1146 days ago

Scone with the Wind: Lower Hutt's best cheese scones

Nicholas Boyack Reporter from Community News

Stuff journalist Virginia Fallon checked out scones in Lower Hutt last week.
And how do you pronounce scone?
There are two ways you’ll hear the word said: one rhymes with gone and the other with cone; some insist the latter is the posh way to say it; others urge the former is correct.
Dr Simon Overall, a linguistics lecturer at the University of Otago, pronounces it to rhyme with gone, though says there’s no ‘’correct’’ way to say the word.
“If you look at the way the word is written, you would guess gone, but we have lots of words like that. English spelling gives you clues, but it often misleads,” he said.
“Cambridge University did a dialect survey and asked people do you pronounce it to rhyme with gone or cone, and it's quite noticeable, at least around the British Isles, that in Scotland it’s almost entirely gone.“
England is mostly the same, while the Republic of Ireland is almost the opposite: “It’s really a regional thing. In terms of the way New Zealand was settled you obviously get quite a mix.”
As for whether one pronunciation is posher than the other, the Queen rhymes it with gone. I tell him I almost wish I pronounced it the other way because then this series could be called Game of Scones.

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14 days ago

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20 hours ago

$50 garden centre vouchers!

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Our winners this week have won $50 to spend at a local garden centre.
Congratulations to:

Cassie Arauzo from Cockle Bay

Elizabeth Williams from Hillcrest

Luke Shamy from Hornby

Mitchell Hopping from Wallacetown

Get in touch with our helpdesk team here if you're on this list! If you're not a winner, check back next week just in case.

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3 days ago

Poll: Is it okay to grocery shop in your PJs?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

I'm sure you've seen it while doing your weekly shop... In fact, it may have even been you.

What do you think about people heading to the supermarket in their pyjamas?

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Is it okay to grocery shop in your PJs?
  • 14.5% It's fine!
    14.5% Complete
  • 75.1% It's questionable
    75.1% Complete
  • 10.4% Other - I'll share below
    10.4% Complete
1836 votes