Weekly English Words with Alisha - Words that Vary by Region

Hi, and welcome back to Weekly Words. I'm Alisha, and I don't know what I'm gonna talk

to you about yet, but let's start. Today's topic is word that vary by region.

"Creek." I say "creek." You might hear the word "crick." The word "creek" means "a small

river," essentially. "There's a creek in my backyard," for example. Sure.

The next word is "coyote." I say "coyote." How do other people say this word? "Coyote

(ky-yote)." I don't say that. A coyote is kinda a dog-like animal. It's a wild animal

like about the size of a dog. They howl at night. We have them in Oregon where I'm from.

I definitely heard them at my house. "Last night I heard the coyotes out in my pasture."

Okay, the next word is "route." "Route (root)" is how I say it. You might also hear the word

pronounced "route (rowt). "Route" (R-O-U-T-E) means "the

way it through a city or a town or some kind of path." In other words, R-O-O-T, which this

word sounds like, is the system that the bottom of a plant that the plant uses to get nutrients,

you know, with the little, hairy fibers. I am so good at explaining plant biology! "Oh,

I know a good route to get from school to the park later. let's take that on our bicycles."

That was oddly specific.

The next word is "apricot (ayp-ri-cot)" or you might hear "apricot (ap-ri-cot)" as well.

It's a fruit, so you might say, "Hey, did you bring any apricots

to the picket." Picket? To the picket! Apricots, no, apricots!

"Picket," on the other hand, is a word that means "protest." There's a freebie in there.

Ah, for example, you might say, "Hey, I really liked those apricots you brought me the other

day." They were delicious.

Okay, the next… Ooh. The next word is "caramel." I say, I think I say "caramel." This is making

me doubt myself. There's "caramel," and there's "caramel (car-mel)." They both refer to a

sugary, sweet substance that's often a type of candy or often inside a type of candy.

It's really, really delicious. So you might say, "Oh, my favorite kind of candy is caramel!"

Or, "My favorite kind of candy is caramel (car-mel)." It just depends on where you're

from. Apparently in the East Coast, they say "caramel." On the West Coast, it seems we

say "caramel (carl-mel)." That sounds about right to me.

You can choose... End! Hooray! What was this one called? Ah, this has been "Words that

Vary by Region." You can choose which region you're from, perhaps, so that's probably best

for you to be consistent when you're speaking so that you don't confuse the person listening

to you. Hope you enjoyed it. I will see you again next time. Bye-bye!