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Pedants' corner

Aye or Uh

(48 Posts)
gillyknits Thu 29-May-25 18:59:29

Don’t know whether there has already been a thread on this but I haven’t found one.
Has anyone else noticed that newsreaders and presenters are now pronouncing “a” as “aye” instead of “uh” . For example “ The boy threw aye ball to aye girl” instead of “ a boy threw a ball to a girl”
Where has this come from and why?

winterwhite Sat 31-May-25 16:25:45

Weather forecasters' strange emphasis irritates me - 'and we can expect more rain On Tuesday, especially In the south east.'
That can't come from an autocue.

Grammaretto Sat 31-May-25 16:48:59

A is pronounced ay, surely. Or uh but
Aye is Eye as in Scots for yes.

I dislike the lazy ta instead of to.
They are going ta the shops

Once you listen for it, it grates everytime 😂

welbeck Sat 31-May-25 16:59:53

NutRocker

*cc*

*I know that a lot of people use it, but "haitch" annoys me.*

Oh my - definitely! I’m afraid it makes the user sound ignorant……

Most of Ireland says Haitch as do many others in London and elsewhere in UK.
Your comment would be seen as highly sectarian and provocative in NI.

NutRocker Sat 31-May-25 17:24:13

*I’m afraid it makes the user sound ignorant……
Most of Ireland says Haitch as do many others in London and elsewhere in UK.
Your comment would be seen as highly sectarian and provocative in NI.*

Apologies to the Irish, Wellbeck, I realise my mistake, and that this pronunciation is a norm within the Irish language. But elsewhere in England? No, it was never Haitch since the beginning of time, and is just down to the sloppiness (or mistake) which seems to have evolved with a lot of English words over the years…….

FranP Sat 31-May-25 18:48:50

FriedGreenTomatoes2

I’ve always said ‘gar-arje’
I was brought up in Old Trafford. I’m nowhere near ‘posh’ 😁

Me too.

Georgesgran Sat 31-May-25 18:54:44

I’ve noticed a lot of people (on TV) say a apple or a orange. I was always taught to put ‘an’ in front of a noun beginning with a vowel.

FranP Sat 31-May-25 19:00:04

Teaching children to read, I was asked by one about the silent H is which, why, when. I told him that I was brought up to sound them, but that most folks do not any more, but they are still spelled that way, so if he remembered my funny away of saying them, he would remember to spell them that way. Five years on he told me that he remembered. (I had no answer for "who" though

Barbadosbelle Sat 31-May-25 19:36:32

.

........ and what about the ones who pronounce aitch (h) as haitch?? Grrr!

When people say haitch to me for whatever reason - but often repeating my postcode - I always apologise and say that I don't understand.

Then when explained, I feign surprise and say "Oh, you mean aitch. Sorry. Oh, you do do know there's no such letter as haitch, don't you?"

I can usually tell that they don't believe me - and think that they're being posh!!
.

Nanny27 Sun 01-Jun-25 00:05:30

Good morning Mrs Nanny27 and how are yourself today?
Myself is fine thank you.

nanna8 Sun 01-Jun-25 05:12:38

We get some weird pronunciations here is Australia because people come from every part of the globe and bring their accents with them. I quite like it, I have to say. I always have to order in Asian restaurants of all varieties because no one can understand my husband who still has a northern English accent. Funny thing is his brother,who lives in the British Lake District, says he sounds broad Aussie.

Granmarderby10 Sun 01-Jun-25 05:18:53

singingnutty

Yes I have noticed this and it jars but it’s now almost the norm so probably we won’t bother about it in a bit. What I would really like is for all the presenters and reporters etc. to pronounce Farage to rhyme with ‘garage’ as in ‘garidge’. I would be so pleased!

😀 aye! In our house he is known a Faridge from the Garidge.

argymargy Sun 01-Jun-25 07:02:22

Similarly, I tut at the radio when certain announcers insist on saying “thee” rather than “thu” for the. For example “thee French Open started today and thee first match ended in a draw when thee court was invaded by aliens”. Argh.

HiPpyChick57 Sun 01-Jun-25 09:38:21

The one that annoys me is when newsreaders/tv presenters say keemmunity, instead of community.

Grammaretto Sun 01-Jun-25 10:08:13

Yes nanak I also enjoy listening to the various pronunciations but it's interesting that some accents are trusted more than others and used for recorded messages.

I was taught by my Scots DH that he always pronounced the H in where, why, who and whale etc

Whereas my time living in "Sarf Lundin" taught me to drop aitches in words like house, heavy, howl etc and add them to words like I, ever, or any word beginning with a vowel.
So you get: Hi will 'Ave an happle

grannybuy Sun 01-Jun-25 11:23:26

Wyllow3

The O/P example interested me as I tried repeating it at different speeds. It takes longer to say 'a" and I think generally reporting has "sped up" which gets in the way of proper diction.

I’ve recently noticed that many people say ‘ ti ‘ instead of ‘ to’.

grannybuy Sun 01-Jun-25 11:25:50

No idea why Wyllow 3’s post is in there. My comment is totally unrelated.

FriedGreenTomatoes2 Sun 01-Jun-25 11:50:01

Georgesgran

I’ve noticed a lot of people (on TV) say a apple or a orange. I was always taught to put ‘an’ in front of a noun beginning with a vowel.

Also in ‘an hotel’. Which seems to be disappearing in newsprint these days.

Nano14 Sun 01-Jun-25 12:23:51

cc

I know that a lot of people use it, but "haitch" annoys me.

I think that's my biggest pet hate, along with trying to explain to someone, that the spelling for the letter h is a i t c h, and is pronounced as aitch.

Granmarderby10 Sun 01-Jun-25 13:11:21

The “hatch” word has always set my teeth on edge. I don’t recall being taught not to say it that way, so I think it is what you grow up hearing from your family and then get corrected(or not).

Delila Sun 01-Jun-25 14:12:46

I’ve only noticed this pronunciation of “a” as “aye” with Today presenter Amol Rajan.

singingnutty Sun 01-Jun-25 14:53:01

I first noticed it with Amol Rajan but now it is everywhere! And ‘thee’ for ‘the’ likewise.

Septimia Sun 01-Jun-25 14:59:10

The use of 'ay' and 'thee' annoy me, too. Surely they are better kept for when emphasis is needed. But people learn to speak by listening to other people, so pick up their speech traits. Hard to change the habits of of a lifetime...