Dan's weekly dumb question...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

How do you pronouce potash?
Po-tash?
Pot-Ash?

[Puddington]

Literally; the word is pronouced both ways about half the time in my experience. When I lived out west it was "Po-tash". In the east; the "Victorian" noun seems to be more common; "Pot-ash"......I guess it's one of those "tomato-tomatoe" words...................

[Chris333]

http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=potash

[cfritschle]

Daniel,

In Wyoming where it is mined, it is pronounced pot-ash.  And the Union Pacific crews and dispatchers for Idaho and Oregon also pronounce it pot-ash.  

Carter

Edit:  Farmers here in the Northwest also pronounce it pot-ash.

[Denver Road Doug]

The first time I'd ever heard the word spoken (and one of only a few times I've even heard it) was from my cousin in Montana...pot-ash.  Good question though....I'm sure there's a lot of words in our realm that get mispronounced.  Only in the last 5-10 years did I learn how to pronounce "Reading".

[Iain]

Here in eastern NC where it is also mined, it is called pot-ash.  Never heard it the other way.

[David Leonard]

Well, to "air" is human! (Should be pronounced "errrr.")

[cv_acr]

Well, to "air" is human! (Should be pronounced "errrr.")

No, "err" is the same root as "error", so that's pronounced the same. air-or.

[Ali Kenneth]

It is Pot-ash in the UK too. I work for a company that used to move lots of it by train, it still goes by train but one run by one of our competitors now!

Alasdair
 ;D

[David Leonard]

Chris, you are right for contemporary pronunciation, which means I'm a lot older than you! Here's a quote from the American Heritage Dictionary. Not all the pronunciation characters copied, so I substituted "air" for the equivalent.

"Usage Note: The pronunciation (ûr) for the word err is traditional, but the pronunciation [air] has gained ground in recent years, perhaps owing to influence from errant and error, and must now be regarded as an acceptable variant. The Usage Panel was split on the matter: 56 percent preferred (ûr), 34 percent preferred (r), and 10 percent accepted both pronunciations."

[kiwi_al]

I think you guys should use a better dictionary.

[Bob Bufkin]

O.K.  Now how to you say "Kato"?

[choochin3]

Cat-O

Carl T.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Kay-Toe

[Catt]

Ed,KATO is pronounced KAH-TOE.

Unless like 99% of Americans you butcher Japanese words.