1y ago

American media regularly censors the word ass but not the English word arse despite most Americans not knowing the difference is spelling not pronunciation.

Edit: I don't mean they sound the same I mean the word arse is pronounced how I figured British would pronounce ass with the drawn r rather than the way arse is pronounced (at least where I'm from) it's a hard r

30 comments

arse is 100% pronounced differently to "ass"
- That's what I said.
  
  You said the complete opposite, that it's "spelling not pronunciation"

Surely no one actually thinks that's how Brits pronounce ass. Surely?
- Ass is pronounced ass and arse is pronounced arse
  They are generally used differently at least in the bit of the UK I'm from
  Ass is the body part/animal and rarely used as an insult
  Arse is primarily used as an insult "I don't like him the man's an arse"
  I have zero clue how it evolved this way beyond (to me at least) calling someone an ass just sounds wierd.
  
  Ass is very rarely used to mean the body part in the UK
  
  My first encounter with the word “arse” was when I played Conker’s Bad Fur Day on the N64 as a kid. I thought it was just a funny-sounding way to get around censors back then haha
  
  I feel like parts of the UK have always said ass instead of arse. Like how some places say pants instead of trousers.
- They can't be arsed
- I used too 😅

Lmao. I love when Americans just make shit up about Europeans
- We never do that. Now go back to driving around in your biscuit powered car.

Yeah these are two very different pronunciations in Standard American English. /æs/ versus /ɑrs/
As a result there is a difference in severity as well, akin to the difference between “damn” and “darn”.
- From what I'm gathering, they have very different pronunciations in British English as well. I'm not sure about this shower thought, it seems like OP might be the one that's mistaken?
  
  That's a fair assumption lol I didn't learn for a long time that it wasn't just the English way of pronouncing ass. It flows perfectly with the other differences in word pronunciation that it never even crossed my mind they could be different words.
- /ɑrs/
  I have never heard an American say /ɑrs/ for any reason if the were not hanging around with Brits or referring to/imitating some British thing.

Those words sound the same? I'm one of those Americans who did not know.
- Those words do not sound the same
- Not in the slightest in the UK. Source: in the UK.
  Ass isn't really said, and more seen as an 'Americanism'. Arse is way more common.
- Nope. They do not sound the same.
- Not quite. Brits don’t pronounce the R before a consonant, but the vowel will be more similar to the vowel in “paw” than in “ash.”
- To me arse just sounded like the British way of saying ass and I never really questioned it but I learned eventually

I've seen some Scottish and Irish comedians who lean into that 'r' like they're trying to kick a potato to Portugal.
- can confirm, that is how we talk!

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