Elemis lady.

Why does the Elemis presenter say "haitch" and not "aitch"? Drives me nuts

Its just her regional accent.

I don't think it is to do with where you come from. I have heard all manner of people saying it. There is even an advert on telly where the man says haitch. I think it's just to do with what you grew up saying. Some children in my class said it but most did not.

donna255 said:

Its just her regional accent.

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Oh no it's not, it's sloppy grammar!!

Sorry, non-native speaking English MA here, it's bad pronunciation but certainly not bad grammar!

Rozzy said:

Why does the Elemis presenter say "haitch" and not "aitch"? Drives me nuts

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It drives me nuts; it's like hearing chalk on a blackboard.

I have even heard it on the BBC News channel. But, to be honest, most of the reporters/presenters on that channel are pretty poor, so I'm really not that surprised.

Why do people do it? Perhaps they have been taught to say 'haitch' during reading lessons at school, and their parents haven't corrected them. Whatever the reasons, it is certainly on the increase.

Rozzy said:

Why does the Elemis presenter say "haitch" and not "aitch"? Drives me nuts

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It's probably like people that say pacific instead of specific, or those that say cooples instead of couples (Tess Daly), or how about an entire continent that don't pronounce t's in the middle of words (Americans).

I bet you say some things differently to others!

Nobody's perfect, it's what makes us unique!

Language and pronunciation are constantly evolving beasts. New generations pronounce words differently and this eventually becomes 'the norm'. The BBC accept that either Aitch or Haitch is acceptable now (the vast majority of people aged 30 and below now pronounce it 'Haitch'). In a generation or two Aitch will be obselete. No point crying over it. 100 years ago 'hospital' was apparently pronounced 'ospital' and hundreds of years ago we all spoke with something like a Scottish accent.

lilylurknomore said:

It's probably like people that say pacific instead of specific, or those that say cooples instead of couples (Tess Daly), or how about an entire continent that don't pronounce t's in the middle of words (Americans).

I bet you say some things differently to others!

Nobody's perfect, it's what makes us unique!

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There is a difference in pronunciation and adding an aitch at the start of a word.

I'm Irish and the vast majority of Irish people say Haitch and to us Aitch is wrong! Different nationalities/regions say things differently, doesn't necessarily make one more correct than the other.

Things like saying 'pacific' instead of 'specific' is just lazy pronunciation, which is a different thing altogether.

I don't care if it's bad grammar, poor pronounciation, lazy speech or regional accent; 'haitch' is just bl**dy annoying.

White Russian said:

Language and pronunciation are constantly evolving beasts. New generations pronounce words differently and this eventually becomes 'the norm'. The BBC accept that either Aitch or Haitch is acceptable now (the vast majority of people aged 30 and below now pronounce it 'Haitch'). In a generation or two Aitch will be obselete. No point crying over it. 100 years ago 'hospital' was apparently pronounced 'ospital' and hundreds of years ago we all spoke with something like a Scottish accent.

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According to whom? I would prefer to await the outcome of the British Library study. From my own experience, I would question whether the majority of people less than, or aged, thirty, do add the 'H'.

Agreed that the Beeb does allow the word to be pronounced as haitch/haytch, but see below, which I have taken from the Beeb website:

Aitch vs Haitch

British English dictionaries give aytch as the standard pronunciation for the letter H. However, the pronunciation haytch is also attested as a legitimate variant. We also do not ask broadcasters who naturally say haytch to change their pronunciation but if a broadcaster contacted to ask us, we would tell them that aytch is regarded as the standard pronunciation in British English, people can feel very strongly about this and this pronunciation is less likely to attract audience complaints.

Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing.

Polls have shown that the uptake of haytch by younger native speakers is on the rise. Schoolchildren repeatedly being told not to drop Hs may cause them to hyper-correct and insert them where they don't exist.
Jo Kim
BBC Pronunciation Unit

My emphasis

Minnehaha

I say Haitch but its not lazy pronunciation its an accent and I never drop my Haitches, personally I find some Southern English accents really annoying saying ahh instead of a is my personal most annoying.

I think its very easy to think that the way you speak is the "right" way when in reality there are hundreds of different accents in all countries and you have to remember that whilst you may find the way someone speaks annoying they may well find the way you speak annoying. As long as you speak clearly and can be understood I dont think it makes any difference

HAITCH is just plain wrong and gets on my t*ts!

The letter H is spelt aitch. No H in it.

I think the most annoying way of speaking is that really affected way some people adopt trying to speak the "queens English" and it just makes them sound daft.

Thank goodness that the BBC and other broadcasters no longer use that dreadful "standard English" that is really annoying, I like the diversity of language and as long as people can be understood I don't mind. Its when people try and hide their accent and "talk posh" that I see red. I find some accents easier on the ear than others

First, "Haitch" is not 'wrong'; it is a legitimate and accepted way of pronouncing the letter H.

Secondly, it's going to be a long and unhappy life if you let yourself get so worked up about people pronoucing words differently to how you were taught them. All languages, spelling, grammar, pronunciation and accents change over time. There are more important things to get upset about; don't sweat the small stuff.

Well, I'm afraid I'm broad Devon (although born just over the border in Cornwall) I've got a very strong accent which isn't that attractive but I don't say haitch.:bandit:

ps Our eldest son is just in the last stage of his English PHd in Newcastle and he's very accepting of shifting language patterns even though he's so well read in the classics, he's lecturing at the university and he says that language has always evolved. I'm sure he's right and I'm just too old!! lol:hi:

I don't pay any attention to how Keeley pronounces any of her words...cos as soon as she opens her mouth and starts prattling on...I nod off yawn!! :cheeky: