On 6/9/2026 at 12:11 AM, flaming dragon said:

Especially Brit Youtubers consistently call it 'Jontiem'. Is it a form of dyslexia? They seem to be the only nationality that consistently screws up such a simple word.

Probably the same dudes that can't pronounce Chang, Phuket Pattaya Muay Thai, suay..etc and get offended when they are corrected, usual aggressively replying with stfu, I've been living here for years...ok to be fair, yanks can be just as bad.

On 6/8/2026 at 1:11 PM, flaming dragon said:

Especially Brit Youtubers consistently call it 'Jontiem'. Is it a form of dyslexia? They seem to be the only nationality that consistently screws up such a simple word.

I don’t watch Brit YTubers.

Being a Cockney I'm not concerned about pronunciation. What irritates me is the now-continuous use of the word "Impact" instead of "affect " and "effect". When was the last time anyone heard those two words?

On 6/9/2026 at 10:08 AM, wil iam not said:

And no-one pronounces the black plastic used for records correctlty, as it is written. It is VINYL, noy VYNIL.

Definitely noy.

1 hour ago, Garouda said:

The point is that cowboys speak distorted slang while Brits speak real English...

It’s actually the other way around. I can barely understand what my Brit friends are saying with their thick accent and jargon yet they understand my American monotone perfectly.

39 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

Probably the same dudes that can't pronounce Chang, Phuket Pattaya Muay Thai, suay..etc and get offended when they are corrected, usual aggressively replying with stfu, I've been living here for years...ok to be fair, yanks can be just as bad.

Moo Thai lol

23 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

Even worse, just plain "Pats." One of my oldest and dearest friends (BTW, he IS Brit) uses that abbreviated reference. I try to ignore it, but my anus does pucker just a little every time he does.

You're easily pleased.

On 6/9/2026 at 11:18 AM, mark5335 said:

I'm curious why the "t" is some words is silent. For example:

water is war-uh

bugatti is buga-ee

Its called the glottal t.

19 hours ago, NanLaew said:

Why can't Aussies say Pat-ta-yah instead of Pt-ayea?

Because they learnt it from the Brits

I work with a lot of younger people who were educated at international schools in Bangkok.

In spite of many having British teachers, they speak as if they were American.

I never encounter a Thai person educated at international school who has a British accent.

Some of them started at international school in preschool years and they definitely do not have any trace of Thai accent.

Apart from sensible choice of vocabulary ( like saying "lift" instead of "elevator") they are indistinguishable from American English speakers.

Apparently (?) mass media has a greater effect than their British teachers on their use of English.

2 hours ago, Back Stage said:

Actually, American English is older English. It is what the English used to speak.

Which is why people from the Carolinas have a different sound/language than the New England Boston twang. The early settlers in both places came from different parts of England. The Carolina group from Devon and the Boston lot came from East Anglia.

On 6/9/2026 at 3:09 AM, SiSePuede419 said:

Why Can't Brits Say...

Aluminum

Just a note: Calling it Aluminum is a scientific error not a language error.

16 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

I work with a lot of younger people who were educated at international schools in Bangkok.

In spite of many having British teachers, they speak as if they were American.

I never encounter a Thai person educated at international school who has a British accent.

Some of them started at international school in preschool years and they definitely do not have any trace of Thai accent.

Apart from sensible choice of vocabulary ( like saying "lift" instead of "elevator") they are indistinguishable from American English speakers.

Apparently (?) mass media has a greater effect than their British teachers on their use of English.

I think it's their peers who have the influence rather than media, well at least a combo.......One of my pet peeves is sending a British child to a British owned international school, only for them to speak as you describe above.....I would add that the accent, albeit at a younger age was distinguishable (difficult to describe) from American English speakers...I guess, it must completely morph in later years..

I can't imagine what the accent (particularly in Chiang Mai) is like now with all the Chinese in the mix..............

2 hours ago, wil iam not said:

Google translate says pat-ta- yaaaaah.

My wife says Pa-Tee- Ya (short ahh).

57 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Definitely noy.

Effing Spellchecker!.

45 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Its called the glottal t.

Sometimes replaced with a D...........

water in London is wo-ah. but in New York...war - da.

Edited June 10Jun 10 by wil iam not

47 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Just a note: Calling it Aluminum is a scientific error not a language error.

