List of Shibboleths - English Shibboleths For Native Speakers or Local Natives

English Shibboleths For Native Speakers or Local Natives

See also: Regional accents of English and Regional vocabularies of American English

• nuclear/nucular: The word "nuclear", /ˈnuːkliər/ in General American, is sometimes pronounced "nucular" /ˈnuːkjələr/ in parts of the United States. This is considered incorrect or a metathesis by many authorities, although a common alternate pronunciation, having been used by U.S. President Jimmy Carter (himself a former Naval nuclear engineer), U.S. President George W. Bush, and other politicians. This is common in some midwestern states, particularly those in the southern part of the region.
• When referring to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the location of most of the city's major monuments, natives usually say that a given landmark is "on the mall". Tourists will sometimes say "in the mall," something that automatically identifies them as tourists.
• Fish and chips: The accents of Australians and New Zealanders seem very similar, and the term fish and chips is sometimes evoked to illustrate a major difference between the two. In New Zealand pronunciation short i is a central vowel, . This vowel sound is sometimes caricatured as "fush and chups" by Australians. The Australian pronunciation has the front vowel (which is more common in most varieties of English) which, due to an overall vowel-shift in New Zealand, sounds like "feesh and cheeps" to New Zealand ears.
• Geyser: a notable difference exists between New Zealand English and the most common British English pronunciation of the word geyser: /ˈɡaɪzər/ GY-zer vs /ˈɡiːzər/ GEE-zer. British visitors to New Zealand towns like Taupo and Rotorua, known for their nearby geysers, frequently confuse locals by asking the way to the "geezers".
• kiwi: The national bird of New Zealand is the kiwi, of which the plural is simply "kiwi". The people of New Zealand are colloquially called Kiwis (capital K, pluralized with an -s). The fruit which is called "kiwi" in some countries is always referred to in New Zealand as "kiwifruit".
• Maori: New Zealanders refer to Maori people in the plural as Maori, unlike other English speakers, who refer to them as Maoris. They also now pronounce the word as, the pronunciation used in the Maori language itself, rather than .
• Pronunciation of letters of the alphabet:
  • H: in Northern Ireland pronounced 'aitch' by Protestants, 'haitch' by Catholics, per Hiberno-English. Also often pronounced 'haitch' in dialects of English spoken in the ethnically non-Anglo-Saxon English colonies of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific.
  • Z: in North America pronounced zee in the United States; typically zed in the rest of the world. Known in American history and popular culture for distinguishing American males who fled to Canada from the US to escape the military draft in the 1960s. The Canadian pronunciation was featured in the Molson Canadian I Am Canadian advertisement in 2000.
• New England, United States: certain words/phrases are well known in other regions of the United States and often serve as stereotypes or shibboleths for New England natives (especially from the Boston area), considered by many as an informal "standard" or central area of the dialect region. Typical as "How are you?" pronounced in a clipped manner, "H'w ah'ya?", and the well-known "Harvard Yard" (with non-rhotic pronunciation), often in the context of the stereotypical sentence, "Park the car at Harvard Yard", which gives many instances of this derhotacization.
• In Highland Dress, for anyone who has ever served in a Scottish Regiment, or even played in a pipe band, or whenever said by any Scot, should ‘plaid’ actually be used to refer to tartan cloth, it could be pronounced: /ˈplæd/ (to rhyme with ‘mad’). (NB: This usage, as a synonym for ‘tartan’, is generally only ever found in North America). More often, however, when referring to the cape-like garment – in its various forms – worn over the left shoulder as part of the traditional or formal Scottish dress, the pronunciation is: /ˈpleɪd/ (to rhyme with ‘made’); (although the OED accepts both pronunciations in this usage). To further stress the pronunciation of the garment versus the cloth, the garment has an alternate spelling ‘plaide’, although rarely used. Thus: belted-plaid, drummer's plaid, evening-plaid, fly-plaid, full-plaid, piper's plaid, et al., are pronounced ‘pleɪd’ by those who have worn, or are familiar, with the same. Etymology: plaide Scots Language via Scottish Gaelic) meaning ‘blanket’ or ‘cloak’, (albeit usually made of tartan; most often the same tartan as the wearer's kilt or trews).
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Natives of this city usually pronounce the word 'water' instead of . A similar phenomenon is found in the closely related Baltimore dialect.
• Pasadena, California: Lower and middle-class natives usually pronounce the word 'milk' instead of, in contrast to their neighbours in Los Angeles. However, this trait is shared with many speakers of Inland Northern American English, to which the city has historical ties.
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are named for their creator, Harry Reese. In broadcast advertisements the name of the company and the product—Reese's—is consistently pronounced "Reese-iz"—being the possessive form of "Reese." But in several areas of the U.S. it is common for the candy to be called "Ree-see Cups" or "Ree-seez Cups." (In addition to altering the pronunciation of Reese's, the phrase "peanut butter" is often omitted.) Similarly, "Reese's Pieces" might be pronounced "Ree-see Pee-sees," the rhyme being preserved by incorrectly altering the pronunciation of both words.
• Regional vowels
  • The BATH vowel is a significant divider in England between north and south. The north and the midlands of England use /æ/ in BATH whereas most of the south uses /ɑː/, which is also favoured by the BBC. There is a third pronunciation, used in parts of south-west England.
  • About: U.S. commentators (and popular culture) have drawn attention to the stereotypical Canadian pronunciation of about. While the American imitation of the stereotype (as seen, for example, in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut) pronounces the word like "a boot", Canadians actually pronounce the word which sounds more like "a boat", as compared to General American . This phenomenon is known in linguistics as Canadian raising, and is not restricted to just Canada, as many Northern U.S. dialects have clear Canadian Raising as well.
  • No: Residents of Northern Lincolnshire and to a lesser extent parts of East Yorkshire will be able to recognise a speaker from Hull as they will pronounce 'no' as 'nurr', whereas the surrounding accent tends towards 'naw' . In Cleethorpes this has led to the stereotype of Hullish tourists as 'comforts' after the phrase "Come fert'day, stop fert'week".
  • Tomato: UK pronunciation is usually /təˈmɑːtoʊ/, while US pronunciation is usually /təˈmeɪtoʊ/. Ira Gershwin famously used this difference in the verse "You say to-may-to, I say to-mah-to", from the song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off".
  • "Sauna": Scandinavians, and North Americans that reside in areas settled primarily by Scandinavians (chiefly the Norwegians of North Dakota and the Finns of Michigan's Upper Peninsula), pronounce the word /ˈsaʊnə/, mirroring the original Finnish . Those who reside elsewhere in the world almost exclusively pronounce it /ˈsɔːnə/.