How do you pronounce "either"?

**Nixarter** · July 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by t0p

No. I am a Brit and I say "ee-ther", as do most of my peer group. People I know from the "posher" level of society tend to say "eye-ther"... but that's not set in stone. Like qamelian said, depends on context (ie where you are, who you're with) and what dictionary you're using.

Though I'm American, I concur.

"Eye-ther" sounds horridly pretentious to me. I avoid it at all costs. When I hear people say it I think "This person is stupid and trying to cover it up by feeble attempts to sound intelligent." I find intelligence and "that type" of person mutually-exclusive.

Before the flames, I feel the same way about generalizations... but I never said I was perfect. so

**odiseo77** · July 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by t0p

No. I am a Brit and I say "ee-ther", as do most of my peer group. People I know from the "posher" level of society tend to say "eye-ther"... but that's not set in stone. Like qamelian said, depends on context (ie where you are, who you're with) and what dictionary you're using.

Ah, I see. For some reason I thought that "eye-ther" was the standard British pronunciation. Thanks for clarifying it

**nothingspecial** · July 14th, 2012

I pronounce it ee-ther eye-ther or ee-ther.

**QIII** · July 14th, 2012

Just don't mix it up with ether if you aren't wearing a respirator or you'll wake up with a headache.

**Ji Ruo** · July 14th, 2012

I pronounce it as 'flabgabulous'.

Flagabulous that or I'm lying.

**Ji Ruo** · July 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by QIII

Just don't mix it up with ether if you aren't wearing a respirator or you'll wake up with a headache.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmXGVDnPU9o

**lisati** · July 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by zer010

I use both depending on mood and context...

Ditto. My memory is a bit hazy on which pronunciation predominated at home in my younger days.

I'm confident we could come up with a list of words with regional and contextual variations in pronunciation and meaning. Example: "sup" seems to be a greeting these days, abbreviated from "What's up?" but I can't help thinking of food when I hear it.

**forrestcupp** · July 14th, 2012

Originally Posted by Nixarter

"Eye-ther" sounds horridly pretentious to me. I avoid it at all costs. When I hear people say it I think "This person is stupid and trying to cover it up by feeble attempts to sound intelligent." I find intelligence and "that type" of person mutually-exclusive.

Lol. I've known people I've felt that way about. But I've also known people who say "eye-ther" that I didn't feel like they're an idiot, too.

Originally Posted by lisati

I'm confident we could come up with a list of words with regional and contextual variations in pronunciation and meaning. Example: "sup" seems to be a greeting these days, abbreviated from "What's up?" but I can't help thinking of food when I hear it.

What? I just thought that when people say "sup", they're inviting me to dinner!

I remember in the late 80's when it started becoming popular to say "What's up?" The first time someone said it to me, I started laughing and said, "What's up, Doc?" because I thought they were quoting Bugs Bunny.