Is this on Merriam-Webster? I say skwer-uhl, but I don't know if that's really two syllables. When I say it, it almost sounds like one and a half. ;D

ACTUALLY, YES, YO, IN THE WRITTEN IPA PRONUNCIATION GUIDE - I JUST CHECKED. WELL IT DOES HAVE THE FINAL VOWEL SOUND, BUT IT PUTS IT IN BRACKETS TO SHOW THAT IT'S OPTIONAL. SEE, IN ENGLISH ENGLISH, IT'S TOTALLY TWO SYLLABLES - SKWI-RUL (SAME VOWEL SOUNDS AND STRESS AS 'SKITTLE'. BUT BECAUSE YOU GUYS DO FUNNY R'S IT ALWAYS SOUNDS LIKE SQUIRL WHEN YOU SAY IT. I THINK BECAUSE YOU DO BOTH VOWEL AS THE SAME UNSTRESSED VOWEL SOUND, WHEREAS WE ENGLISH HAVE A DEFINITE 'I' FOR THE FIRST VOWEL - SEE THEY ALSO PUT IN THE BRITISH PRONUNCIATION! LIKE, YOU GUYS CHANGE THE VOWEL SOUND WHEN FOLLOWED BY ANY R, BUT WE ONLY DO THAT FOR SILENT R'S, YO. YOU SAY 'CARE-EE-ER BAG' FOR CARRIER BAG, BUT WE SAY 'CA-REE-UH BAG' - LIKE THE SAME 'CA' WE'D USE IN 'CAT'.

Ah, okay. I do realize now that I think about it that it is generally one syllable here.

Also, I actually wasn't sure what a carrier bag was! ;D But yes, that's how we pronounce it.

CARRIER BAG IS WHAT THEY GIVE YOU IN GROCERY STORES TO PUT YOUR GROCERIES IN. A BAG THAT YOU CARRY - HENCE A CARRIER BAG! ;D PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN SIMPLER IF I'D GIVEN THE WORD 'CARRY' AS AN EXAMPLE! ;D

Pfft. Grocery Bag! ;)

I remember when I was working in New Zealand I met a Kiwi girl who had been working in the UK the previous year. She said people couldn't understand what she was talking about when she asked them for a 'pin'. She meant 'pen', but apparently Kiwis don't emphasis the 'eh' so it sounds like 'ih' instead!

SOME SCOTS DO THIS THE OTHER WAY AROUND, YO! THEY SAY 'E' FOR 'I' - SO 'BEG' FOR 'BIG'.

ALAS, WHEN I WAS IN CANADA, NO ONE UNDERSTOOD WHEN I ASKED FOR WATER. I HAD TO SAY 'WUDDERR' FOR THEM TO GET IT - GOSH, I FELT SO SILLY SAYING 'WUDDERR'.

Do you say "woo-tah?" I just looked it up on that site, that's the only reason I ask.
I guess we say "wah-tur."
There aren't really any soft sounds over here.

I SAY 'WAW-TUH'. (FIRST SYLLABLE RYHMING WITH 'AWE' - AND INDEED HOMONYMOUS WITH 'WAR', TO CONFUSE MATTERS FUTHER!). IT'S NOT A SOFT SOUND - JUST DIFFERENT FROM 'WUDDERR'. YOU HAVE NEARLY ALL THE SAME SOUNDS AS US - JUST ARRANGED DIFFERENTLY.

I sometimes say 'wool-ta', I think it might be because of where I come from lol. I usually get told off for saying it though :P If I didn't have such a horrible voice, I would record myself saying it lol

YOU SHOULD NOT BE ASHAMED OF YOUR VOICE, YO! YOU ARE A HARDCORE VOICE SURVIVOR! POST YOUR VOICE AND I WILL ANALYSE IT FOR YOU!

Hmm, I might do it but I will think about it first, I barely even speak on the phone cos it sounds so horrid lol

GOSH, YO, I BET IT DOES NOT REALLY SOUND 'HORRID' - I BET YOU ARE JUST A BIT SELF-CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT. ANYWAY, SERIOUSLY, I WILL ANALYSE IT FOR YOU IF YOU LIKE.

What about building? I've heard a Brit say "buiwding" before. No "el" sound at all. Is that usual or just from that specific area?
We say "bill-ding."

AH YES, TRANSIT DOES THIS IN HER RECORDING. NOT THAT PARTICULAR WORD, BUT REPLACING 'L' WITH 'W'. IT'S QUITE COMMON IN LONDON/SURREY ACCENTS, WHICH IS ANOTHER REASON WHY HERS SOUNDS SIMILAR TO THOSE. ONE OF MY SISTERS DOES IT TOO, IN FACT.

I say 'biwlding' - I'm from Essex (which is pretty near London) and I think everyone I know that lives here says it that way

What about "very"? I've heard it pronounced 'vetty' a few times. Where's that from?

OH! and "herb" If it's pronounced "correctly" in American it's 'urb' ... But it's 'hurb' there, right?

Hurb yes, but some people do drops the H, I do, so it is urb or urbs

HAHA - BUT YOU DON'T DROP THE H BECAUSE YOU ARE TRYING TO USE A FRENCH PRONUNCIATION AND THINK THAT CORRECT (WHICH I BELIEVE IS THE AMERICAN REASONING). YOU DO IT BECAUSE YOU DROP H'S IN GENERAL, YO, AND YOU'D ALSO SAY 'ELLO' AND 'BLOODY ELL'! ;D SO IT'S AN ALL-ROUND H-DROPPING, RATHER THAN A SPECIFIC HERB H-DROPPING.

INCIDENTALLY, SOME BRITS CONSIDER IT CORRECT TO DROP THE 'H' IN 'HOTEL' - I THINK FOR SIMILAR REASONS AS THE AMERICANS DROPPING THE 'H' IN HERB.

Don't forget ospital!

OSPITAL AS IN YOU SAY IT, OR IS THERE A TREND AMONG THE POSH ENGLISH TO SAY 'OSPITAL' AS THE APPARENTLY CORRECT PRONUNCIATION? NEVER HEARD OF THAT, YO!

It's how I say it, there aren't any poshies around here that I can get to say hospital.

At uni I lived with a greek girl who went to an international school where the teachers and most of the students were Americans, so we used to wrote down words for her to pronounce. Things like Newquay and Torquay were the best! Then nobody knew how to pronounce Belvoir, does Puck know?

GOSH, NO, I'VE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF BELVOIR. I WOULD AUTOMATICALLY PRONOUNCE IT IN A FRENCH WAY, LIKE 'BEL-VWAH', BECAUSE THAT IS HOW WORDS ENDING WITH 'VOIR' TEND TO BE PRONOUNCED HERE, BUT I IMAGINE THAT IS WRONG, SO I AWAIT YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT! ;D