Exactly! a 'vaas' is an expensive work of art filled with professionally arranged flowers, but a 'vace' is something cheap that you put the dandelions your kids brought you in.
Now you know how Germans feel. We have three types of English teachers. Native English speaking, native American speaking and native speaking German. Ultimately, you get a funny mix of everything. English, American and Wrong.
Dirga Maria Italilpessy haha I didn’t want to add the Australian accent to the mix but I’ve been there a couple times over a longer period so I’m pretty sure I picked up a little bit of the Aussie slang as well 😂😂 sometimes I wish I could talk to someone who examines my accent(s) 😂😂
In Sweden there isn't a set version of English to learn, so it changes from teacher to teacher, year to year and school to school. I started of learning British, then American, British, British, American and then finally, in upper secondary, British. Soooo I'm a jumbled mess trying my best to stick with British English bc I prefer that, but it's sometimes really tricky to know what word is from what version of English.
@@Maria-dx6ws I learned American and British english when I was school. But when I started to go to university I met so many Australians, also some of my professors are Australian, and they affected my accent. So what accent should I learn consistently 😂I think I'm going to try my best to keep my American accent no matter what 😂
BryTee If you pronounce like ”ma’ tsu dat” is probably closest to how Japanese pronounce Mazda. But I think ’Mazz der’ is supposed to be correct or similar to word origin because original word is farsi/ Persian what I heard.
It's so true about "water," though! I'm American, but my family is friends with a British couple and their son. Many years ago, when the son and I were both kids, they visited an American restaurant, and the boy wanted to order some water. I'm not sure if the waitress genuinely didn't understand or just found his accent cute, but it took him several repetitions of "water" in his native pronunciation before he finally snapped and almost shouted the word in his best imitation of the American pronunciation. It's one of our favorite stories to recount to this day! At one point, if I remember correctly, the amused waitress actually called over a co-worker to share in her mirth, which is why I suspect that, if her confusion was ever genuine, it was only so initially. A bit patronizing, perhaps, but his parents never seemed to mind. Anyway, now that I actually have some linguistic training, I realize just how much sense it makes for "water" to be a challenge for some. It combines three major differences between British and American sound systems into one word. First, there's the sound of the 'a.' The British version of that vowel is one that's been subsumed by another in America. In short, it's a noticeably more open-mouthed sound in the US than in the UK. Then, there's the classic American weakening of the 't' into a more /d/-like sound (though not technically an actual /d/, strictly speaking). This happens anytime a /t/ is lodged between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel (e.g. "letter," "butter," "betting," etc). Finally, there's the issue of rhoticity. British English is non-rhotic, which basically means any 'r' that would otherwise come at the end of a syllable is dropped entirely. American English, on the other hand, is rhotic, meaning we reliably pronounce those terminal R's. In "water," it's as if all three of those differences have teamed up against the poor speaker!
@@LJBSullivanbut you still understand that they're saying "water", right? I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't, no mater if the person is saying "wa-ter", "wad-der", or "wa'er", it seems like you'd understand that they're saying water.
1. Learn to use paragraphs. 2. Your water story is a lie. 3. English is a rhotic language. Period. "British English" is poor speaking. Period. Americans speak English better and more correctly, now and historically, than the British.
@@KiraBKADestroyerOfWorlds It depends. If an American isn’t expecting a Standard Southern British accent, it can sound like the diner is asking for a “waltzah” or maybe a “wart suh”. And if you don’t know what a woe tseh is, neither does the waiter. Ask for a wadder, you’ll probably get what you’re after.
My father was a US Navy captain. He once served a joint NATO staff in Norfolk with a British officer and a southern US officer. After a particularly long session of southernisms, the British officer turned to the southerner and said, "Commander Smith, there are two languages in NATO, French and English. You really must learn one or the other."
Scary thing is that the US southern accent might be be closer to the 1700's English. After the American Revolution high class England changed how they spoke, while Americans kept the old English.
English has several pairs of words where the emphasis changed to distinguish between the noun and the verb. E.g., PROgress (noun) vs. proGRESS (verb); fiNANCE (verb) vs. FInance (noun); adDRESS (verb) vs. ADdress (noun), though we don't always use them both or in that way.
As an Italian, the way American people pronounce “Parmesan” actually makes more sense because it resembles the original pronounciation. Parmesan is “Parmigiano” in Italian so if you pronounce it the american way you can kinda hear the “g” in there
except the word parmesan is french. Parmigiano is an italian word. in french a Parmesan is an inhabitant of the citiy of Parmes just like a "Persan" is an inhabitant of "Perse" and a "Castillan" is an inhabitant of "Castille"
@@BlackCoffeeee The city of Parma is italian but the word is not. It happened a lot. For exemple Macaron is a french word which represents an italian pastry. The english got it from France like so many other italian inventions and they are now using the french word.
“Lieutenant” is an interesting case. Of course it came into English from French, but it did so at a time when U and V were basically the same letter, so if you didn’t know the word you had to guess which way to read that letter. As it happened, everyone guessed wrong and read the word as if it were “lievtenant.” As U and V became more clearly distinct, that pronunciation of “leftenant” still remained. But in America, where the English colonists had close proximity to many French settlers, the pronunciation was adjusted back so that it sounded more consistent with “in lieu.”
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the "left" protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
@@jeromyloomis119 Never heard that one before. The word comes directly from the French word compounded from "lieu tenant," literally "place holding." Another theory I've heard (and I am not at all an expert on Old French) is that the Old French form of "lieu" was originally spelled "luew," and two different spellings evolved from that, "lieu" and "luef." Both of those spellings supposedly existed in the 14th century, which was when the word "lieutenant" entered English. So the "f" could have come from the spelling "lueftenant."
@@Fool3SufferingFools You are probably more correct. I don't know where I got my info. heard it a long time ago. I wonder if also the English stuck with "leftenant" once they had it because the didn't like the French. I may have been a mistake at first and then they decided to keep it. lol. I don't know. I'm no linguist but I like history and language. interesting stuff
As a Spanish speaker (first language) I was surprised at the Lieutenant translation: Teniente. I mean, General is the same, Captain is Capitan, Major is Mayor.
@@obi-wankenobi4301 There is a difference between a dialect and an accent, a dialect is a local variation on a language, to an outsider would sound like a foreign language and incomprehensible. Londoners find Geordie impossible to understand even without the addition of the accent.
My daughter is American and my SIL is British. They live in Texas and my 6 year old grandson has a combination of Texas drawl and British accent. He’ll be going along speaking in a Texas drawl and all of a sudden a British word will jump into the middle of a sentence like gare-age or to-mah-toe! 😂
It's funny now to read that. I realized that my family from more Southern areas with really strong accents tend to say garage like "geerage" (I don't know why, but they just do). So to think of that kid dropping a formal "gare-age" is even funnier. 😅
Just means 'our lady' in French and refers to Mother Mary, which is who the college is named after. As noted, it's not named after the cathedral in Paris. Saying it the French way does make sense since a) it is French; and b) there's no tradition that the French pronunciation only refers to the cathedral in France. Tons of places have the name and are pronounced like in French, or much more closely to the French than the university
Jashn: Well yes, I know that. I never said that the college was named after the cathedral. Indeed, there are probably many Notre Dames all over the world...wherever French is spoken. I was merely pointing out the difference in pronunciation.
@@heliotropezzz333 sorry but that's just not so... It is true there are a lot of thick headed people that refuse to think outside the box... But... That can be said about anyone from anywhere... (Yes?) ... But I know a lot of "Americans" that bust their butt trying to pronounce a foreign word with its proper pronunciation... And a lot of "Americans" will actively correct people who don't... Ahhh yeah... That is an effort isn't it?? You need to really research a little more on what you said there.... You know the other part to that is... A lot of "Americans" have foreign ancestry and take PRIDE in their roots... And will stand up for it by keeping with tradition and pronouncing words from their ancestors language correctly... Yeah.. Think about that... We care and are proud of our foreign roots... Yeah ... >< think about that... We are proud and love other countries... And the people who live in other countries and people who come to the united States from these foreign lands... So question for you... Were you aware of that??? But "Americans don't try ... Tell you what.. Try a little harder looking into that... You might be surprised..
I'm from Sweden, and this is so confusing. 😭😂 I think I'll just have to accept the fact that whatever English I will be speaking will be mixed and vary from time to time. Everything from spelling and pronunciation, to word choices like elevator and lift.
Yeah, I'm Turkish and same 😂 In schools our second lan is English and we are learning mostly American accent/words etc. But just because of Harry Potter, Sherlock or other British masterpieces I generally use British accent.
This is the best British vs American English video that I have ever seen. It is the only one that hasn't irked me. I am from upstate NY and I pronounce everything pretty much the same way as your wife. I also liked how she covered the different American pronunciations of some words. She did a great job of representing the US! On a side note, my 4-year- old is addicted to Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, so she says a lot of things with a British accent. It is adorable.
