Is this actually a dialect thing? I'm pretty sure I switch between them both with no real logic.
this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2025
8 points (100.0% liked)
Ask UK
1584 readers
1 users here now
Community for asking and answering any question related to the life, the people or anything related to the UK.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Same, but probably Eye-ther most commonly for me. From South east.
For some reason EE-ther puts me in mind of the west country
It's either here.
I would use both ways depending on context, but ee-ther by default.
I'm in Swindon.
EE-ther. Never heard anyone say the second
Never heard of anyone say the second.
I've definitely said both as a speaker of General American. Gershwin even has it in a song lyric written in the 1930s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Call_the_Whole_Thing_Off#Full_list_of_differences
Either ee-ther or eye-ther.
It's pronounced ether motorboats cloth and inhales deeply AWW YEEEEA!