Strange that Platinum, Sodium, Magnesiumand Uranium are spelt and pronounced the same.Was Pt discovered by the Yanks, and U by the Brits, or Sir Humphrey Davy to be precise.?

On 6/9/2026 at 5:30 AM, scubascuba3 said:

YouTubers are definitely not well educated, so don't expect them to set standards

Unfortunately, setting standards is exactly what they do for younger folks. Influencers almost by definition set standards.

42 minutes ago, Off Piste said:

I think it's their peers who have the influence rather than media, well at least a combo.......One of my pet peeves is sending a British child to a British owned international school, only for them to speak as you describe above.....I would add that the accent, albeit at a younger age was distinguishable (difficult to describe) from American English speakers...I guess, it must completely morph in later years..

I can't imagine what the accent (particularly in Chiang Mai) is like now with all the Chinese in the mix..............

I think you are right about the accent being not exactly American.

Maybe it is becoming the "neutral ?" accent to those who speak English as a second language.

Interesting, funny how invested people are in their particular version of English.

15 minutes ago, thecyclist said:

Unfortunately, setting standards is exactly what they do for younger folks. Influencers almost by definition set standards.

Yes low standards, i missed out the word high

Edited June 10Jun 10 by scubascuba3

On 6/9/2026 at 12:11 AM, flaming dragon said:

Especially Brit Youtubers consistently call it 'Jontiem'. Is it a form of dyslexia? They seem to be the only nationality that consistently screws up such a simple word.

Best idea is to stop watching Brits on You Tube. YT will only show what you tell it to.

On 6/8/2026 at 9:09 PM, SiSePuede419 said:

Why Can't Brits Say...

Aluminum

Garage

Schedule

Tomato

Herb

We could play this game all day. 🥃

I'm guessing British pronunciation reflects older French influence.. .?

Not necessarily. Usually the American pronunciation is the older version or a mispronunciation due to the fact that many Americans a century ago were not NESs.

Aluminium was changed from Aluminum by a British scientist. The original name Alumium and aluminum were both originally used by English scientists America ended up keeping the older form.

Again tomah-to and tomay-to is to do with the "Great novel shift" that effected Britain more than America. Tomato is Spanish based .

Herb/Herb again in America they kept the older French based version.

American Engkish is frequently more archaic that British English as for about 150 years after the Revolution the country was relatively isolated and populated by non English speaking immigrants who were taught a rigid older form of English.

Edited June 10Jun 10 by kwilco

23 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

The US outnumbers the UK by quite a bit, so too bad. Then again, India outnumbers both by quite a bit, so practice your head wobble.

Quantity doesn't matter as much as quality

23 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

I would counter that the English have their own issues with the spoken language. Case in point:

Case in point the Americans appear to have a child's approach to language

On 6/9/2026 at 2:12 AM, philipsharpe said:

...because the British developed the language,gave it to the Americans and watched them bastardise it.

Actually it is the other way round.

In my nearly twenty years of living here I've never heard anyone, Brit or other, call Jomtien anything other than Jomtien. Have you ever thought of having your ears seen to? I have heard many Spams using the hard "y" in Pattaya, like they use hard vowels in most instances. Words where they're supposed to use hard vowels, they use soft ones just to be awkward.

I think it's a damned cheek anyone criticising an English person for the way they pronounce English words like aluminium and nuclear. Spams would say aluminum and nucelar. Bit like me pulling up a Chinese person for the incorrect use of Mandarin or Cantanese. If you nick someone's language, you could at least have the decency to speak it properly.

20 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

Quantity doesn't matter as much as quality

Well, languages evolve, like it or not. Other languages existed before English, and others will exist in the future. The quality aspect is highly subjective. The UK is unlikely to be the driver in future English as they do not have the media influence that the US and India now command. Maybe they need a language ambassador like Bush Barbie.

1 hour ago, wil iam not said:

Sometimes replaced with a D...........

water in London is wo-ah. but in New York...war - da.

Actually in New York it's wah-duh. In NE New Jersey where I'm from, waw-ter

9 minutes ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Well, languages evolve, like it or not. Other languages existed before English, and others will exist in the future. The quality aspect is highly subjective. The UK is unlikely to be the driver in future English as they do not have the media influence that the US and India now command. Maybe they need a language ambassador like Bush Barbie.

This is very true. However American English whilst understandable is more like a child's version as silent letters are omitted. Personally I have never understood why in the UK we have words with letters that are silent. But it is what it is.