From Bangladesh, studied in an English medium school (meaning sat for O and A Levels), my spelling follows British English but this video made me realize my spoken English is very American. I figured my pronounciation would at least be 50-50 but turns out its more 80% American, 20% British and I'm absolutely flabbergasted at this revelation.
Progress is an interesting example of the rule, where we emphasize the first syllable for the noun but the last syllable for the verb. Other examples include produce, address, conduct, or contest.
It helps MASSIVELY for the listener understanding what you are talking about. US 'English' abolishes these distinctions, such as practice vs practise, licence vs license, etc. They all follow the convention of ADVICE = noun and ADVISE = verb.
I am from the U.S. It seems to me that the words pronounced differently as nouns or as verbs, like the examples listed above, have Latin roots. As a U.S.American, I emphasize the first syllable for the noun and the last syllable for the verb in the example words listed above and also with "convict", "contract", and "confine(s)". But I don't follow that rule with "display" while many people in other regions of the U.S. do. I also don't follow that rule with the French word "fillet", but I believe Brits do follow that rule. It's all so fascinating to me--the differences between English-speaking people around the world.
@@dondiddy7529 I am aware of that but we should now abide by the Oxford Dictionary otherwise it is not English as we know it today. If other countries change it then don't say they are speaking English.
I'm "medicare" age and have a Masters Degree, but never saw "aitch'' as a word---I stopped the video and looked up the definition: Oh, they mean "H," the letter.
My Dad was from the western mountains of VA close to the KY and TN boarders. When we went to Boston on vacation/holiday I had to translate between the kid working the Macdonald’s counter and my Dad. Both were speaking English and had no idea what the other was saying.
My English wife and I (American) found some others. Router (like what makes internet happen) is a constant one. I say Rowt-er and she says Roo-ter. Also we love your channel. Huge fans since we started binging it last week! We live in the North East US so she agrees with so many things you say!
I was stationed at Exmouth, Western Australia at a RAN/USN communications base. We had a running pronunciation contest because the man in charge was Aussie, most of the worker bees were American and the man who ran the antenna maintenance crew was Scottish. Good times that I miss these many years later.
Adopted by broadcasters in the early days of radio to represent serious factual speech (the Brooklyn accent was adopted for actors portraying uneducated characters in fiction), the Midwestern accent is America’s equivalent of British RP.
I've lived in the upper midwest all my life, and while I agree for the most part, there is some very detectable "Chicago" in there. But yeah, she's right.
Most of what she says is similar to me. (Not all of it though) I was born South Bend IN and raised Belleville IL which so part of St Louis MO's greater metro. And my mom is from South Dakota so I have a very eclectic Midwestern accent that someone once called wonderfully non offensive. xD I do say pop instead of soda if I'm tired (or high), and I do say badada instead of potato because I teased my mom about her pronunciation enough times to get an exaggerated version of it. (Ah karma)
there is some evidence to suggest that British English was a lot closer to what American English is back when the first settlers came to America. the theory is that as the pioneers moved west they had less contact with the British so the accent they had just stuck but in the east where England still had a big presence the accents evolved together which is why the northeastern accents tend to be closer to what British English is now. note that i am not saying that British English sounded exactly like modern American English, its just a closer comparison than what it is now. similarly im also not saying that northeastern people sound British, just that there are more similarities than in the rest of the country.
i should also note that this was based off of the way that less educated British people wrote. it would make sense that they would spell words the way they sounded to them but for instance the lack of an R sound at the end of words that end with A is just one example that i remember. i havnt seen anything on this for a few years so i dont remember all the details but i just thought it was fascinating.
But a British person says those three the same. Like they say "Fort" and "Fought" the same, unlike an American who says them completely differently. But what's fun is trying to get a British person to imitate how an American says those two word, they cannot do it without sounding like the word "fart"!
In Ireland we don't even pronounce the "t". It's more like "wa-er" with the hyphen representing a kind of sudden break/stop that makes it obvious there's a "t" there without it actually being pronounced.
@@ShizuruNakatsu there are some people in England who do the same thing. it seems we either enunciate the t clearly or miss it entirely. Americans seem to half say the t but it ends up sounding a bit like a d
Yes! When she remarked how strange the pronunciation is I was surprised. It is so close to the original Italian word. As Lawrence said, Americans usually pronounce words similar-ish to the language of origin. (British people would rather smooth everything out so they sound nice lol - kidding)
American English was more influenced by Italian than British English. A couple other examples are Zucchini vs Courgette and Beverage vs Drink. Beverage is from the Italian ‘bere’ (‘to drink’), which comes from Latin ‘bevere’ (and only lost the middle ‘v’ in the infinite). There’s also capish (I don’t know how people usually spell it), which comes from Italian ‘capisci’ (‘you understand’). Obviously, this is restricted to the stereotypical New Yorker accent, I believe, but it’s another remnant of Italian influence.
@@linguafiqari I'd say American English is influenced by Italian and British English is influenced by french because yeah in french they would say Courgette and Maïs instead of Zucchini and Corn
Progress is an initial stressed derived noun which is why her two pronunciations work.. They can be nouns (or adjectives) or verbs based on where you stress the word. Words like advocate, separate, and rebel work like this too.
Growing up in Denver, I was taught that if one travels in a defined geographical space such as a milk route, or a bus route, or a paper route, the word rhymes with "out." If one travels a long distance from one place to another as along Route 66, taking a route to the East, the word rhymes with "boot."
In discussing the pronunciations of “caramel”, you mentioned a city in Indiana. I feel compelled to mention Carmel, CA, which is pronounced Car-MEL ( accent on second syllable).
You mean emphasis or stress. The accent is the prosody, i.e. how melody and rhythm is distributed over a word or compound word. In some instances (and languages) even over a phrase.
On the subject of Van Gogh, 10 years ago I had a job in Amsterdam. One day a Brazilian colleague visiting from the Sao Paulo office asked a local Dutch colleague for recommendations of the best museums to visit. His response had me and the Brazilian guy look at each other wide-eyed for a moment as his response had both of us thinking he had suggested visiting the F**k Off museum. Of course he had just pronounced Van Gogh the proper Dutch way, which to us sounded like f**k off spoken with a Dutch accent. 😁
When people sing they use a different part of their brain than when they speak. That's why it can sound different. Interesting fact: people who have a severe stutter can sing without any problems. Therefore one treatment to help these people is to teach them to sing/talk. With enough practice no one can tell they are actually singing.
Probably because a lot of original songs are in American English? So when we recall them in our minds, we recall the American pronunciation as part of the melody. We can also sing American songs with our own non-American accents tho :)
In middle school one of my best friends was British. I'll never forget going over to his house and struggling through several tries to understand what his mom was making for dinner, until she finally had an "ah-hah" moment, and with exaggerated pronunciation said, "we are having pahhhhhhstahhhh"
Changing the first A to sound like a long O was that big a stretch? It's understandable that a middle schooler might think pasta (with a short A) is something different.
I only know the British pronunciation because I watch a lot of EPL.. At first, I'd hear the announcers say "And Saturday is the East London Darby". I was like WTH is a darby then I saw it on the website and was like oh, it's a derby.
Cute video! I’m an American who studied abroad in Newcastle, England, recently, and the accents were such a phenomenon to me! The Geordie accent/pronunciation caught me off guard!
Progress: This is emblematic of a pattern for Americans. If it’s the noun version, we emphasize the first syllable, and if it’s the verb, we emphasize the second. Others that follow this pattern: Envelope, record, import, permit, contest, rebel, invite, escort, reject, object, conduct, present, desert
This general rule was never so clear to me until I saw this video. Well put. There are many more examples I'm sure, but an obscure one I found is "purpose."
It really is an odd language that pronunciation can even change a words meaning. Like you said with progress. Likewise with: Refuse - to deny Refuse - Waste Extract - get something out Extract - a piece of text Produce - to create Produce - vegetables Lead, read, tear, etc. No wonder people struggle to learn it.
In UK I've only heard router that's used in woodwork and construction be called as ROUTer but we used ROOTer for sharing an Internet connection in the days of CAT cables going everywhere.
@@kaylapalooza66 I am much the same, with the exception of a "paper route," which I pronounce with the ou, as opposed to the long oo sound. I don't know why that specifically changes in my pronunciation. I would say delivery "root," but for some reason paper "rowt." Also, being a Michigander whose mother was formerly Canadian (American citizen for the last several years!) I pronounced the words root and roof differently than many around me.
I'm en root on state rowt one-twenty-five. On my way to root 66. En route is always root, State Route is always with the OW sound. Individual highways can be either depending on various factors.
I remember asking for butter in the US using British pronunciation, saying “but-tuh”. The lady behind the counter couldn’t understand me. Then I switched to American accent “budder” and she got it.
It's still "butter" (unvoiced t), just without emphasizing the t sound. That said, it's astonishing to me that any American would fail to understand any British pronunciation of "butter."
