Do you pronounce the 't' in often?

FuzzyDunlop

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2008
3,260
12
81
Today I said the word often and a particularly annoying coworker told me that I was pronouncing it wrong. He says that it is pronounced offen not oft-en. I tried to explain that its pronounced both ways, but he claims that its only pronounced offen. Whats your opinion?

CLIFFS:
1) Say the word often outloud.
2) Do you pronounce the "t"?


EDIT: Added poll.. sorry its so late, ive been away for a while.
 

mrCide

Diamond Member
Nov 27, 1999
6,187
0
76
I say coffin, and when they question what I said, I look at them like they're retarded.
 

ShadowOfMyself

Diamond Member
Jun 22, 2006
4,227
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I never heard an american/english pronounce it ofTen :confused: its always "offen", so I guess "offen" should be the right one

I mean its like "Knight"... everyone pronounces Knight the same way as Night, why? And I bet there are alot more words like that
 
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
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I pronounce the T, but I pronounce it as a 2. So I say "off-two-en." Everyone assumes I'm just complaining about their singing.
 

spacejamz

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
10,960
1,657
126
Originally posted by: gorcorps
I don't pronounce my t but I know it's supposed to be OFT-EN

I don't pronounce the 't' either, but both versions are acceptable.

of·ten: aw-fuhn, of-uhn; awf-tuhn

 

blackdogdeek

Lifer
Mar 14, 2003
14,453
10
81
often

often - (1) ['?.f?n] ["O.f@n], (2) ['?f.t?n] ["Of.t@n]. Many dictionaries list (2) as an acceptable pronunciation, but all list (1) first. (2) is a spelling pronunciation.
 

jonks

Lifer
Feb 7, 2005
13,918
20
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NO

Some people pronounce mischievous "miss-cheev-ee-us" as if there was an I before the OUS. Got into a scrap with a 6th grade substitute teacher about that 20 years ago. Dumb biotch.

Riddle: what word is always pronouned wrong even by expert linguists?
 

Lash444

Golden Member
Sep 17, 2002
1,708
64
91
The original way to pronounce it is without a "t" sound.

However, it's like anything else, over time different people said it with and without the "t" sound and it's generally acceptable to use it either way.

Sounds to me like your friend is just being a nazi over it. He probably had his butt reamed by some other priss over the exact same topic and just wants to make you feel uneducated over something so juvenile.
 
Mar 22, 2002
10,483
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Originally posted by: ShadowOfMyself
I never heard an american/english pronounce it ofTen :confused: its always "offen", so I guess "offen" should be the right one

I mean its like "Knight"... everyone pronounces Knight the same way as Night, why? And I bet there are alot more words like that

Just because the people often times pronounce it wrong doesn't mean it is correct. How often do you pronounce the word tree as "tree" instead of "chree?" Does that mean it's supposed to sound like that? :p
 

FuzzyDunlop

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2008
3,260
12
81
Originally posted by: Lash444
The original way to pronounce it is without a "t" sound.

However, it's like anything else, over time different people said it with and without the "t" sound and it's generally acceptable to use it either way.

Sounds to me like your friend is just being a nazi over it. He probably had his butt reamed by some other priss over the exact same topic and just wants to make you feel uneducated over something so juvenile.


ya! Way to often.
nazi, butt reamer, priss... that about sums it up!