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Post by juju on May 4, 2013 15:46:04 GMT
In the UK we say 'Herb' (pronouncing the 'H'), in the US it's 'Erb' (silent H); but how would people anywhere else say it?
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Post by Kye on May 4, 2013 15:49:17 GMT
I say Erb, but I've heard others say Herb (which sounds uncultured to my ears). In French, we say "les herbes", pronounced "lay zairb" and that might influence English Quebeckers' pronunciation.
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Post by JoeP on May 4, 2013 16:04:15 GMT
It's pretty much Herb in South Africa.
It seems to be quite a think in American & Canada to adopt some French pronunciation - like "fill-ay" for fillet. I guess they are more enamoured of the French than Brits are, or the French of Brits for that matter.
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Post by Kye on May 4, 2013 17:02:59 GMT
Filet is a French word, so it's kinda normal to pronounce it in that way. Ce n'est rien a voir avec l'amour...
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Post by Miisa on May 4, 2013 17:03:23 GMT
Herb, but I don't know how much of that is my mother being overly wary of her kids of "dropping their aiches" which seems to be some sort of terrible nightmare of hers or something.
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Post by raspberrybullets on May 4, 2013 17:28:09 GMT
I say Erb, but I've heard others say Herb (which sounds uncultured to my ears). I have the opposite, it sounds uncultured to say "erb" - like one of those derro people trying to pretend they are posh when they really are not. An educated person always pronounces their "aiches" and uneducated people tend to drop them - which is probably where the fear of dropping aiches comes from.
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Post by Moose on May 4, 2013 18:00:04 GMT
What RB said
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Post by Miisa on May 4, 2013 18:10:12 GMT
In this case it could be that it actually is an overreaction, as it is a word that shouldn't originally have an H sound.
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Post by Kye on May 4, 2013 19:10:55 GMT
Makes sense, Miisa.
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Post by Alvamiga on May 5, 2013 9:50:39 GMT
I don't think it's just Herb. It just sounds strange to me without the H. Anyone who disagrees with me will end up going to 'ospital in anambulance.
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Post by Mari on May 5, 2013 16:54:43 GMT
Herb. But then, we mostly learn British English at Dutch schools.
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Post by JoeP on May 5, 2013 21:17:23 GMT
I don't think it's just Herb. It just sounds strange to me without the H. Anyone who disagrees with me will end up going to 'ospital in anambulance. You mean a hambulance, surely.
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Post by JoeP on May 5, 2013 21:23:47 GMT
In this case it could be that it actually is an overreaction, as it is a word that shouldn't originally have an H sound. Online Etymology Dictionary says the h sound was mute until the 19th C. Interestingly, herb - Wiktionary says So do any of our USers say Herb?
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Post by tangent on May 5, 2013 21:26:14 GMT
My second favourite jazz pianist is Herb Alpert. I don't know whether he pronounces the H.
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Post by Alvamiga on May 5, 2013 22:16:43 GMT
I don't think it's just Herb. It just sounds strange to me without the H. Anyone who disagrees with me will end up going to 'ospital in anambulance. You mean a hambulance, surely. Sounds like Parker on Thunderbirds.
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Post by whollygoats on May 6, 2013 0:49:51 GMT
My second favourite jazz pianist is Herb Alpert. I don't know whether he pronounces the H. That's how I learned to distinguish....no 'h' sound meant that it was usually a reference to seasoning with natural green ingredients; with the 'h' sound, meant that it was usually a man's name. Yes, Americans pronounce the seasoning word both ways. I've never heard the Herb male name pronounced without the 'h' sound...ever.
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Post by Moose on May 6, 2013 1:22:34 GMT
Noone has yet quoted Eddie Izzard on the subject though his was the first voice that sprang to mind.
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Post by Mari on May 6, 2013 7:52:00 GMT
Go right ahead then.
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Post by whollygoats on May 6, 2013 12:58:20 GMT
My second favourite jazz pianist is Herb Alpert. I don't know whether he pronounces the H. You liked him for his piano skills? Wow....and here I just thought he was a damned good trumpet player ( "and the Tijuana Brass"), as well as a renowned recording executive (A&M Records).
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Post by Moose on May 6, 2013 16:32:53 GMT
Izzard said 'you say 'Erb' and we say 'herb' because there's a fucking H in it'
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Post by JoeP on May 6, 2013 16:37:46 GMT
The only correct way to quote Eddie Izzard is with a youtube link ...
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Post by raspberrybullets on May 6, 2013 19:13:15 GMT
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Post by tangent on May 6, 2013 19:46:55 GMT
author=tangent board=culture thread=425 post=14359 time=1367789174] You liked him for his piano skills? Wow....and here I just thought he was a damned good trumpet player ( "and the Tijuana Brass"), as well as a renowned recording executive (A&M Records). Yes, I meant 'player' not 'pianist'.
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Post by ming on May 8, 2013 13:50:53 GMT
I say "herb", though a lot of people I know say "erb" and I think judges in MasterChef Australia say both?? That's where the people I know who say "erb" got it from.
How do you pronounce "basil"? Bay-sil or Ba-sil? I say bas-il and my boyfriend used to say bay-sil - I lectured him strictly about how it's ba-sil, but when he said it in America his classmates laughed at his pronunciation. Which is it?
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Post by raspberrybullets on May 8, 2013 14:10:31 GMT
It depends on where you are. Americans pronouce it bay-sil and Brits pronounce bas-il I think.
If you heard the erb on Aussie Masterchef, it's probably the influence of American TV becuase it is not usual to hear it. You get a lot of mix in Oz because there is such a strong British and American influence on the language and you'll find people talking both ways.
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Post by Alvamiga on May 8, 2013 17:48:34 GMT
I think Bay-sil Fawlty would have sounded most peculiar!
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Post by whollygoats on May 9, 2013 13:23:50 GMT
I think Bay-sil Fawlty would have sounded most peculiar! For my USer ear, it's bay-zil for the green 'erb and baaaa-zul for the man's name....or, sometimes the man's name might be pronounced bay-zil, but it's rare. Well, Basil as a man's name is very rare in the US, anyway.
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Post by tangent on May 9, 2013 14:29:52 GMT
Well, Basil as a man's name is very rare in the US, anyway. Perhaps more popular as the name of a rat.
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Post by ming on May 9, 2013 14:55:43 GMT
Dear me. I first heard Basil as a name in Dorian Gray.
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Post by Moose on May 9, 2013 20:49:52 GMT
I say Basil, therefore it is almost certainly right.
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