I know it sound really weird but when I lived in the US this was something that use to grate with me - no pun intended. I think it was just the way it sounded more than anything.

It did take time to get use to the different names uses. As already mentioned Cilantro for coriander although this relates only to the leaves, the seeds are known as coriander. Arugula we found out was Rocket and I totally confused some poor guy by asking for double cream - oh you mean heavy cream.

Love the USA though!!

I'm sure I read somewhere that the word herbs used to be pronouced without the h but this pronunciation changed over time in England, whereas in America it stayed the same. Some old recipe books will say "an herbs" for example, eluding to the fact that it was pronounced without the h.

From an etymology dictionary online:

Middle English: Old French from Latin herba ‘grass, green crops, herb’. Although herb has always been spelled with an h, pronunciation without it was usual until the 19th century and is still standard in the US.

I don't know how true any of that is though.

I think it's unavoidable to have certain things 'grate' when you're living in another country. It hurts my ears to hear the way most people here pronounce taco, paella and tortilla. But I don't think those pronunciations are wrong- the UK and the U.S. just have different ways of adapting loanwords.

Vive la différence, and all that.

There are lots of words with a silent H at the start in both the English and American dialect.

Yer, loads.
'otel,
'oliday,
'appy
'orrible
I can fink of 'undreds.

It's interesting that the American pronunciations should get singled out and grate people when we typically butcher these words in various regions of Britain far worse than they manage to do.


They may sound similar to Irish to our modern ears but the Newfie accent doesn't originate from Ireland. Just like many mistakenly associate the pirate accent/dialect with an Irish influence rather than the West Country were it also originates. The Irish didn't arrive in Newfoundland in any sizable number until the mid to late 1700s by which time the accent(s) were already established. Newfoundland was really the first part of what we now call Canada to be settled by native English speakers. Nearly 90 percent of the original settlers of Newfoundland in the 1600s and early 1700s were from the West Country, attracted mainly by the fishing opportunities. The West Country accent hasn't remained static in the meantime.

Or honour or hour.

This is so interesting to me. I had never heard a Newfie accent but just googled- I might just be hearing things, but they kind of sound like these old guys in Tangiers, Virginia, which they say was settled by people from SW England. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIZgw09CG9E&feature=kp

What do you think?