British people generally pronounce "potatoes" with three syllables, sounding like puh-TAY-toes (/pəˈteɪtəʊz/), very similarly to Americans. While the song lyrics "you say potayto, I say potahto" imply a difference, in modern British English, the "a" is usually a long "ay" sound. Occasionally, they may be referred to colloquially as spuds.
Etymology. Supposedly uses the American English and British English pronunciations of the word potato, by analogy of tomato (see tomayto, tomahto). Unlike tomato, only the former pronunciation is used in either American or British English.
The English word "potato" comes from Spanish patata, in turn from Taíno batata, which means "sweet potato", not the plant now known as simply "potato".
How to Pronounce Potato? (2 WAYS!) British Vs US/American English Pronunciation
Who says potahto?
Do you know the origin of "potato, potahto", "tomato, tomahto", expressions to say "It's the same difference"? It's from a song written by George and Ira Gershwin and first performed by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
The correct spelling for the plural of potato is potatoes (with an "e"), while potatos (without the "e") is a common misspelling and is always incorrect in standard English. This follows a common English rule for nouns ending in a consonant + "o," like "tomato" becoming "tomatoes".
The “tomato, tomato” saying refers to the pronunciation difference between American English (to-MAY-to) and British English (to-MAH-to), symbolizing trivial disagreements where both perspectives are equally valid. This linguistic quirk became famous through the 1937 Gershwin song “Let's Call the Whole Thing Off.”
The /t/ vs. /ʌ/ sound difference follows established phonetic patterns: American English typically pronounces the 't' in 'potato' as a clear /t/ sound. British English often replaces the 't' with a vowel-like /ʌ/ sound (similar to 'uh') Both pronunciations refer to the exact same tuber.
Jacket potatoes are the British version of what Americans call baked potatoes. They get their name from the crispy “jacket” of skin that encases the potato, keeping the inside light and fluffy.
“Potato” is the correct English spelling in the more than 50 English speaking countries around the world. Americans may spell it “potatoe” and call it American English, but that doesn't make it correct.
Consumers love potatoes, and they also love giving them endearing nicknames, like tuber or tater. The most common slang term, however, is probably spud.
Ramsay lends her voice to the All3Media-owned company One Potato Two Potato, originally a joint venture between Optomen and her father, where she says the company name in a singalong style.