It’s not just about the t sound. The r sound at the end is also different. The guy in the video said American waiters could never understand his pronunciation of “water”. So it’s not surprising that Americans also cannot understand the British pronunciation of “butter”. The words are similar since they both have a t sound and no r sound at the end compared to the American pronunciation.
@@angelac3545 I am from Syracuse originally and when my parents, one of my sisters, and myself were at a waffle house on Long Island the day before my cousin's wedding my mother was the only one who had trouble understanding the waiter's Bronx accent. She is originally from Manhattan and my father from Staten Island.
In India,being a former British colony we were taught the 'Queen's' English but in the last 2-3 decades due to heavy American influence we(millenials) speak a mix of both 😅 also, it's Buddha not Buddah. People in the West pronounce it as Boo-da and that's not right. The 'Bud' has the same sound has 'could and the 'ddh' is pronounced as D sound 'thud'.Hope this helps!
That is the beauty of our country their are peole who follows Buddha. And u r absolutely right we indians speaks all mix of accents. Do saal pahele mujhe toh ye bhi nahi pata tha ki english me accent bhi kuch hota hai😂😂😂😂😂😂
As a Brit in Alaska ordering a glass of water, I've had servers bring me coffee, or coke, or just walk away and never come back. Now I say, Hello, how are you? so they can brace themselves for the accent, then I hit them with my drink order.
As a born Brit, I have to say that nowadays the purest and most beautifully enunciated English English is spoken in India. Indian professors all sound like Sir John Gielgud, only more so. Mesmerizing to listen to.
And do not forget the amazing and profuse use of adjectives and adverbs that Indians use in their English, i.e. "What is your good name , sir?" As much as I want to, I have never replied, "Would my bad name be more appropriate?"
Conversely, the wealthy set in Mumbai have some of the funniest English. They strongly emphasize random vowels and insert a bunch of words from Hindi, making it Hinglish.
As someone from the Deep South, I have many of the "American" pronunciations, but equally as much of the "British" ones. I was more shocked by some of her words than his! Very interesting. Love your content!
Hi, just dropping in to comment, I recently found your videos. I'm an American and really appreciate your kindness to us. I love British accents and have found the videos I've watched of yours, fun and informative. So nice to meet your wife as well. :)
I always enjoy when you do videos together, but now, having been locked up alone for the last month, I enjoy it even more. My appreciation for family is really growing.
Ooo-roo-why is how I always pronounced it similar to Par-a-why because that is how I learned those names in school & im American but I hear other Americans mostly pronounce them like your-a-gway and pair-a-gway. Im guessing the difference is regional because I grew up in NY in an area with many latinos
The last thing I was expecting to find in this video is my country's name 😂 Tunisia's name is actually pronounced as Toones but when referring to it in English it's one of the 2 pronunciations you used in the video. I personally prefer the British pronunciation because it sounds closer than the American one
I was under the impression from food snobs that Parmesan and Parmigiano are not the same thing and you should never call Parmigiano Parmesan. And now I'm going to Wiki this shit and probably feel silly about this comment. But I need this answered once and for all.
Okay, I'm guessing they were American or otherwise outside of the EU food snobs. But they still had it kinda backwards. In the EU, they mean the exact same, and both are legally protected terms for cheeses produced in a specific region of Italy. Outside of the EU, only Parmigiano Reggiano is legally protected, so you can call similar cheeses Parmesan. But, that would mean a Parmigiano Reggiano is always a Parmesan, but a Parmesan isn't always a Parmigiano Reggiano. But I did call it snobbery, and I think their point was that calling a Parmigiano Reggiano a Parmesan is somehow offensive and "not proper". Nothing to do with legal definitions. Fair enough I guess.
@@loisavci3382 Right. Yeah seems pretty snobbish. I don't speak Italian so I'm not going to call it the Italian name. Especially since according to that page, the Italian name was originally "Parmesano" which became "Parmesan" in France. And as that page also states, "Parmesan" is indeed a protected term too. They can't give it that official status and then say you're not meant to call it that. That's completely contradictory. So, it's fucking Parmesan.
I personal love the difference of pronunciation and accents of who I meet. It’s interesting and I love to mimic. What fun would it be if we all talked the same. Also good conversation starters.
My stepdad is from Derbyshire and talks about it like it's a different country far greater than Britain. (Currently living in Cheshire so hardly far away). Definitly pronounced "Darby" when he says it.
His look of disgust and annoyance when he said being trapped during quarantine hahahaha. Theyre cute tho. I like these two. They seem very good together and happy.
And yes, Americans pronounce "buoy" that way. However, that same pronunciation doesn't apply when we say the word "buoyancy"...but maybe we don't want to admit that
I'm American and I say it just in the middle of the two pronunciations. Less Boo - EE and more Buey -- like saying Boy with a U shape instead of the O shape mouth. This is also how I begin the word Buoyancy.
I worked with a Scot about a decade ago, and as much as he was professional and efficient, I never understood a thing he said past the fifth syllable. Nevertheless, Paul always got it right, and I always understood 'Thank you, mate' and 'You're welcome.'
You guys are so cute! I love the way you interact. ❤️ In the early days of email, I had a pen-pal from northern England (I’m in the US.) We had a lot in common and ended up becoming good friends and eventually I went over to meet him in person. After two years of communicating via typing, it was a shock to realize that I straight up couldn’t understand anything he was saying. 🤣 After a few days it got better and I started to get the rhythms and could understand more. We’re still friends and every few years get to have visits, and every time it takes a while to get back into it.
that's because he's from up north. no one understands them. the further north you go the more unintelligible it gets. then you hit scotland. (i am kidding, it's kind of a joke here)
Good thing you still talk to your friend! I met my best friend through the Internet as well. I'm Brazilian and I love Northern English accents... I still need to train my ears to understand them though. Same with Scottish.
Loving this video, I'm English, and when it's a foreign word I do try to do it the traditional way like paella, when I learnt the Spanish way, I have since tried to stick with it, out of respect more than anything. One name that you did miss out, and always confuses me on American TV shows is the name Tara, they seem to say more Teara and in tear up a piece of paper.
Whether it's at gas stations asking to fill "30 Dollars" or restauants asking for "water", i always get the same vacant stare as the cogs turn. They never expect the accent. Some ask to repeat because they didnt understand, others love the accent so much they want me to say it again just to hear me speak!
While teaching in a Children's church session in Missouri, a visiting preacher from London taught the kids a new song. After he returned to London, it was very amusing in weeks later to hear those kids sing that song and that song only in a very British accent.
I’m from Michigan and I say everything in the shortest time possible (crayon into cran, caramel into carmel, squirrel as one syllable, and I say mirror as meer). I always blame it on my lazy Midwest accent.
In that case those of us from Upstate New York are also lazy since our accents are in many ways similar. Of course the funny thing is that when my sister lived near St Joseph she had some friends who wondered why they did not know her from childhood until she explained that she graduated from Marcellus, NEW YORK high school and not Marcellus, Michigan. So some of the place names are even the same.
This evening I watched TopTenz, then Today I Found Out (both with Simon Whistler)and up to a minute ago Dr.Hope's Sick Notes(direct from the UK). At this rate I'll forget how to speak with an American accent.
Most east coast US accents are the English accents frozen from the time a group left England, often around the time of the English Civil War. It’s the English accents that have evolved over time, not as I used to think that the American accents changed. In the UK our accents are very regional, for instance I have a London accent, whereas my school friends had east London ** accents, which in turn were different from the south London accent. ** east London UK not East London South Africa.
Most North American accents are derive from an English accent that is now found in the English West Country, and the Appalachian accent is the same as that of the Roundheads (ie the Parliamentarians) from the English civil war.
Many East Coast accents, particularly among older people, have similar features to many British accents, such as non-rhoticity (not pronouncing r after vowel sounds), the trap\bath split where the a in words like "can't" "bath" and "glasses" is pronounced like a short o (this was common in New England and the tidewater region of Virginia until the early 20th century), and pronouncing the t in words like "bottle" and "water" as actual 't' rather than converting them to 'd'.
That is the first thing I thought when I got to the end. I listen to the BBC via NPR here in PA, and when I first heard "controversy" I didn't understand what they were saying.
Actually he is right about Adidas. It's a German brand and we pronounce it like he does. It's the short form of "Adolf Dassler" - the founder of the company.
@trix o ummm...... I think we all know there are different American accents. All Americans use rhotic speech (look it up) and the people who sound like cowboys are just the ones who hold their vowels longer. This developed later and the original was more like Midwestern/northeastern. Back then words were more 'hard' like American is, and now British people pronounce things more softer.
@trix o the sub-accents were developed later in time. I was just stating that the original british accent sounded more like Americans do today in response to "Americans butcher everything".
The family and I just went through this last night. Even here between the states, we pronounce words different. Being from Michigan, I seem to have an accent here in NY. I beg to differ though, they pronounce their words way wrong.
82ndAbnVet I’m from Michigan myself and when I lived in California and Texas I was always told I had an accent. I still chuckle at the absolute cranial misfire the worker at the fast food joint I went to just after moving to California. I asked for pops to go with the value meals I ordered.
I lived in Michigan for about a year. I'm from "the South" and people either mocked or loved my "accent", which is funny because here in "the South " I am always being told I sound like a "northerner". I was born and raised all over the south so my pronunciations tend to be a mish-mash of southern accents. I have been asked a few times if I was British. So bizarre.
I've had a lot of exposure to people from other countries but even more exposure to people from the Midwest after Hurricane Katrina. I tend to pick up sounds too. Apparently sometimes I say house and about in a very michigander almost Canadian way. If it happens and someone who lives down here and doesn't know me here's it, they asked if I'm from Canada. Lol
Definitely Derby with the British pronunciation! And clerk is clark here. The letter after G is aitch, not haitch - that one really sets my teeth on edge! I've just found this site, it's making me very happy!
To an American, the difference between a "vace" and a "vaas" is typically the price.
vayze x)
Exactly! a 'vaas' is an expensive work of art filled with professionally arranged flowers, but a 'vace' is something cheap that you put the dandelions your kids brought you in.
Lol
I've always perceived it more as a pretentiousness level. Vase = normal, vaas = pretentious and/or stuck up rich.
Vaas is what the artsy fartsy Americans say...
Now you know how Germans feel.
We have three types of English teachers.
Native English speaking, native American speaking and native speaking German.
Ultimately, you get a funny mix of everything. English, American and Wrong.
Yup. It’s exactly like this and I just realised that I pronounce some words the American way and others the british one. 👏🏼
Lol that's what I felt. We also have Australians. Now I feel like I have either a funny mixed accent or even don't have any accents at all 😂
Dirga Maria Italilpessy haha I didn’t want to add the Australian accent to the mix but I’ve been there a couple times over a longer period so I’m pretty sure I picked up a little bit of the Aussie slang as well 😂😂 sometimes I wish I could talk to someone who examines my accent(s) 😂😂
In Sweden there isn't a set version of English to learn, so it changes from teacher to teacher, year to year and school to school. I started of learning British, then American, British, British, American and then finally, in upper secondary, British. Soooo I'm a jumbled mess trying my best to stick with British English bc I prefer that, but it's sometimes really tricky to know what word is from what version of English.
@@Maria-dx6ws I learned American and British english when I was school. But when I started to go to university I met so many Australians, also some of my professors are Australian, and they affected my accent. So what accent should I learn consistently 😂I think I'm going to try my best to keep my American accent no matter what 😂
As a Japanese person, British pronunciation for Nissan is correct as Car manufacturer. American ways sounds like older brother in Japanese.
What about Mazda?
British say "Mazz Der"
Americans say "Mars Der"
How is it said in Japan?
BryTee In Japanese, it’s マツダ (matsuda)
BryTee If you pronounce like ”ma’ tsu dat” is probably closest to how Japanese pronounce Mazda. But I think ’Mazz der’ is supposed to be correct or similar to word origin because original word is farsi/ Persian what I heard.
Isn't that pronounced as "nieshan"?
heitor sgarbi for car manufacture, pronunciation is Ni’ssan. If you want to say brother, it's knee-san or Nie-san
It's so true about "water," though! I'm American, but my family is friends with a British couple and their son. Many years ago, when the son and I were both kids, they visited an American restaurant, and the boy wanted to order some water. I'm not sure if the waitress genuinely didn't understand or just found his accent cute, but it took him several repetitions of "water" in his native pronunciation before he finally snapped and almost shouted the word in his best imitation of the American pronunciation. It's one of our favorite stories to recount to this day! At one point, if I remember correctly, the amused waitress actually called over a co-worker to share in her mirth, which is why I suspect that, if her confusion was ever genuine, it was only so initially. A bit patronizing, perhaps, but his parents never seemed to mind.
Anyway, now that I actually have some linguistic training, I realize just how much sense it makes for "water" to be a challenge for some. It combines three major differences between British and American sound systems into one word. First, there's the sound of the 'a.' The British version of that vowel is one that's been subsumed by another in America. In short, it's a noticeably more open-mouthed sound in the US than in the UK. Then, there's the classic American weakening of the 't' into a more /d/-like sound (though not technically an actual /d/, strictly speaking). This happens anytime a /t/ is lodged between a stressed vowel and an unstressed vowel (e.g. "letter," "butter," "betting," etc). Finally, there's the issue of rhoticity. British English is non-rhotic, which basically means any 'r' that would otherwise come at the end of a syllable is dropped entirely. American English, on the other hand, is rhotic, meaning we reliably pronounce those terminal R's. In "water," it's as if all three of those differences have teamed up against the poor speaker!
Wa ter I hate when people say wad der
@@LJBSullivanbut you still understand that they're saying "water", right? I can't imagine that anyone wouldn't, no mater if the person is saying "wa-ter", "wad-der", or "wa'er", it seems like you'd understand that they're saying water.
1. Learn to use paragraphs.
2. Your water story is a lie.
3. English is a rhotic language. Period. "British English" is poor speaking. Period. Americans speak English better and more correctly, now and historically, than the British.
The a is also unrounded in American but rounded in British
@@KiraBKADestroyerOfWorlds
It depends. If an American isn’t expecting a Standard Southern British accent, it can sound like the diner is asking for a “waltzah” or maybe a “wart suh”. And if you don’t know what a woe tseh is, neither does the waiter. Ask for a wadder, you’ll probably get what you’re after.
My father was a US Navy captain. He once served a joint NATO staff in Norfolk with a British officer and a southern US officer. After a particularly long session of southernisms, the British officer turned to the southerner and said, "Commander Smith, there are two languages in NATO, French and English. You really must learn one or the other."
Thanks for that!!!!!
😂😂😂😂😂
😂😂
Scary thing is that the US southern accent might be be closer to the 1700's English. After the American Revolution high class England changed how they spoke, while Americans kept the old English.
@@buenaventuralife Interesting!
@@buenaventuralife I see a lot of Scottish people commenting on videos of Appalachian documentaries, saying how similar they are
English has several pairs of words where the emphasis changed to distinguish between the noun and the verb. E.g., PROgress (noun) vs. proGRESS (verb); fiNANCE (verb) vs. FInance (noun); adDRESS (verb) vs. ADdress (noun), though we don't always use them both or in that way.
*American English. At least for these examples. They're all said the same in the UK.
I like this idea though, makes a lot of sense.
@@PiousMoltar No, that's how they're said in the UK.
@@y_fam_goeglyd In the UK finance is almost always pronounced the same way. It's the same with address.
I say FInance and adDress for both the verb of each. I do differentiate between the noun PRAHgress and the verb proGRESS
If a frog had wings, he or she wouldn't bump his butt on the ground. Good facts on da words, Kermit. Oh no! Bet you've heard them all. 😻🤔🐴🙊🙉🙈
As an Italian, the way American people pronounce “Parmesan” actually makes more sense because it resembles the original pronounciation. Parmesan is “Parmigiano” in Italian so if you pronounce it the american way you can kinda hear the “g” in there
I was looking for a comment on this. I totally agree. The American pronunciation sounds closer to the original.
except the word parmesan is french. Parmigiano is an italian word.
in french a Parmesan is an inhabitant of the citiy of Parmes just like a "Persan" is an inhabitant of "Perse" and a "Castillan" is an inhabitant of "Castille"
@@cmolodiets Are you being serious right now? Parmesan = from Parma, Italy. It's an Italian word, not French.
@@BlackCoffeeee The city of Parma is italian but the word is not. It happened a lot. For exemple Macaron is a french word which represents an italian pastry. The english got it from France like so many other italian inventions and they are now using the french word.
@@cmolodiets I stand corrected. Thanks.
“Lieutenant” is an interesting case. Of course it came into English from French, but it did so at a time when U and V were basically the same letter, so if you didn’t know the word you had to guess which way to read that letter. As it happened, everyone guessed wrong and read the word as if it were “lievtenant.” As U and V became more clearly distinct, that pronunciation of “leftenant” still remained. But in America, where the English colonists had close proximity to many French settlers, the pronunciation was adjusted back so that it sounded more consistent with “in lieu.”
According to military customs, a lower ranking soldier walks on the left side of a senior officer. This courtesy developed when swords were still used on the battle field. The lower ranked soldier on the "left" protected the senior officers left side. Therefore, the term leftenant developed.
@@jeromyloomis119 Never heard that one before. The word comes directly from the French word compounded from "lieu tenant," literally "place holding." Another theory I've heard (and I am not at all an expert on Old French) is that the Old French form of "lieu" was originally spelled "luew," and two different spellings evolved from that, "lieu" and "luef." Both of those spellings supposedly existed in the 14th century, which was when the word "lieutenant" entered English. So the "f" could have come from the spelling "lueftenant."
