2007-01-13 01:09:10 · 5 answers · asked by rhstocks188 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
You like potato and I like potahto
You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto.
Let's call the whole thing off - Ira Gershwin song
Anyway: the Brits messed up the entire thing anyway. The Revolutionary War Americans deliberately pronounced words differently as to not be mistaken for a Crown Loyalist or Tory
which was hard to accomplish as both sides looked alike.
After George Washington hanged several who pronounced tomato or potato with an English accent the Americans were careful to speak just good "Yankee" talk.
In 1536 Spanish Conquistadors invading Peru discovered the potato and carried it back with them to Europe. When the Spaniards first discovered the potato, they thought it was poisonous because they belonged to the nightshade family and were considered deadly if eaten. In fact, nobody but the Irish were willing to eat this hearty little tuber. The same man who brought tobacco to the UK also discovered the "sweet" potato, which may be of interest to you: Sir Francis Drake.
Spanish explorers discovered the tomato in Latin America, but it was at first grown only as an ornament called the love apple."
2007-01-13 03:00:52 · answer #1 · answered by cruisingyeti 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
optimistic, it is French, and optimistic it's time-honored to boot the undeniable fact that no longer relatively a typical as a results of potential of certainty the English pronunciation suitable right here. in case you watch Motocross, i think of there's a Thomas website (Toe-mah Pa-zhay) to boot the undeniable fact that he could nicely be spelled "Tomas"
2016-12-13 04:57:10 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because, especially in the south, we turn any a in to a long a, rather than a short one.
So, we say (pronounce) bath as barth, glass as glarss
2007-01-13 01:17:37 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Because we invented the English language, before your own American language evolved it to your own version. Why do Americans pronounce it the way you do? Just one of those things I suppose, such is life
2007-01-13 02:03:02 · answer #4 · answered by rikerlock 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
That is how British English is, like "M-ai-ls" for males and "Fe-mai-ls" for females.
2007-01-13 01:16:21 · answer #5 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