Haitch?

[bainbrig]

Heard on BBC London TV this morning:

“W HAITCH Smith” (for W H Smith).

There is no such word as HAITCH,

Or have they changed the language?

[bainbrig]

Where’s nanny gorn?

[Mamyalynne]

She knows context ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

... and plurals

[yogi-bear]

I call it WH Spliff....always have, dunno why :-)

[Flonska]

As well as aitch and haitch, I abhor jewellery being pronounced as joollery!!

[ladybirder]

My pet hates are Somethink and Anythink. Hear it everyday on TV, BBC included.

[Mamyalynne]

My youngest always called it 'Wiff Smiff'.

[bainbrig]

The trouble with ‘haitch’ is that in English it is a marker of an uneducated person, rightly or wrongly. Non-conformity is one thing; putting a person at a social disadvantage is another, which careful teaching can avoid.

[goodgoalie]

Here's another: sixth pronounced sikth - I hear it all the time on TV and radio, including Jeremy Paxman on Uni Challenge. He really should know better.
Oh, and people beginning the answer to every question with "so........."

[douglas9401]

That's known as the Hughes Appropriation, Goalie. :-)

[murraymints]

Aks not ask annoys me

[murraymints]

Now now Douglas ! ;0)

[hellywelly4]

This thread is wonderful. Could of, would of........

[sunny-dave]

Bockle, nucular ...

[goodgoalie]

Yes, mints, forgot about that one. Heard a black reporter on my local TV news bulletin say 'he aksed me' - is it an import from the USA or Caribbean?

[sunny-dave]

Caribbean I think, GG - Michael Holding occsionally slips back to his roots and says 'arksed'.

[goodgoalie]

You've really got me going now. Hate people calling Tesco, Tesco's. Even in the fictional world of Weatherfield I shout at the screen when I hear someone refer to 'Freshco's': it's not 'Freshco's' - like Tesco, it's Freshco!

[sunny-dave]

Returning to the OP it was always just "Smugs" in our family - no idea why ...

[bhg481]

My grandmother always used to say "aks" for "ask" - an old Lancastrian who died in 1963, so I don't think it's an import. There are lots of words that some people get back-to-front or muddled; it's just one of those things. Dad always said "artitect" for "architect".

[goodgoalie]

Any time I go into a WH Smith I wonder how it hasn't long ago gone the way of Woolworth - it's like stepping back into the 1970's, and even has the same smell I remember from back then. How does it survive?