@@Fool3SufferingFools You are probably more correct. I don't know where I got my info. heard it a long time ago. I wonder if also the English stuck with "leftenant" once they had it because the didn't like the French. I may have been a mistake at first and then they decided to keep it. lol. I don't know. I'm no linguist but I like history and language. interesting stuff
As a Spanish speaker (first language) I was surprised at the Lieutenant translation: Teniente. I mean, General is the same, Captain is Capitan, Major is Mayor.
Just remember that a lef-tenant is below a David-Tennant.
Every 200 miles you travel in America you’ll probably hear “water” being pronounced differently
Ummm we have an accent literally in every single town in the UK
Kim Jong-un yeah but the USA is larger by a lot, so there are probably more dialects overall, they’re just spread out more
Obi-Wan Kenobi yh i agree
@@obi-wankenobi4301 There is a difference between a dialect and an accent, a dialect is a local variation on a language, to an outsider would sound like a foreign language and incomprehensible. Londoners find Geordie impossible to understand even without the addition of the accent.
There is a UA-camr who often cleans with "Soapy Wooder." I must admit I had to look up what soapy wooder was... Doh! 🙄 Crazy New England accent... lol
My daughter is American and my SIL is British. They live in Texas and my 6 year old grandson has a combination of Texas drawl and British accent. He’ll be going along speaking in a Texas drawl and all of a sudden a British word will jump into the middle of a sentence like gare-age or to-mah-toe! 😂
That's hilarious.
That is awesome. I always like to change my pronunciation just to keep people guessing.
That sounds adorable
I’m Texan and we say a lot of things wrong. I admit it!! 😁
It's funny now to read that. I realized that my family from more Southern areas with really strong accents tend to say garage like "geerage" (I don't know why, but they just do). So to think of that kid dropping a formal "gare-age" is even funnier. 😅
Notre Dame?
Well, “Noter Dame” is the college, and has the quarterback. “Notra Dahm” is the cathedral, and has the hunchback.
Noter Dame's most famous player was Quasimodo. He played halfback.
Just means 'our lady' in French and refers to Mother Mary, which is who the college is named after. As noted, it's not named after the cathedral in Paris. Saying it the French way does make sense since a) it is French; and b) there's no tradition that the French pronunciation only refers to the cathedral in France. Tons of places have the name and are pronounced like in French, or much more closely to the French than the university
Jashn: Well yes, I know that. I never said that the college was named after the cathedral. Indeed, there are probably many Notre Dames all over the world...wherever French is spoken. I was merely pointing out the difference in pronunciation.
English make more of an effort to pronounce foreign words according to their foreign pronunciation. Americans make no effort at all.
@@heliotropezzz333 sorry but that's just not so... It is true there are a lot of thick headed people that refuse to think outside the box... But... That can be said about anyone from anywhere... (Yes?) ... But I know a lot of "Americans" that bust their butt trying to pronounce a foreign word with its proper pronunciation... And a lot of "Americans" will actively correct people who don't... Ahhh yeah... That is an effort isn't it??
You need to really research a little more on what you said there....
You know the other part to that is... A lot of "Americans" have foreign ancestry and take PRIDE in their roots... And will stand up for it by keeping with tradition and pronouncing words from their ancestors language correctly... Yeah.. Think about that... We care and are proud of our foreign roots... Yeah ... >< think about that... We are proud and love other countries... And the people who live in other countries and people who come to the united States from these foreign lands... So question for you... Were you aware of that??? But "Americans don't try ...
Tell you what.. Try a little harder looking into that... You might be surprised..
7:40 I love Eddie Izzard's one liner about the pronunciation of 'herb'
"You say urb and I say herb because there is a fucking 'h' in it"
I'm from Sweden, and this is so confusing. 😭😂
I think I'll just have to accept the fact that whatever English I will be speaking will be mixed and vary from time to time. Everything from spelling and pronunciation, to word choices like elevator and lift.
Same here
Same!!
X 2
Yeah, I'm Turkish and same 😂 In schools our second lan is English and we are learning mostly American accent/words etc. But just because of Harry Potter, Sherlock or other British masterpieces I generally use British accent.
Your written English is really good .....better than most English speakers I know.
This is the best British vs American English video that I have ever seen. It is the only one that hasn't irked me. I am from upstate NY and I pronounce everything pretty much the same way as your wife. I also liked how she covered the different American pronunciations of some words. She did a great job of representing the US! On a side note, my 4-year- old is addicted to Peppa Pig and Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom, so she says a lot of things with a British accent. It is adorable.
From Bangladesh, studied in an English medium school (meaning sat for O and A Levels), my spelling follows British English but this video made me realize my spoken English is very American. I figured my pronounciation would at least be 50-50 but turns out its more 80% American, 20% British and I'm absolutely flabbergasted at this revelation.
Note on "Herb": I recently read a 14th century cookbook and the word is spelled "erb".
Yeah, because it's from French erbe. The h is purely etymological.
Progress is an interesting example of the rule, where we emphasize the first syllable for the noun but the last syllable for the verb. Other examples include produce, address, conduct, or contest.
this is so interesting!!!
It helps MASSIVELY for the listener understanding what you are talking about. US 'English' abolishes these distinctions, such as practice vs practise, licence vs license, etc. They all follow the convention of ADVICE = noun and ADVISE = verb.
I am from the U.S. It seems to me that the words pronounced differently as nouns or as verbs, like the examples listed above, have Latin roots. As a U.S.American, I emphasize the first syllable for the noun and the last syllable for the verb in the example words listed above and also with "convict", "contract", and "confine(s)". But I don't follow that rule with "display" while many people in other regions of the U.S. do. I also don't follow that rule with the French word "fillet", but I believe Brits do follow that rule. It's all so fascinating to me--the differences between English-speaking people around the world.
Oh! So cool! 😎
I-raq is bizarre, two syllables
I’m from Tunisia and the British way is closer to the way we say it !
English comes from England.
@@valeriedavidson2785 English comes from many ancient languages across Europe that over time became modern English ;)
@@dondiddy7529 I am aware of that but we should now abide by the Oxford Dictionary otherwise it is not English as we know it today. If other countries change it then don't say they are speaking English.
@@valeriedavidson2785 bit late don't you think lol
foufa msadek cause of the Arabic dialectic
I'm "medicare" age and have a Masters Degree, but never saw "aitch'' as a word---I stopped the video and looked up the definition: Oh, they mean "H," the letter.
Ditto.
Ohhhh, I wondered!
Yeahhhh giving it a spelling was weird. And also puts it in the wrong part of the alphabet.
I was taught by Irish nuns--They said HAITCH--and we were totally baffled!
Same here, I wish they had explained it.
My Dad was from the western mountains of VA close to the KY and TN boarders. When we went to Boston on vacation/holiday I had to translate between the kid working the Macdonald’s counter and my Dad. Both were speaking English and had no idea what the other was saying.
When Chuck Yeager joined the US Army he learned that his West Virginia word pronunciations were unintelligible to the others.
When I was a child, my mom told me, “If it cost over $20 its a VAHZ, otherwise its a VAYS.”
Old antique dealers joke: What's the difference between a vays and a vawz? About 50 bucks.
That's a great rule of thumb lol. I'm keeping that.
Always VAHZ.
@@ChrisPage68 That's tellin' 'em "Page". ✔️
@@ChrisPage68 always pretentious
Love it! So much fun to see you arguing like us!
Simple English Videos I love your videos! 😀
My English wife and I (American) found some others. Router (like what makes internet happen) is a constant one. I say Rowt-er and she says Roo-ter. Also we love your channel. Huge fans since we started binging it last week! We live in the North East US so she agrees with so many things you say!
That's not arguing that's banter.
Its like American vs Britain warrrr
Dynasur Dynasty
Nippon Nissan
And lose your extraneous U's and E's woodja?
British: Sàlon.
American: That's quite french! (It isn't)
Also American: says salón ( the actual french pron) 🤣🤣
Actually she was right, his pronunciation was closer to French!
@@MrZiZoo1 about the word salon? If she said sàlon and he said salón I don't see how she could be closer
@@OneTwoSbri
Yes about the word salon, the pronunciation of the man is closer to French!
@@MrZiZoo1 i think her pronuntiation is closer to french? I might be wrong tho, cuz my French is not that good
@@fla9086
No, the man is closer, the woman is not! I speak French, it's my country's lingua Franca
I was stationed at Exmouth, Western Australia at a RAN/USN communications base. We had a running pronunciation contest because the man in charge was Aussie, most of the worker bees were American and the man who ran the antenna maintenance crew was Scottish. Good times that I miss these many years later.
Your wife has the classic American "mid-western" non-accent accent and is therefore right about everything. :)
LOL.
