The Great Woh

[FredCDobbs]

Some of us have discussed this before. Maybe it will make an interesting thread about the differences between old and modern British and American pronunciation of certain words, and also the differences in Canada and Australia, and New Zealand English.

 

I notice in old British films, English/British people say "War", just like Americans do, but in modern times, and especially in modern TV interviews and British news reports, British people now say "Woh".

 

What ever happened to the r in the word War in modern British English?

 

Here is what I'm talking about:

 

 

[Dargo2]

Well, all I know is that whenever my wife has a headache before bedtime, SHE'LL give ME "The Great Whoa" !

 

(...and I've learned to pay heed to it too, or the NEXT day will NOT be a good one for me at all!)

[CaveGirl]

Hey Mister Dobbs,

 

Don't you get a kick out of old films in which they pronounce Los Angeles as:

 

Los Angle-EEEES.

[heuriger]

What ever happened to the r in the word War in modern British English?

 

Pat Sajak sold it to a contestant on the Wheel ?

 

By the by, there used to be a fantabulous Chinese restaurant on Hollywood Blvd and Wilcox Ave right near the world famous Tomy's called The Great Woh, They served thee greatest gobbledegook with no MGB a tall, but you could get yo soy sauce if you pleased to meet me. Then the the waitress would saunter up clad in sari and intone," Are you all sitting comfy bold two squares on your botty?"

 

Have a GR8 day might

[Tikisoo]

Australian speech is interesting....a few wholly different terms for the same thing, like "pushers" for baby stroller carts or "wind cheaters" for knitted wool sweaters, which struck me as a quaint British term.

 

I loved the pronunciation of "aluminum" which adds an extra syllable; al-u-MIN-ee-um" and the herb oregano, as US says it "or-EH-geh-no", they say, "or-a-GAH-no".

Very cute.

[Fedya]

> What ever happened to the r in the word War in modern British English?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_non-rhotic_accents|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhotic_and_non-rhotic_accents

 

And when you say "modern British English", do you mean [Received Pronunciation|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Received_Pronunciation] or [Estuary English|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estuary_English]? Somehow I have a feeling it's the former, since the latter came about after 1960 and you don't acknowledge any movies made after 1960.

[Dargo2]

 

"I say ole boy. Might you be implying that there are far few chaps in jolly ole Blighty anymore who enunciate the language as I do?!"

[Swithin]

The lack of "r" at the end of British English is similar to the NE United States. The exception is in the South West (aka West Country -- Cornwall and Devon) of the UK, where the final "r" is pronounced distinctively -- it's sort of a country/farm dialect.

 

The word "water" is another example. In NYC, we say "WAW-tah," which is similar to the UK. Much of the rest of the US says "Watter," or "WAH-ter."

[Sepiatone]

I've noticed that many young people in the states, particularly young women or girls, add a "short" A to the ends of words.

 

For example, one of my nieces, in exasperation, answered a question posed by her mother with a strong "NO-A", sounding like "Noah". When I asked her WHO Noah WAS, she just looked at me funny...

 

Sepiatone

[kingrat]

In some parts of the South "water" is pronounced "wawter." In other parts, "wadder." In other parts, the final "r" is dropped. This may be the common word pronounced the most different ways in the US.

 

And CaveGirl, I love it whenever I hear "Los Angle-lees" in old movies.

[Swithin]

And of course JFK never said HaRvaRd, he said Hovvid!

[FlyBackTransformer]

I personally pronounce it "wahder"

[Sepiatone]

One Grandniece, when she was barely two and just getting a handle on speech, used to call it "bluh-bluh." Her Grandmother tried to get her to say "water" Grandma was Rita, the little girl is Ashley...

 

Rita: "Say WATER"

Ashley: "Bluh-bluh."

Rita: "No, WATER!"

Ashley: "Bluh-bluh!"

Rita: "No, WAH---TER!"

Ashley: "Bluh---BLUH!"

 

She gave up then, laughing too hard to continue. Ashley got it, eventually. I mean, she's 27 now...

 

Sepiatone

[FlyBackTransformer]

An impressive command of syllables though.

[FredCDobbs]

During my years of traveling in Mexico and Central America, I learned that most Spanish phrase books are not completely accurate because they teach proper Spain Spanish, and not localized Western Hemisphere Spanish.

 

One example I can think of that is common is the various pronunciations for water, which is agua.

 

Several waitresses in San Pedro Sula Honduras pronounce it as ah-wa. Other waitresses in other countries pronounce it agg-waa. Others pronounce it ag-waa. And others agg-wa.

 

I could never speak good Spanish, no matter how hard I tried to learn.

[heuriger]

I could never speak good Spanish, no matter how hard I tried to learn.

 

Si se?or, yo s?, I know.

[heuriger]

I say Aah Wah

 

LOL

[John2Bad]

Woh--What is it good for?

[FredCDobbs]

>Woh--What is it good for?

 

The British used to pronounce it as "War" during most of the 20th Century, but for some reason many modern British people and British news reporters now pronounce it as "Woh".

[CaveGirl]

I love that quote "England and America, two countries separated by one language" or whatever it was.

 

As for "water" in Ohio they pronounce it as:

 

WAH-Der.

 

Nuff said...

[Dargo2]

>Woh--What is it good for?

 

>The British used to pronounce it as "War" during most of the 20th Century, but for some reason many modern British people and British news reporters now pronounce it as "Woh".

 

Evidently, Fred here has at least "Twenty-Five Miles" to go before he becomes an Edwin Starr fan and catches on to your reference, John.

[John2Bad]

I'll bet Fred was a young enough hip dude in 1970 to remember War.

Maybe he just forgot the song.

 

I'll have to start watching the news on BBC America to hear how

they do pronounce it. There has to be a war going on somewhere

in the world.

[heuriger]

There has to be a war going on somewhere in the world.

 

The war on poverty is still being waged and one can still go to a Howard Baines Johnson to get some guns with their butter.

 

:-)

[Dargo2]

>I'll have to start watching the news on BBC America to hear how they do pronounce it. There has to be a war going on somewhere in the world.

 

Yes, isn't it a shame that nobody ever seems to listen to any of those lovely beauty pageant contestants and their heartfelt wishes for world peace.

 

(...but alas, everybody just thinks of them as just another pretty face and never heeds them at all)

[lavenderblue19]

I've said here before John, you're just adorable. LOL. My daughter was reading some of the posts on this thread, when we got to yours we both cracked up (sent you a pm)