How to Say 'Route' in American vs. British English | Improve Your Accent & Speak Clearly

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Learn how to pronounce "route" in both American and British English. Improve Your Accent & Speak Clearly
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[davidbaker]

I'm British and I was once in a lift (elevator) with an American. When the lift unexpectedly took us up before taking us down to ground floor, he said out loud "we'll take the cynic rowt".

I was confused for the rest of the time in the lift until I realised just as I was leaving what he meant, and I said "oh you mean scenic route", and I left him confused trying to repeat scenic route in English lol

[Dan-hgdb]

Perfect explanation. I also use both pronunciations without giving it too much thought. I had a “paper rowt” when I was a kid (I delivered newspapers), but today I might call it a “paper root.”

[THEVNTGNETWORK]

Great, clear, easy, fast and smooth explanation! My Hamletic doubt came out when I started watching "Drive" (with the VO saying "rowt") while I perfectly remember Manhattan Transfer's "Route 66" which they pronunce "root".
Tnx!

[MinnesotaSvensk]

I live in Northern Minnesota. It is "rowt" here, always has been. The only time I've heard root is when referring to Route 66.

[HazelHamburg]

So happy to have found this explanation. I got some peculiar explanations even from native speakers. Now it is clear to me, thank you so much.

[mercykamau]

Wow, thanks for clearing that for me! Been in a quandary.

[at_lightspeed]

The 'e' at the end of route changes the pronunciation of 'ou' to 'oo' hence in English it's pronounced root. This is why the word rout in English is pronounce rowt. Route originates from French meaning road, and the French pronounce it root as well. From what I understand the US scraped a lot of the English rules to pronouncing words many moons ago, hence why there's these differences surfacing with globalisation and the internet. Personally I think rowt sounds ugly. Another word the US pronounces differently in most instances is niche as nich. Again a French origin word pronounced neesh. Would be nice to keep as much romance in the English language as possible.

[wispwips]

I felt stupid when I moved to UK, I said in class “rowt” a group of students started laughing at me and said “root” jesus

[davybean]

Yeah I remember the song " Get your kicks on Rowt 66" I don't think.

[muhasawa]

Me few years back when I used to say English is English, what the h*** is the difference b/w American and British English. Now, just realizing the vast difference both have. For ESL, it's challenging to opt which English to learn.

[ratava]

Sorry to have to tell you that route, originally Latin, came to English from French, and they still pronounce it La route like the English, the correct pronounciation is, actually, the French and English route, as in root. Why Americans
started pronouncing it rowt I do not know, but it is a good example of a mispronounciation which has become commonly used, in America.

[safetynudge]

simplification. So as not to get confused. Remember "Route" is a French word and pronounced ROOT. It came into English with the same antecedents. It means the way or the Path. However there is a similar word ROUT. pronounced "Rowt", which means a very bad defeat. So don't mix them up.

[julakiss]

From my experience, living in the states for more than a decade, I don't think I ever heard anyone pronounce this word as "root". Even news casters pronounce it as "rowt". so it just sounds strange to me that some people pronounce it as "root" in The U.S. Is it like regional thing? thanks for the video!

[meltuc]

In Canada we say (ROOT), my GPS says (ROWT).
It’s the same with Decal, in Canada we say (DECKALL) in America it’s (DEECAL)

[achavedaciencia]

Good work buddy! We need more videos like this. Straight to the point! Gotta a new sub here. I teach English in Brazil and Im sure your videos are gonna be of a great help!

[eet]

The word is something of a shibboleth in Maine. If you pronounce it as rhyming with "shout", people know you're from away.

[harbottle]

I see American documentaries where the same presenter uses both versions within the same program. It doesn't get picked up in the editing. It's unusual because usually when you choose one way of pronouncing a word, you stick with it. I assumed it was based on whichever state you where from. A bit like in England some words are pronounced differently in the North than in the South. Example; 'laugh'. In the north is pronounced 'laff'. In the South it's 'larf'.

[nthanhcong]

could you talk more about this word "router"? I am confusing with pronunciation between "rooter" and "rowter" in both English and American English

[hossinebenyanet]

Hi Robert! 0:49. What was that word? Tosap?Can you spell it? What does it mean?

[symphonydreams]

In Malaysia, we use both american and british english. 😂 Also, sometimes malaysian like to mixed up english with malay language and it become manglish 🤣