Adopted by broadcasters in the early days of radio to represent serious factual speech (the Brooklyn accent was adopted for actors portraying uneducated characters in fiction), the Midwestern accent is America’s equivalent of British RP.
I've lived in the upper midwest all my life, and while I agree for the most part, there is some very detectable "Chicago" in there. But yeah, she's right.
Most of what she says is similar to me. (Not all of it though) I was born South Bend IN and raised Belleville IL which so part of St Louis MO's greater metro. And my mom is from South Dakota so I have a very eclectic Midwestern accent that someone once called wonderfully non offensive. xD
I do say pop instead of soda if I'm tired (or high), and I do say badada instead of potato because I teased my mom about her pronunciation enough times to get an exaggerated version of it. (Ah karma)
@@emccoy "wonderfully non offensive" has me in stitches!
As an American my British wife says that I’m the one with the accent, because the language is called ENGLISH.
there is some evidence to suggest that British English was a lot closer to what American English is back when the first settlers came to America. the theory is that as the pioneers moved west they had less contact with the British so the accent they had just stuck but in the east where England still had a big presence the accents evolved together which is why the northeastern accents tend to be closer to what British English is now.
note that i am not saying that British English sounded exactly like modern American English, its just a closer comparison than what it is now.
similarly im also not saying that northeastern people sound British, just that there are more similarities than in the rest of the country.
i should also note that this was based off of the way that less educated British people wrote. it would make sense that they would spell words the way they sounded to them but for instance the lack of an R sound at the end of words that end with A is just one example that i remember. i havnt seen anything on this for a few years so i dont remember all the details but i just thought it was fascinating.
@@snuffy357 same between Portugal and Brasil
Johann Rosario simp
Who is the British of the two???
Chile, chili and chilly are completely different words.
But a British person says those three the same. Like they say "Fort" and "Fought" the same, unlike an American who says them completely differently. But what's fun is trying to get a British person to imitate how an American says those two word, they cannot do it without sounding like the word "fart"!
All pronounced the same. Spelled "chile" for the pepper, "chili" for the soup made out of the pepper.
As are "There" "Their" and "they're"
Exactly they should change Turkey too then as it's a place not food.
Exactly. They made no sense with this one.
This is a priceless vocabulary lesson with phonetics. Also, what a great chemistry you both have!
"Because you're pretentious like me."
"Absolutely"
lol love it!
As a Kiwi who has now been living in the US for 4 years, asking for water still terrifies me.
As an English man living in Yorkshire water is pronounced water not warter
In Ireland we don't even pronounce the "t". It's more like "wa-er" with the hyphen representing a kind of sudden break/stop that makes it obvious there's a "t" there without it actually being pronounced.
As an American, I don't get how anybody could not understand the word "water" in any of those pronunciations.
@@ShizuruNakatsu there are some people in England who do the same thing. it seems we either enunciate the t clearly or miss it entirely. Americans seem to half say the t but it ends up sounding a bit like a d
Omerta As a kiwi? 🥝
The way she pronounces Parmesan is closer to the original Italian "parmigiano".
Yes! When she remarked how strange the pronunciation is I was surprised. It is so close to the original Italian word. As Lawrence said, Americans usually pronounce words similar-ish to the language of origin. (British people would rather smooth everything out so they sound nice lol - kidding)
I call it "stinky-feet cheese from the land of Parmesia." :)
Not so close,but quite good 😉 Saluti dall'Italia 🇮🇹
American English was more influenced by Italian than British English. A couple other examples are Zucchini vs Courgette and Beverage vs Drink. Beverage is from the Italian ‘bere’ (‘to drink’), which comes from Latin ‘bevere’ (and only lost the middle ‘v’ in the infinite).
There’s also capish (I don’t know how people usually spell it), which comes from Italian ‘capisci’ (‘you understand’). Obviously, this is restricted to the stereotypical New Yorker accent, I believe, but it’s another remnant of Italian influence.
@@linguafiqari
I'd say American English is influenced by Italian and British English is influenced by french because yeah in french they would say Courgette and Maïs instead of Zucchini and Corn
Loved this, it was a lot of fun!
Progress is an initial stressed derived noun which is why her two pronunciations work.. They can be nouns (or adjectives) or verbs based on where you stress the word. Words like advocate, separate, and rebel work like this too.
Growing up in Denver, I was taught that if one travels in a defined geographical space such as a milk route, or a bus route, or a paper route, the word rhymes with "out." If one travels a long distance from one place to another as along Route 66, taking a route to the East, the word rhymes with "boot."
Same lol.
In discussing the pronunciations of “caramel”, you mentioned a city in Indiana. I feel compelled to mention Carmel, CA, which is pronounced Car-MEL ( accent on second syllable).
You mean emphasis or stress. The accent is the prosody, i.e. how melody and rhythm is distributed over a word or compound word. In some instances (and languages) even over a phrase.
Herr Bönk , OK, thanks. That’s they word I was taught to use, I can’t recall if it was in school or at home.
@@JeanieD Thanks. Yes, it is used that way too. But it tends to confuse people, as the linguistic meaning is usually rather different, as I described.
Carmel, IN is not spelled like caramel the food. Also, I constantly have to tell people that Car-MEL is in CA and CARmel is in IN.
Car-a-mel is what you eat, and Car-mel is where you visit. A quote from someone, but don’t remember who it was...😐
On the subject of Van Gogh, 10 years ago I had a job in Amsterdam. One day a Brazilian colleague visiting from the Sao Paulo office asked a local Dutch colleague for recommendations of the best museums to visit. His response had me and the Brazilian guy look at each other wide-eyed for a moment as his response had both of us thinking he had suggested visiting the F**k Off museum. Of course he had just pronounced Van Gogh the proper Dutch way, which to us sounded like f**k off spoken with a Dutch accent. 😁
"Look at that Van Gogh"
"Go where?"
@@jamesmarchant8838- S car go!🤣
I will never understand where someone’s accent goes when they sing. They all tend to sing with an American accent!🤷🏼♂️🤯
When people sing they use a different part of their brain than when they speak. That's why it can sound different. Interesting fact: people who have a severe stutter can sing without any problems. Therefore one treatment to help these people is to teach them to sing/talk. With enough practice no one can tell they are actually singing.
A Stuart interesting 🤔
Apparently you've never heard country music.
@@uni4rm that's certainly sung in an american accent
Probably because a lot of original songs are in American English? So when we recall them in our minds, we recall the American pronunciation as part of the melody. We can also sing American songs with our own non-American accents tho :)
In middle school one of my best friends was British. I'll never forget going over to his house and struggling through several tries to understand what his mom was making for dinner, until she finally had an "ah-hah" moment, and with exaggerated pronunciation said, "we are having pahhhhhhstahhhh"
😂😂
Its funny because in the north of england our pronunciation of pasta is not pahhhhhataaah its (pa-stuh)
AaronJordanBrearley yeah i think theyre saying the woman said Pahhstahh for the american guy to understand
Changing the first A to sound like a long O was that big a stretch?
It's understandable that a middle schooler might think pasta (with a short A) is something different.
I'm from Derby, England and it's pronounced Darby.
But there is no a or ae to make that sound. Makes no sense!
@@HosCreates does the pronunciation of colonel make sense either
@@meijelly Yes because it comes from French and their alphabet is a bit weird.
@@JessRansdellSmith Well actually the French stole it from the italians, it was colonnello first, the French wanted to add an 'R' sound.
I only know the British pronunciation because I watch a lot of EPL.. At first, I'd hear the announcers say "And Saturday is the East London Darby". I was like WTH is a darby then I saw it on the website and was like oh, it's a derby.
Cute video! I’m an American who studied abroad in Newcastle, England, recently, and the accents were such a phenomenon to me! The Geordie accent/pronunciation caught me off guard!
OMG! You two are an ADORABLE couple! More of this please! Do it again! This was great! --- It's making me eager to get back to London.
Progress: This is emblematic of a pattern for Americans. If it’s the noun version, we emphasize the first syllable, and if it’s the verb, we emphasize the second. Others that follow this pattern:
Envelope, record, import, permit, contest, rebel, invite, escort, reject, object, conduct, present, desert
This general rule was never so clear to me until I saw this video. Well put.
There are many more examples I'm sure, but an obscure one I found is "purpose."
It really is an odd language that pronunciation can even change a words meaning. Like you said with progress.
Likewise with:
Refuse - to deny
Refuse - Waste
Extract - get something out
Extract - a piece of text
Produce - to create
Produce - vegetables
Lead, read, tear, etc. No wonder people struggle to learn it.
Thanks for this, it made me smile. The color/colour "mauve" was a big surprise to me after 5 years of living in the US. Very different!
Ah it's so nice to see both of you at once! Especially with the coordinated lipstick and spectacles. Extremely here for that.
There's also Glacier (Brittish: Glassier) (American: Glaysher)
Glay-c-er
R D that way
Glassier obviously means something more glassy.
