Vendome aka Rich said about him thinking that he spoke English, I am guessing that you all think this.

In English, UK English, many words are spelled differently but are pronounced the same and I know for a fact that some of the US words are most likely not.

I am thinking of root and route for instance, certainly when I hear an American saying route it sounds most odd to me. So is it the same or not as root?

It really depends on where in this vast country you're from. The vernacular varies, as, frequently, does pronunciation. For example, my husband is from Kansas, and he pronounces "route" like "root". I, however, was born in the San Francisco area ( but grew up all over as my Dad was in the military) and have always said "route" as rhyming with"shout".

It's always been fascinating to me how different speech in the same language can be depending on where in the country/world you're from. I go to the grocery store, but some people visit the supermarket; some take out the garbage and others the trash. Here in Georgia what I've always called a shopping cart is called a buggy! The first time I heard that at the store I started looking around for the baby! And one last pronunciation glitch that I've only ever heard here in the southern U.S.-- people here pronounce "suite" (as in a suite of furniture) as "suit". I cringe every time I hear that one.

"Aunt" is sometimes pronounced "ant", but is also pronounced "ahnt". "Often" can be pronounced with or without the "T" sound.

A long sandwich can be called "hero", "hoagie", "submarine" or "po boy", depending on where one lives. A carbonated drink can be called "soft drink", "soda", "pop", or "soda pop".

The second "S" is pronounced in "Kansas", but not in "Arkansas", where it is more of a "W" sound. In Texas, "Houston" is pronounced "huuston", but "Houston Street" in New York is pronounced "house-ton". (To be fair, they were named after different people.)

What fun for those from other countries to try and figure out

That long sandwich is called a 'grinder' in CT, postcards, and is usually served hot.
New Orleans had 'muffelatas', cafe au lait at the Cafe du Monde, and beignets - makes me hungry, had some of the best (and worst) food while living there. Worst was 'dirty crawdaddies' cooked in a 55 gallon drum at the local firehouse, all sorts of unpeeled veggies and flavors tossed in and then the whole mess poured out across a long wooden table to be picked at. Best was escargots and steak at Ruth's Chris steakhouse.
The dividing strip of ground, esp. on Canal St. is called a 'neutral ground' (the R in neutral is not heard), because it was literally the division between the Spanish and French quarters in the city. Now any divider is called that. One of the foist (yeah, they're as bad as Brooklyn, NY)incomprehensible questions I heard there was "Mashoflo?"
I was waiting by an elevator, and apparently the person wanted to know if he should push the button for my floor, which is "Mash yo' flo'?" in Nawlins. The toughest accent I've ever come across was from the mountain areas of the Carolinas, heavy drawling southern, with marbles in mouth.
New Yawkers stand ON line rather than IN line. Every country/language has thousands of localisms, but as somebody said, "The US and UK are two countries separated by a common language."

Whereas we all know that it's neither a shopping cart nor a buggy, it's a trolley. And we take out the rubbish. But a suite is always called sweet unless someone puts plastic covers on it in which case it's naff!

[quote=But a suite is always called sweet unless someone puts plastic covers on it in which case it's naff! [/quote]

Most definitely tacky!

I have heard some Americans saying congraDulations instead of congraTulations, that seems odd to me too.

Oh Sue I think that might be applied to Graduates erm graduating.

That would be the way I pronounce it (with the D sound). (I'm from New York City.)

And I say it with a T. But then I live in the distant lands of New York State, east of NYC on Lawn Guylind. (To be fair, I spent many years of my early childhood in Iowa, the age of learning to pronounce and in a household where my multilingual parents rarely spoke English.)

And as for carbonated beverages, I've been told that in Texas they are all called Coke. When you order one, you ask for a Coke, then are asked what flavor, such as orange, root beer, or a 7-Up.

Kinda depends on what part of the city you're from whether it's a T or a D. Brooklyn? I'm from UWS Manhattan, we used the T but many people there used the D.

It's Queens - with the D.

Not true. If you ask for a Coke here, you will get a serving of Coca-Cola.

Yes on "congradulations," and also "signifigance." (I'm from Florida.)

Interesting. I have family in Texas and they tell me this happens to them. I wonder if it is different depending on the area or if it is a rural vs. urban thing.

I heard a Professor of History from England tonight say the word 'wethin' instead of within. I detected no other speech impediments to account for it and did hear her say it at least two more times (her aversion to using the word inside or between = ?). Is that a hoity-toity version of the word used by those affecting airs?

Edit to posit that I've heard of 'tonics' in Texas being called colas, not cokes, as in RC Cola, Orange cola, Cherry cola, etc.

It's very true that in much of the South the term "Coke" is synonymous with any kind of soft drink. Since Georgia is the home of Coke, it's especially prevalent here. It seems to be changing, though, probably because of the influx of people who've moved here from all over the U.S. and world in recent years.

That may be a south Texas thing. I lived in Abilene (population ~125,000 - in west Texas) and currently in Dallas, and in both cases, you order a Coke and you'll get Coca-Cola.

I had a classmate in high school who had just moved from Georgia and we all thought it was the weirdest thing the if she asked for Coke she didn't mean Coca-Cola. Where I grew up in Ohio we called in Pop, but where I live now in Ohio it is called Soda. Evening moving around in the one state there is a lot of variation in a lot of English words. In Cincinnati I've heard a grocery bag is called a "poke". Don't even get me started on Scioto, Cuyahoga, Olentangy, Gahanna, and Wapakoneta. Everyone not familiar with those Ohio names always butchers them to death. Makes me cringe.

There are several (at least) town names here in the states that carry the names of prominent Old World cities, but are incorrectly pronounced. There is a town in Illinois called Cairo that is in "Huckleberry Finn." There's one in Georgia, too. However, they're both pronounced like Karo Syrup, rather than the city in Egypt I expect they were named for. It used to drive my students crazy when we read HF, hearing me call the town Karo. It's likely that when these cities were founded that people wanted to give them a significant-sounding name, but no one back then had ever heard Cairo spoken aloud.

I know someone from Versailles, KY...pronounced VERR-sails (like sails on a ship). Those Kentuckians don't know how to pronounce French...

And then there's people like me, who when recently asked at a drive-thru "And what kind of drink would you like?", replied "Medium". Sigh. I got Coke lol

But mostly those cola-y drinks here are called 'pop' though in my family we just call them 'drinks' or by their actual name (Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc.)

We Brits have our awkward place names too. Leominster springs to mind, which is pronounced LEM-ster, not as it's spelled. There are two ways of pronouncing Shrewsbury - one with 'shrew' as the animal and the other with 'shrow' (as in 'row a boat'). Both are heard regularly, even on the BBC.

Get your tongues around St Ouen, Ouaisne, Le Quesne, Quennevais etc which is something I have to do daily. I must admit that we get some amusement from listening to our fellow Brits trying to say them.

Ah, they would sound a bit like San Wan, Waynay, Lu Cane, Keneevay.

Local newscasters are tested before being hired on pronunciation of local place names such as Quogue (KwaGa,one syllable) and Hauppauge (Hop-awg).