What Happens Next: A Gallimaufry

melancholic romantic comic cynic. bi & genderqueer. fantasy writer. sysrae on ao3.

rhibombinee:

nerdgirl-to-the-rescue:

doritovevo:

snapchatting:

i’m awful. but awful rhymes with waffle, so it’s not that bad

[every english speaking non american/Canadian sighs deeply]

omfg why the fuck would you pronounce awful like waffle? wtf is going on in america?

im trying to think how either of those words could possibly be pronounced in any other way

This isn’t a technical explanation, but in brief:

In American English, the ‘a’ in waffle and the ‘a’ in awful are pronounced as the same ‘ah’ sound: wah-ffle and ah-ful. That can vary a bit depending on regional accent, but generally both words use the same type of inflected vowel.

But in British and Australian English, each ‘a’ has a different inflection. The ‘a’ in waffle is closer to a phonetic ‘o’ (like an exhalation) sound, while the ‘a’ in awful is a dipthong ‘aww’ in Australian and a phonetic ‘orr’ in British. The upshot is that Brits and Aussies both say woh-ffle, but Brits say orr-ful and Aussie say aww-ful.

Basically Americans pronounce that ‘a’ in waffle a way that pulls the lips back and opens the mouth (a long ‘ah’) and do the same with awful. Brits and Aussies push the word to the front of the mouth with pursed lips and a more closed mouth, but differ on the ‘a’ in awful: Brits tighten the inflection, while Australians drawl it.   

Hope that helps!

(via oceanskysailor)

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