How to say "either" and "neither"

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Apr 21, 2013, at 8:53 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:

> On Apr 21, 2013, at 11:06 PM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:
>
>> Several times on TV news for "either" I've been hearing EYE-ther instead of EE-ther which is what the dictionaries say is US accent and what I'm used to.  Is someone promoting EYE-ther.  Perhaps UK.
>>
>>
> I'd say invest in some new dictionaries.  The ones I have list both pronunciations; either seems natural to me.  The /i/ pronunciation is more frequent in the U.S. to be sure, but variation doesn't mean a plot, or even a promotion campaign.   Maybe, as the song suggests, you could call the whole thing off.

The British have been messing up American English since the early seventeenth century. I certainly wouldn't put it past them to try and promote such a garish pronunciation as a prank. (And then when you call them on it, they snigger at you for being oversensitive.)

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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