All-Star Grammar Thread - Have At It

[gofriars610]

Serious question- are "caramel" and "aluminium" spelt (;)) differently in the US? Because otherwise I just don't see how you can pronounce them CAR-mel and a-LOO-min-um!

Welppppp I mean you guys are the country that tacks on extra vowels in fetus...when you start calling it a foe-tus let me know. :p:p:p

 

[Ren]

Welppppp I mean you guys are the country that tacks on extra vowels in fetus...when you start calling it a foe-tus let me know. :p:p:p

Touché! Although our medical journals now spell it fetus, so we're improving!

 

[cheernerd5678]

I looked up the pronunciation of aunt to see which was more common and learned that it's like ant everywhere except New England and eastern Virginia.... That explains why I feel so strongly about it :D Even though that's how the majority of the country says aunt, it'll ALWAYS be wrong to me ;)
My mom says can't like cahnt and people ask me if she is British :confused: she's from Boston? I've never heard anyone else from the U.S. say it like that though.

 

[ErinS]

I looked up the pronunciation of aunt to see which was more common and learned that it's like ant everywhere except New England and eastern Virginia.... That explains why I feel so strongly about it :D Even though that's how the majority of the country says aunt, it'll ALWAYS be wrong to me ;)
My mom says can't like cahnt and people ask me if she is British :confused: she's from Boston? I've never heard anyone else from the U.S. say it like that though.

I don't say "ant". I say Au-nt or whatever.

But it doesn't matter because I don't have any aunts and my niece calls me Erin....my first name.

 

[ACEDAD]

I looked up the pronunciation of aunt to see which was more common and learned that it's like ant everywhere except New England and eastern Virginia.... That explains why I feel so strongly about it :D Even though that's how the majority of the country says aunt, it'll ALWAYS be wrong to me ;)
My mom says can't like cahnt and people ask me if she is British :confused: she's from Boston? I've never heard anyone else from the U.S. say it like that though.

For some reason, I've always said aunt with the aww pronunciation. It's not a Southern thing, so I don't know how I got it.

 

[cheernerd5678]

For some reason, I've always said aunt with the aww pronunciation. It's not a Southern thing, so I don't know how I got it.

Probs because it's right ;)

 

[JMW]

"Awe" instead of "aww" in regard to something cute.

 

[SharkDad]

I like the British "ahhh" version

 

[Cheeranswers]

"Awe" instead of "aww" in regard to something cute.

actually, "awe" is used to say you're in "awe" of something (amazed, stunned, etc) and "aw" is correct to use with something cute/disappointing/whatever. "aww" is just an exclamation form of "aw". still technically correct

 

[cupieqt]

Just pronunciation but I haaaate when people pronounce "aunt" like "ant"
There is a u there for a reason!

Eta: warsh is also so annoying and a problem I run into daily... If you know my name you understand ;)

When I was just a little bitty grammar nazi of about 8 years old my family laughed at me and corrected me when I didn't call my aunts ants. In fact ant wasn't even good enough. Ain't. That's my aint. Yep. I live in grammar hell. It's hard being a GN in the south.

Oh and I once graded a middle school paper that talked about Chester drawers. The assignment was to write a descriptive essay about their bedroom. I have since named the dresser in my own bedroom Chester drawers just for funsies.

 

[JMW]

actually, "awe" is used to say you're in "awe" of something (amazed, stunned, etc) and "aw" is correct to use with something cute/disappointing/whatever. "aww" is just an exclamation form of "aw". still technically correct

That was exactly my point. Of course they are both valid words. I see people write "awe" when they mean "aw" (or "awwwww"). When you see something cute, it makes sense to say "aw" by itself. It would make sense to say "I'm in awe of that", but simply saying "awe" doesn't make sense (nor do I think that's their intended meaning). It's not an exclamation.

I imagine it started as a result of auto-correct, but now I think many people think "awe" means "aw".

 

[FruityPebbles]

I am from the South, but grew up in the North and everybody I know call their aunts, with the long 'A' vowel sound and not 'ant' like the insect...Whatever happen to our phonetic lesson if a vowel is followed by a vowel, the first vowel takes on the long sound...

 

[kristenthegreat]

I have Aunts, Ants and Anties. It's funny too, that each one is SPECIFIC to the person. Like my Aunt Robin is 'Awnt' Robin. She is not 'Ant' Robin. But my 'Antie' Jo is always that way- all my 'Antie's are 'Antie', not 'Awntie' (and usually, they're my great-aunts. Whom I refer to as great-aunts, not great-'ants). 'Ant' Jane.

I'm weird like that.

 

[ACEDAD]

I am from the South, but grew up in the North and everybody I know call their aunts, with the long 'A' vowel sound and not 'ant' like the insect...Whatever happen to our phonetic lesson if a vowel is followed by a vowel, the first vowel takes on the long sound...

A long "a" like ain't?

 

[MissCongeniality]

I am from the South, but grew up in the North and everybody I know call their aunts, with the long 'A' vowel sound and not 'ant' like the insect...Whatever happen to our phonetic lesson if a vowel is followed by a vowel, the first vowel takes on the long sound...

"If 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking" But then, wouldn't that make it "ay-nt"? Ah yet another exception in the English language ;)