"Sol-der" or "sodder"

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Lizard1977

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#253111 26-Jul-2019 11:34

I've been watching a bunch of videos on Youtube about retro gaming and restoring old technology, and a lot of the (mostly American) presenters talk about soldering, except it sounds like they are pronouncing it "sodder" rather than "sol-der." Is this simply an American pronounciation, or is this how the word is pronounced (a silent 'l')?

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#2284056 26-Jul-2019 11:36

Simply American English vs British English. Also watching YouTube vidoes its a bit jarring at first for someone used to solder (like myself). Got used to it eventually.

Senecio

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#2284057 26-Jul-2019 11:38

Just an American thing

Lizard1977

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#2284058 26-Jul-2019 11:40

Figured as much. Now for the follow up question. WHY?!? Everytime I hear "sodder" it sounds like they've got some kind of nasal infection.

American pronunciation baffles me. I was in the states a few years ago and was introduced to a guy who's name was either Greg or Craig. To this day I'm still not sure which it is, because it sounded exactly the same.

nzkc

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#2284060 26-Jul-2019 11:45

Why? https://www.circuitspecialists.com/blog/solder-not-sodder-the-story-behind-the-silent-or-not-so-silent-l/

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#2284114 26-Jul-2019 12:06

Sol Der

But then I am a Pom, so...

eracode

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#2284116 26-Jul-2019 12:10

Lizard1977: Figured as much. Now for the follow up question. WHY?!? Everytime I hear "sodder" it sounds like they've got some kind of nasal infection.

American pronunciation baffles me. I was in the states a few years ago and was introduced to a guy who's name was either Greg or Craig. To this day I'm still not sure which it is, because it sounded exactly the same.

My name is Craig and we have spent quite a bit of time in the US. Americans can’t seem to get their head around the name and when ordering at, say, Starbucks, I’d have to repeat it several times - probably due to my accent. Then when they called out my order it would invariably come out as Greg, Creg, or something.

Got sick of it and started just giving the name ‘Jim’ - can’t really go wrong there. I now use it even in local takeaways mainly just for a laugh.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

xpd

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#2284163 26-Jul-2019 12:25

I get called all sorts and just go with whatever they say..... my surname is even more fun ;)

As for accent, I'm born and raised Kiwi, yet still get asked which part of the UK or Australia I'm from - even my wife said when she first met me, struggled to place where my accent was from. The joys of having Scouser and Australian parents ;)

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#2284164 26-Jul-2019 12:26

Whilst we are on the subject: "Caulk"

Do you pronounce the "L" as best you can or just give up and say "cock" as per the Yanks?

rhy7s

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#2284171 26-Jul-2019 12:41

It is said that as a general rule, 1000 years of language evolution will lead to a result unintelligible to speakers at either end of that timespan. There have been some pretty drastic shifts and omissions over time in English, see https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/episodes/.

Dratsab

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#2284180 26-Jul-2019 13:08

Item: Whilst we are on the subject: "Caulk"

Do you pronounce the "L" as best you can or just give up and say "cock" as per the Yanks?

I pronounce it as cork.

OT: Took me ages to work out the American/Canadian "sodder" thing as well. I had to keep rewinding videos and trying to figure out if there was a slight L in there or not. Turns out not.

josephhinvest

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#2284203 26-Jul-2019 13:46

🔘 🇬🇧 English
⚪️ 🇺🇸 Simplified English

BlueShift

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#2284207 26-Jul-2019 13:49

As George Bernard Shaw said "Two countries divided by a common language"

Behodar

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#2284267 26-Jul-2019 15:02

Dratsab:

Item: Whilst we are on the subject: "Caulk"

Do you pronounce the "L" as best you can or just give up and say "cock" as per the Yanks?

I pronounce it as cork.

The Oxford dictionary lists it as something resembling "cawk". Close enough :)

chevrolux

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#2284291 26-Jul-2019 15:35

Love Ben Heck videos, HATE hearing the word 'sodder'. IT'S SOL-DER DAM IT!!!

robjg63

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#2284330 26-Jul-2019 17:01

The USA also thinks that herbs is pronounced with a silent H for some reason as well. That seems bizzare to me as well.
Oh and - 'Biscuits' are what we know as scones. They seems to like them with gravy.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

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