E.g. where’s your cell?
We say DEfense and DeFENSE, depending on how it is used. The first one is used a lot in sports (DEfensive players), but the second is used in talking about the military (like in Department of DeFENSE).
Ah that's interesting. Thanks for sharing with us D A.
This is 100% how it is in American English. Only DEfence when talking sports.
Gabby starting over! I think the difference is actually in conText (even outside of sports). For instance, if someone was aggressive and changing tactics, often you will here they are going on the DEfence. But when you are describing an attribute, like the strength of a military fortifcation, it is often said as their deFENCE is quite strong.
I'm Australian and I pronounce almost every word he said the British way, but I was surprised that there was one I pronounced the American way - schedule - and one I pronounced somehow in between both - garage
It's also important to note that, in America, the region you live in will affect your pronunciation of certain words. The words "water" and "oil" for example, will be pronounced differently among Mid-Westerners, those in New England, West Coast folks, and Southerners.
I say address (British way) like "address this problem" and address (american way) like "give me your address"
That's interesting you make the distinction between the two.
Yes. I also pronounce it differently as a noun vs. a verb. (Midwestern American accent.)
But that is because one is a verb and the other one is a noun
it is entirely depend on noun or verb, but yeah we do use both sounds
Same here: address if a verb (british), if used as a noun American way.
[East-Midwestern]
One that always makes me smile is the word: buoy. In UK it's pronounced 'boy' but in US it' pronounce buee. Ha, ha, love it.
In the USA, they pronounce it almost the French way; In French, buoy is 'bouée' which is pronounced "booeigh".
I'm reading a travelogue where the guy is an American who has lived in Britain for years. He commented on that. His name is Bill Bryson. He's noted for his humorous travelogues.
That one totally threw me on a trip (to New Brunswick actually) with an American guide.
We also say BOO-ee for David Bowie. My wife is a Londoner. She's never mentioned the buoy thing to me. She always laughs at the way I say "mirror".
Here in Canada, we also say 'boy'. The first time I heard 'boo-ee', I was like whhaaaat?
Thanks, very useful!
I'm laughing hard on this one. And you're using a totally southern US on a couple of your words, so funny. Also, we do use some of both depending on our context.