3 ms·

American English is a bit more sane than British English. Noah Webster and other american dictionary publishers change a lot of spellings to be closer to their

American English is a bit more sane than British English. Noah Webster and other american dictionary publishers change a lot of spellings to be closer to their pronunciation.

Affric 3y ago
I don’t think there is a meaningful difference. American English still indulges etymological and traditional spellings for heaps of words. In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation.
- KineticLensman 3y ago
  > In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation. I recall seeing an American somewhere in France getting frustrated when hotel staff couldn't understand what he meant by "maître-d", with his emphasis increasingly placed on the 'dee' as he got more and more annoyed. (disclaimer: Brit here, not defending our pronunciation of Worcestershire)
  - bitwize 3y ago
    Thank you for the hilarious image of an obnoxious American tourist shouting "I need to talk to the Mater DEE!" at a baffled Frenchman. > (disclaimer: Brit here, not defending our pronunciation of Worcestershire) The Americans typically pronounce it some form of "Wooshishurr". I used to live in Massachusetts, and my wife would complain about the British-inspired place names and their local pronunciation. "I'm from Louisiana, I can't with your New England names! There's no 'lemon' in Leominster!" I would gently remind her of how 'Natchitoches' is pronounced; it's certainly not as written.
    - KineticLensman 3y ago
      The North Americans got their own back on me on one trip when I asked for a glass of 'water'. I increased my southern English accent until I was saying 'wart-er'. I then realised that I needed to say 'wadder' and then it worked; service with big smiles all round.
- chimeracoder 3y ago
  > In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation. British English is even less consistent, using the French pronunciation of "valet" for one of its two meanings and the Anglicized pronunciation for the other meaning.
  - Affric 3y ago
    Yes. I knowingly chose the example. If you want a less controversial example use the word “one” and consider the voiced labial–velar approximant.

American English is a bit more sane than British English. Noah Webster and other american dictionary publishers change a lot of spellings to be closer to their pronunciation.

Affric 3y ago

I don’t think there is a meaningful difference. American English still indulges etymological and traditional spellings for heaps of words. In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation.

KineticLensman 3y ago
> In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation. I recall seeing an American somewhere in France getting frustrated when hotel staff couldn't understand what he meant by "maître-d", with his emphasis increasingly placed on the 'dee' as he got more and more annoyed. (disclaimer: Brit here, not defending our pronunciation of Worcestershire)
- bitwize 3y ago
  Thank you for the hilarious image of an obnoxious American tourist shouting "I need to talk to the Mater DEE!" at a baffled Frenchman. > (disclaimer: Brit here, not defending our pronunciation of Worcestershire) The Americans typically pronounce it some form of "Wooshishurr". I used to live in Massachusetts, and my wife would complain about the British-inspired place names and their local pronunciation. "I'm from Louisiana, I can't with your New England names! There's no 'lemon' in Leominster!" I would gently remind her of how 'Natchitoches' is pronounced; it's certainly not as written.
  - KineticLensman 3y ago
    The North Americans got their own back on me on one trip when I asked for a glass of 'water'. I increased my southern English accent until I was saying 'wart-er'. I then realised that I needed to say 'wadder' and then it worked; service with big smiles all round.
chimeracoder 3y ago
> In cases like “fillet” and “valet” American English goes with “French” pronunciation. British English is even less consistent, using the French pronunciation of "valet" for one of its two meanings and the Anglicized pronunciation for the other meaning.
- Affric 3y ago
  Yes. I knowingly chose the example. If you want a less controversial example use the word “one” and consider the voiced labial–velar approximant.