Why Can't (some) African Americans Pronounce the word "Ask" ?
 

Has it always been like this or are they just Fucking with us? I don't recall this being an issue when I grew up in the 80's or maybe I just wasn't around allot of Black People or just didn't notice..I can't remember. However, it seems like an easy fix but they continue to do it.
Hmmmm ...What Say u ?:error

They always have said axe instead of ask, or "have s goot one" instead if good. They are din do's that's why

And not some, 99%.

because we are Americano?

They do the same thing in the UK, but it's more like 'arxe' (like the difference between arse and ass).

The North American Urban ape has clicks & knocks too

I think it is mostly a cultural thing depending on how and where you were raised. Kind of like southern accents or Boston accents etc.

Bogans in Australia often say "arx" instead of "ask"

I need to arx you a question
She arxed me to go to dinner
What happens if he arxes me?

:helpme

Axe them what they wear at Halloween. A max?
Betcha they will say 'mask'.

So I'm guessing it's a black community thang, like the 'N' word and afro sheen.

It's 'aks/ax' with Canadian blacks too - Canadian blacks who are Caribbean origin for the most part, the rest are freed or escaped slaves from the US, they've been here forever and they are nothing like American ghetto blacks, they're normal, lost all their black accents/idioms.

Can't pronounce it

I lived in NYC from 1981 through 1985, and I remember many of my black friends there said "axe" instead of "ask". It didn't bother me or (apparently) most of the people in my circle, and let's be honest, to bitch about how people of different races don't speak English "properly" is really nothing more than nativism at best or racism at worst. I speak a combination of RP and Cockney because of my upbringing, and now have an American overlay to those accents... so would I be just fucking with you?

English pronunciation varies widely not just from country to country, but from region to region. I grew up in London and to me many Northern English accents, particularly Manchester, Yorkshire, and Scotland sound like they were spoken by fuckwad retards. And after living in the US for 30+ years in NYC, the SF Bay area, and SoCal, to me accents from the deep South sound like they're spoken by fuckwad retards too. Maybe they're just fucking with me?

Lol...I bet you're right :1orglaugh

why cant folks from boston say "r"? cah=car sistah-sister cohwnah=corner fauh-four etc?

he isn't bitching... different accents is one thing, but to rearrange the letters in a very simple word is hardly an accent thing. So i understand why he would wonder why they do it.

how about tacktoo?

Marco southern accents area dialect from England that has remained in the US and since dies out in England

:thumbsup

nativism at best or racism at worst. :thumbsup

Because they grow up around other people who can't pronounce ask..

Have you seen the Weight Watchers commercials with Jennifer Hudson? She can't pronounce her own name. "Jennifuh"

aren't there lots of whites who live in parts of NY, Boston, etc say that too?

Why do texans say nu - kew - ler instead of nuclear. Their parents said it, and so do they. There is not justification for that pronunciation, but if you want to fit in, you say it that way.

since when is it an "issue"?

you don't need to worry about the fall of western civilization being on account of blacks saying axe.

i grew up in Texas, 25 years, Texans don't say nuhclear. and certainly do not require that pronunciation in order to fit in.

that's exactly what an accent is. I guarantee you have one while speaking english. We all speak as our parents, family and friends speak. Sometimes when we go off to school that changes, sometimes it doesn't.

mirriam-webster justifies this pronunciation


nuclear
adjective nu·cle·ar \ˈnü-klē-ər, ˈnyü-, ÷-kyə-lər\



Nuclear | Definition of nuclear by Merriam-Webster

you can trace "ax" back to the eighth century. The pronunciation derives from the Old English verb "acsian."

Chaucer used "ax." It's in the first complete English translation of the Bible (the Coverdale Bible): " 'Axe and it shall be given.'

Why Chaucer Said 'Ax' Instead Of 'Ask,' And Why Some Still Do : Code Switch : NPR

It's not only blacks. People from Boston speak funny too. What the fuck is a Kaar? "I'm gonna drive my kaar down the street". HUH?

Pronunciation doesn't need to be justified, tex! It just happens. And, dictionaries reflect what is being said.

Yes, texans say "new - kyew - ler" do you need me to link your homie George Bush? I will! I WILL DO IT!

Look at the word: nu (noo or nyoo) cle (klee) ar (er or schwa r) is the standard pronunciation. Of the billions of people who speak english as a first or second language, 99% say nuclear correctly. A few, including our former president, use the much derided alternate pronunciation.

Nico-t would speak with an accent, but he would not rearrange letters of the words.
That is not an accent, that is inventing new words. Like I would say "wrod" instead of "word".

Plus - accents in US English are based on geographical locations (Boston accent, Southern accent, Texas accent etc etc), while OP and others are claiming this word is used by Africans all around the US.

Yet the do not say "cra" (or "kraa", or whatever) instead of "car".

i'm not saying Texans don't say that, I'm saying it not really accurate to claim it's THE way or the highway to say it there. Don't get me wrong, TExas is a shithole and i hope I never have to go back to visit family there. I've even done a pre-emptive *i'm doing a family reunion at my place* to make sure it doesn't happen there.

btw, YOUR guy Clinton pronounced it that way also, as you know, he from the South, but not Texas.

:winkwink:

WTF?............
http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-conte.../12/omgwtf.gif

I use Axe on my armpits every day.

Legitimate question though. It's a piddly 3-letter word, shouldn't be all that hard to pronounce. And sure enough the mere ASKING of the question brings out the racism card.

What a world we live in.

They probably learned it from a hip hop track!

I still can't figure out how ukers per ounce the word three.

Why do people from Las Vegas use 'allot' when the correct form in this case would be 'a lot'. (Determined by my stereotyping of ALL people from Las Vegas, based on the OP's improper use of the word 'allot').

What really fucking annoys me is the Asian community using the word innit (isn`t it).

"look at my wicked car innit"
"I already knows it, innit"
"know what I mean innit"
"I fucking showed him man innit"

To be fair, it`s not just an Asian thing but the youth of today demonstrating what a pile of shit our English education system is.

Yes he was from a little state called ARKANSAS - inexplicably pronounced Ar - Kan - Saw . I used to imagine it was what Kansas was aspired to be, i.e. the Ur-Kansas, but no, I think it is actually a touch shittier even than Kansas. Props on getting out of Texas with your sanity intact - I have several friends who say exactly what you say about it.

My father pronounces wash as warsh. Man I hate that. Time to warsh the dishes. It's fucking wash! Also says retroactive as rectoactive and supposedly as sposedly. Irritating as fuck.

AKS

I hate it when people say that, drives me nuts, he aksed me a quesion, ahh right, he aksed you a question did he? What was the question that he aksed you ?

My pop was often mistaken for being a brit but he was a southern boy born and bred in Mississippi. He was a PH.D theoretical mathematician and attended the same Swiss school that all the great scientists went to including Einstein. As soon as people found out his accent was actually southern then they typically treated him like he was a racist hick, which he was anything but.

Having an issue and perception of someone based on the way they pronounce words is just inane. :2 cents:

why can't a lot of english speaking people not say juan, they say wuan or something like that. It is just plain stupid spanish and easy as fuck. Except when they are talking about the film don juan demarco. Then they can pronounce it correctly.