Why the f* do people say . . .

[mariner2]

. . . arks instead of ask??

[joggerjayne]

carrust ... ???

[yogasun]

There are quite a few people that say 'sustificate' instead of 'certificate' ..... I find it really annoying!

[mccfluff]

i hate it when people say witch when they mean with

ala pussycrap dolls

[mccfluff]

or tree or free instead of three

pacific instead of specific

[carrust]

JJ. Do you ever watch eggheads on BBC2 @ 6.00pm?

[joggerjayne]

mccfluff

"tree" instead of "three" ?

You mean like ... the whole population of Ireland, for instance?

LOL

[lexie..]

you mean tree, like....................'they want tree fellers, and there's only two of us?'

[joggerjayne]

Oh, I see, carrust ...

Eggheads seems to have passed me by.

=0(

However ... your description of the team from Brighton sounds about normal, LOL.

[joggerjayne]

lexie's got the idea !!

[stewey]

Also, there is no such word as 'perogative' as in "It's a woman's perogative to change her mind"; however, we all, including myself, use the word.

[mccfluff]

well yep i suppose so, although you could argue that not being english, its a second lanugage and anyone who can speak more than one language, its acceptable to make the odd slip up here and there

(phew did i get away with that)

[sqad617]

There was a young woman from Hove,
Who burnt her arse on a stove.
Her mother said Annie,
You've damaged your fanny.
Just arks your Dad for a reprove.

[Quizmonster]

Until around 1600, the regular literary form of the verb meaning �ask' was 'ax', based on earlier forms 'acsian' or 'axian'. 'Ax' remained until then the commonest form throughout the Midlands and Southern England, whilst 'ask' was essentially just the Northern form of the word.
It is, therefore, not just confined to specific racial groups but - even now - largely dialectal. I believe 'aks' is still quite commonly used in Lancashire, for example.

So, in a way, the people who use aks/arks are the ones who stuck with the original. Perhaps they should ask why you say ask!

[Mr-Marvel]

Very interesting, i am off now for a barth.

[crisgal]

i am a lancashire lass, and never ever hear anyone saying arks!
Sorry QM, but I have to disagree with you there.

I too hear it on tv. Catherine Tate's character "Lauren - Am I bothered" says it.
Isn't it said by those annoying white people who speak as if they "is black" in a kind of Ali G style?

Whatever the reason, it's very annoying.

[mariner2]

The first exponent that I can remember was Frank Bruno, but it is spreading . . . .

[TCL-MUMPING]

crisgal I had wee look and found this

"1d. Re: Aks
Posted by: "Daniel Prohaska" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Sat Oct 27, 2007 8:40 am ((PDT))

I've only ever heard <aks> in Britain in Lancashire dialect where it has a short vowel, as in American English, though the vowel is [a] rather than
[{].

Dan"

[Quizmonster]

Apart from whistling through it going up the M6, Crisgal, my experience of Lancashire is absolutely nil! That is why I wrote earlier that I only 'believed' aks was common there. TCL's offering would seem to support that...but we could both be utterly wrong and one cannot beat local knowledge such as yours.
Your reference to Ali G and Mariner's reference to Frank Bruno illustrate the point I made about the racial element in my earlier answer.

[johntrevor]

I have often heard ask sbstituted with ax.eg he axes me a question.