@@donhoverson6348 yep
One is the professional who makes glass and the other is an ice flow.
I pronounce "route" both ways. "You get your kicks, on ROOT 66" and "Let's ROUT the cable through here".
Me too. ROOT as a noun, ROUT as a verb.
Route 66 (Root 66). But could also be (Rout 66). And Mail route (male rout). Depends usage.
In UK I've only heard router that's used in woodwork and construction be called as ROUTer but we used ROOTer for sharing an Internet connection in the days of CAT cables going everywhere.
@@kaylapalooza66 I am much the same, with the exception of a "paper route," which I pronounce with the ou, as opposed to the long oo sound. I don't know why that specifically changes in my pronunciation. I would say delivery "root," but for some reason paper "rowt." Also, being a Michigander whose mother was formerly Canadian (American citizen for the last several years!) I pronounced the words root and roof differently than many around me.
I'm en root on state rowt one-twenty-five. On my way to root 66.
En route is always root, State Route is always with the OW sound. Individual highways can be either depending on various factors.
Love this! One of the ones that always got me is "patent." Long A sound in Britain, short A sound in the US.
Interesting. American here. I've always said patent for what inventors need, but learned it as pay-tent for something that was well made.
"TuniZZZiya"" !!
Lots of love from Tunis. ❤
I remember asking for butter in the US using British pronunciation, saying “but-tuh”. The lady behind the counter couldn’t understand me. Then I switched to American accent “budder” and she got it.
It's still "butter" (unvoiced t), just without emphasizing the t sound.
That said, it's astonishing to me that any American would fail to understand any British pronunciation of "butter."
It’s not just about the t sound. The r sound at the end is also different. The guy in the video said American waiters could never understand his pronunciation of “water”. So it’s not surprising that Americans also cannot understand the British pronunciation of “butter”. The words are similar since they both have a t sound and no r sound at the end compared to the American pronunciation.
@@angelac3545 I am from Syracuse originally and when my parents, one of my sisters, and myself were at a waffle house on Long Island the day before my cousin's wedding my mother was the only one who had trouble understanding the waiter's Bronx accent. She is originally from Manhattan and my father from Staten Island.
@@nthgth they do not really know much about the outside world.
LMAO!!!!!!!
In India,being a former British colony we were taught the 'Queen's' English but in the last 2-3 decades due to heavy American influence we(millenials) speak a mix of both 😅 also, it's Buddha not Buddah. People in the West pronounce it as Boo-da and that's not right. The 'Bud' has the same sound has 'could and the 'ddh' is pronounced as D sound 'thud'.Hope this helps!
Yeah it was kinda annoying 😅
True
That is the beauty of our country their are peole who follows Buddha. And u r absolutely right we indians speaks all mix of accents. Do saal pahele mujhe toh ye bhi nahi pata tha ki english me accent bhi kuch hota hai😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@godpinakyt 😂😂
Agreed.. Australians pronounce Buddha with the shoulda, coulda, woulda, sound. NEVER booda
As a Brit in Alaska ordering a glass of water, I've had servers bring me coffee, or coke, or just walk away and never come back. Now I say, Hello, how are you? so they can brace themselves for the accent, then I hit them with my drink order.
As a born Brit, I have to say that nowadays the purest and most beautifully enunciated English English is spoken in India. Indian professors all sound like Sir John Gielgud, only more so. Mesmerizing to listen to.
And do not forget the amazing and profuse use of adjectives and adverbs that Indians use in their English, i.e. "What is your good name , sir?" As much as I want to, I have never replied, "Would my bad name be more appropriate?"
Conversely, the wealthy set in Mumbai have some of the funniest English. They strongly emphasize random vowels and insert a bunch of words from Hindi, making it Hinglish.
They are not in call centres 😈
@@RupeDaddy1959 Bahahahah!!!! This genuinely made me laugh out loud!
I was surprised that “clerk/clark” didn’t make the list.
Speaking of “Clark”... am I the only one who thinks Tara looks just like Kelly Clarkson?!
Much the same as 'derby' pronounced 'darby'.
They mentioned Derby, close. I worked as a Ward Clerk in Birmingham City Hospital and was called a "clark", took me so long to get used to that.
Me in Singapore pronouncing the words 90% British and 10% American.
:-)
My father was born and raised in the US and educated by Irish-American Catholic nuns. He was "haitch" through and through. This drove my mother crazy.
Caramel changes the pronunciation depending how it is being used. Route - Root is a highway, take a rouwt is how you get somewhere.
Love seeing you both together!! ♥ ♥
As someone from the Deep South, I have many of the "American" pronunciations, but equally as much of the "British" ones. I was more shocked by some of her words than his! Very interesting. Love your content!
The southern accent is a slightly softened version of the British aristocratic accent.
Hi, just dropping in to comment, I recently found your videos. I'm an American and really appreciate your kindness to us. I love British accents and have found the videos I've watched of yours, fun and informative. So nice to meet your wife as well. :)
I always enjoy when you do videos together, but now, having been locked up alone for the last month, I enjoy it even more. My appreciation for family is really growing.
The way Uruguay is actually pronounced is "oo-roo-gwhy” with ‘gwhy’ sounding like 'why'.
---Maybe so, but as a Chicago boy, I called it "Yer-uh-gway."
I said it with that pronunciation at work and coworkers acted like I did a magic trick.
How it is pronounced by oo-roo-gwhy-ans
Ooo-roo-why is how I always pronounced it similar to Par-a-why because that is how I learned those names in school & im American but I hear other Americans mostly pronounce them like your-a-gway and pair-a-gway. Im guessing the difference is regional because I grew up in NY in an area with many latinos
I say ur-oh-ghway. With a long A, to rhyme with way. No clue how it's supposed to be pronounced.
The British way of saying Adidas is actually the correct one.
No it's not.
jimv1983 it’s not perfect but it is way closer to the correct pronunciation.
@@yH-ge4tz yeah, with an accent, but that's okay.
jimv1983 it is. Adidas is a German company and that’s how it’s pronounced. Americans just like to be different
In Italy we pronunce it Àdidàs
If your wife was driving you around, she wasn't your chauffeur. She was your chauffeuse.
Language is my thing, and I love this! You guys are delightful.
The last thing I was expecting to find in this video is my country's name 😂 Tunisia's name is actually pronounced as Toones but when referring to it in English it's one of the 2 pronunciations you used in the video. I personally prefer the British pronunciation because it sounds closer than the American one
The American pronunciation of Parmesan doesn't fit the spelling but it's closer to the Italian "Parmigiano"
I was under the impression from food snobs that Parmesan and Parmigiano are not the same thing and you should never call Parmigiano Parmesan.
And now I'm going to Wiki this shit and probably feel silly about this comment. But I need this answered once and for all.
Okay, I'm guessing they were American or otherwise outside of the EU food snobs. But they still had it kinda backwards.
In the EU, they mean the exact same, and both are legally protected terms for cheeses produced in a specific region of Italy.
Outside of the EU, only Parmigiano Reggiano is legally protected, so you can call similar cheeses Parmesan.
But, that would mean a Parmigiano Reggiano is always a Parmesan, but a Parmesan isn't always a Parmigiano Reggiano.
But I did call it snobbery, and I think their point was that calling a Parmigiano Reggiano a Parmesan is somehow offensive and "not proper". Nothing to do with legal definitions. Fair enough I guess.
Lois Avci Ore a gone o
@@loisavci3382 what is a cornish "oggy????"
@@loisavci3382 Right. Yeah seems pretty snobbish. I don't speak Italian so I'm not going to call it the Italian name. Especially since according to that page, the Italian name was originally "Parmesano" which became "Parmesan" in France. And as that page also states, "Parmesan" is indeed a protected term too. They can't give it that official status and then say you're not meant to call it that. That's completely contradictory. So, it's fucking Parmesan.
"Adidas" is definitely pronounced the way the British do, because it resembles the original German pronunciation.
German doesn’t even have the sound he gave it
Adidas comes from the founder Adi Dassler, hence Adi Das
I agree, and I'm Canadian, but they say Nike wrong.
@Brennen Larisey they say it as if it rhymes with the name Mike.
@@eamonquinn5188 Now it makes sense...because the letter "I" is pronounced "E" in the German alphabet.
I personal love the difference of pronunciation and accents of who I meet. It’s interesting and I love to mimic. What fun would it be if we all talked the same. Also good conversation starters.
I’m from Derby,UK and it’s definitely pronounced “dArby”
I’m from Ilkeston about 7 miles away 👌👌👌
But then there’s the Kentucky Defby
My stepdad is from Derbyshire and talks about it like it's a different country far greater than Britain. (Currently living in Cheshire so hardly far away). Definitly pronounced "Darby" when he says it.
im from derby and like darby too
We have a Derby, and it's definitely pronounced with the proper "e" sound.
Despite the alphabetical convention, "tomato" should have come at the end so you could call the whole off at that point.
