Hacker News Reader

HNHacker News

Top New Best Ask Show Jobs

Comment by hirsin | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

hirsin·

How else is it pronounced? Tawn like lawn,ic

View on HN

Tonic with the 'ton' pronounced like 'on'is the only way I've ever heard it pronounced.

My wife is from Boston too.

I love stuff like this, I've lived in Texas 13 years and have been pronouncing taco wrong until pointed out to me.

They say itmore like tocko than tacko like Brits do.

Heh, this is the issue, which makes me also love this stuff. I pronounce 'awn' and 'on' in 'lawn' and 'on' the same. Grew up in Pittsburgh so that tends to do it.

Take a look at the map in the original article. The areas covered in either blue slashes or blue hatches (i.e. left and right slashes intersecting), which is most of the US, has "Don" = "Dawn". There's also the "on" line, so for those who distinguish "Don" and "Dawn", some Americans pronounce "on" as if it was "awn".

For me "tonic" has a fairly short vowel in the first syllable. Whereas "Tawnic" would have a longer vowel. There's also a different in sound. You might hear my "aw" as if it was a long "o" sound. The Australian vowel system is really nothing like the American vowel system.

Hmm, I was trying to note the distinct New England sound of it. Maybe "tahwn-ick" says it better?

The first syllable is drawn out much more than I would hear that word somewhere other than New England.

Down Eastern tonic pronunciation, as used in a sentence, for those who are curious.

https://vocaroo.com/i/s1Se7U44m2c7

(I was going to go with Bostonian, Southie, but decided this one was better.)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com