Why do American's pronounce herbs as 'erbs?

by yadda yadda 2 48 Replies latest jw friends

  • FlyingHighNow
    FlyingHighNow

    We go shopping though, Simon.

  • caliber
    caliber

    'ell if I know why ! Maybe you just move the h around .. like 'am and (h)eggs.. British style ! ...tee hee hee !

  • ataloa
    ataloa

    Anyone claiming to write and speak English should just accept that the English get to decide what is right and what isn't.

    Alright, Simon, but how am I going to get used to saying Jehover? Any idears?

  • JustHuman14
    JustHuman14

    I guess it has something to do with the same way they pronounce water as waer!!!

  • wobble
    wobble

    I learned to say skedule at schule.

  • Witness 007
    Witness 007

    HEEEEEERBS MATE! And its Tomatoe not friggin TOOOOMATEO!!!! Patatoe not friggin Pataaato!

  • Leolaia
    Leolaia
    If you go into select Appalachian regions, you will find British accents. I used to run into people in north Georgia that I thought were British.

    A great example of this is actor Daniel Davis. He played the butler Niles in The Nanny, Professor Moriarty in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and journalist Elliott Carrington in the '80s soap Texas. He was born in Arkansas and "Davis' natural accent is Southern American, however his English accent as 'Niles' was so accurate that many viewers have become convinced that Davis is actually English" (Wikipedia). But his normal Southern accent already has something that sounds almost British.

    Here is a comparison. Here he is playing a "British" character:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7GOdEGhSmY#t=00m30s

    And here he is playing a Southern:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gU7Ar3NnEk#t=03m55s

    Looks like you can't set the embeds to scroll to a specific time in the video. Jump to 30 seconds in for the first one and 3 minutes and 55 seconds for the second one.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    Well the second one doesn't sound "British" to me Leolaia.

    By "British" you Americans seem to mean an upper class English accent anyway. A person with such an accent would not miss out an h.

    Supposedly the historical reason some people from London miss out their h's at the start of words is because of the French influence from Norman times. Such as in the song Henry the Eighth I Am I Am.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znv_sUPaKfE

    Here is Star Trek in rude Scots.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khrpy4V0-U4

    East coast Scots mind.

  • slimboyfat
    slimboyfat

    But what I want to know is how come only Scots seem to bother pronouncing the h in wh words like where, whale, what?

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