🤣🤣🤣
Boom.
I really enjoyed listening to the differences.
His look of disgust and annoyance when he said being trapped during quarantine hahahaha. Theyre cute tho. I like these two. They seem very good together and happy.
You two should do more fun stuff together! Good one.
And yes, Americans pronounce "buoy" that way. However, that same pronunciation doesn't apply when we say the word "buoyancy"...but maybe we don't want to admit that
Pronounced "boy".
American here: booee for the floaty device, boy as a verb
@@ChrisPage68 but it look like Americans see more letters that are there, BOOIEE.
I'm American and I say it just in the middle of the two pronunciations. Less Boo - EE and more Buey -- like saying Boy with a U shape instead of the O shape mouth. This is also how I begin the word Buoyancy.
Same issue with Cay here in Florida. Pronounced key in English but kay by Americans.
These 2 are an absolute delight.
I am an American married to a Glasgwegian, and I have to order his food for him, and do phone calls for him often.
You should try living in Glasgow! ;-)
I worked with a Scot about a decade ago, and as much as he was professional and efficient, I never understood a thing he said past the fifth syllable. Nevertheless, Paul always got it right, and I always understood 'Thank you, mate' and 'You're welcome.'
🤣🤣🤣🤣
You guys are so cute! I love the way you interact. ❤️
In the early days of email, I had a pen-pal from northern England (I’m in the US.) We had a lot in common and ended up becoming good friends and eventually I went over to meet him in person. After two years of communicating via typing, it was a shock to realize that I straight up couldn’t understand anything he was saying. 🤣 After a few days it got better and I started to get the rhythms and could understand more. We’re still friends and every few years get to have visits, and every time it takes a while to get back into it.
that's because he's from up north. no one understands them. the further north you go the more unintelligible it gets. then you hit scotland. (i am kidding, it's kind of a joke here)
Good u still talk to yours
Good thing you still talk to your friend! I met my best friend through the Internet as well.
I'm Brazilian and I love Northern English accents... I still need to train my ears to understand them though. Same with Scottish.
Loving this video, I'm English, and when it's a foreign word I do try to do it the traditional way like paella, when I learnt the Spanish way, I have since tried to stick with it, out of respect more than anything.
One name that you did miss out, and always confuses me on American TV shows is the name Tara, they seem to say more Teara and in tear up a piece of paper.
I think it's fun and interesting seeing people say things differently or have different words for things 😌👍🏻
In Philadelphia, we sidestepped the issue by just spelling it "Darby."
But isn’t that actually spelled with an a?
Delco ftw
Lol. You can't exactly talk as when you say Arkansas, you say something like "Arkansaw" right?
As an American, I've adopted the near-French pronunciation for Croissant most of the time. Depends on the venue.
Steve Schmidt The French never really pronounce the R. It’s more like a W👋
As an Englishman, I'm pretty sure I say it the "American" way.
I feel like the French pronunciation has gotten more popular within recent years here in America for some reason.
Steve Schmidt in Australia we say Cwa- sarnt.
Steve Schmidt Like if you go to Burger King for a Croissandwich.
Whether it's at gas stations asking to fill "30 Dollars" or restauants asking for "water", i always get the same vacant stare as the cogs turn. They never expect the accent. Some ask to repeat because they didnt understand, others love the accent so much they want me to say it again just to hear me speak!
While teaching in a Children's church session in Missouri, a visiting preacher from London taught the kids a new song. After he returned to London, it was very amusing in weeks later to hear those kids sing that song and that song only in a very British accent.
I’m from Michigan and I say everything in the shortest time possible (crayon into cran, caramel into carmel, squirrel as one syllable, and I say mirror as meer). I always blame it on my lazy Midwest accent.
In that case those of us from Upstate New York are also lazy since our accents are in many ways similar. Of course the funny thing is that when my sister lived near St Joseph she had some friends who wondered why they did not know her from childhood until she explained that she graduated from Marcellus, NEW YORK high school and not Marcellus, Michigan. So some of the place names are even the same.
Watching in Derby UK and it's definitely DARBY.
Well then SPELL it that way!
This evening I watched TopTenz, then Today I Found Out (both with Simon Whistler)and up to a minute ago Dr.Hope's Sick Notes(direct from the UK). At this rate I'll forget how to speak with an American accent.
I feel like I'm watching "Fun with Flags: with Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler" 😂😂😂💖
I love this so much
This video is great lol. You guys left out my favorite British pronunciation. Military. Brits say it Miluh-tree. Also inventory is Invin-tree.
And from the Lumberjack Song, "lava-tree." 😁
I'd guess also "preda-tree"
@@nthgth indeed.
It seems like many words ending with 'tary' or 'tory' sort of get blended into the 'tree' sound with British pronunciation.
Most east coast US accents are the English accents frozen from the time a group left England, often around the time of the English Civil War. It’s the English accents that have evolved over time, not as I used to think that the American accents changed.
In the UK our accents are very regional, for instance I have a London accent, whereas my school friends had east London ** accents, which in turn were different from the south London accent.
** east London UK not East London South Africa.
John Simmons interesting! I always thought Kate Hepburn’s US accent sounded rather British
Most North American accents are derive from an English accent that is now found in the English West Country, and the Appalachian accent is the same as that of the Roundheads (ie the Parliamentarians) from the English civil war.
Many East Coast accents, particularly among older people, have similar features to many British accents, such as non-rhoticity (not pronouncing r after vowel sounds), the trap\bath split where the a in words like "can't" "bath" and "glasses" is pronounced like a short o (this was common in New England and the tidewater region of Virginia until the early 20th century), and pronouncing the t in words like "bottle" and "water" as actual 't' rather than converting them to 'd'.
This sounds much like my husband and I. He's British American born over the pond. I love phone calls with his family.
Howdy from Temple, Texas! Binge-watching your content. Love it!
As i belong to the land of Lord Buddha (NEPAL), the correct spelling is BUDDHA not Buddah.
I bet no Westerner can pronounce ध (Dh) sound
@@PDCh84 yes. Our Hindi influences our English a LOT.
@@PDCh84 I can, but as with a tongue-roll sound it requires either luck or alcohol.
And yah it’s
Bud:Dha as bood and dha
Truly enjoyed this, but I am surprised you left out “controversy.”
That is the first thing I thought when I got to the end. I listen to the BBC via NPR here in PA, and when I first heard "controversy" I didn't understand what they were saying.
I realised we Indians speak the mixture of British and American English 😂😂😂
Ikr
Mostly British cause that's how we learn it in school. And the American pronunciations come in cause of the TV shows and movies we watch.
Yeah lol
I think that's the case with most non-native English speakers.
They are just so bad at speaking but i don't think they mix it
Actually he is right about Adidas. It's a German brand and we pronounce it like he does. It's the short form of "Adolf Dassler" - the founder of the company.
You know Americas butcher everything and they want to fight while being wrong.
@@AkashAB4U actually Americans have the original accent and brits are the ones who changed to sound fancier
@trix o ummm...... I think we all know there are different American accents. All Americans use rhotic speech (look it up) and the people who sound like cowboys are just the ones who hold their vowels longer. This developed later and the original was more like Midwestern/northeastern. Back then words were more 'hard' like American is, and now British people pronounce things more softer.
@@Ummmvera you stupid? This German guy just said you're wrong.
@trix o the sub-accents were developed later in time. I was just stating that the original british accent sounded more like Americans do today in response to "Americans butcher everything".
I'm from Uruguay 😀 so happy to be mentioned! The American pronunciation is more accurate, but the accented silable is the last one 🇺🇾
Do you also trill the r?
@@jabeltz1 the sound is like in "latter" if you do a flapping "t"
The family and I just went through this last night. Even here between the states, we pronounce words different. Being from Michigan, I seem to have an accent here in NY. I beg to differ though, they pronounce their words way wrong.
82ndAbnVet I’m from Michigan myself and when I lived in California and Texas I was always told I had an accent. I still chuckle at the absolute cranial misfire the worker at the fast food joint I went to just after moving to California. I asked for pops to go with the value meals I ordered.
I lived in Michigan for about a year. I'm from "the South" and people either mocked or loved my "accent", which is funny because here in "the South " I am always being told I sound like a "northerner". I was born and raised all over the south so my pronunciations tend to be a mish-mash of southern accents. I have been asked a few times if I was British. So bizarre.
I've had a lot of exposure to people from other countries but even more exposure to people from the Midwest after Hurricane Katrina. I tend to pick up sounds too. Apparently sometimes I say house and about in a very michigander almost Canadian way. If it happens and someone who lives down here and doesn't know me here's it, they asked if I'm from Canada. Lol
Definitely Derby with the British pronunciation! And clerk is clark here. The letter after G is aitch, not haitch - that one really sets my teeth on edge!
I've just found this site, it's making me very happy!
4:28 - when he referred to her as "this one", was so cute!