Talk:eh

Stereotype

"This term is stereotypically associated with Canada. Some uses of it outside of Canada can convey that you are trying to sound (sarcastically) Canadian." I strongly suspect this applies only in the US and the statement should be thus qualified. I have never encountered this stereotype in the Antipodes. Nurg 23:32, 22 April 2006 (UTC)

I haven't heard it in the UK either, but then I would be at a lost about how to sound Canadian, apart from sounding slightly American. 78.149.200.210 00:00, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Because the word is quite normal in New Zealand where I live, I have never heard it being used in Canadian imitations. Gott wisst 02:42, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

South Park has used it this way, and is well known outside the US. Some more info at Eh. Equinox ◑ 02:45, 14 November 2011 (UTC)

Pronunciation varies based on meaning?

In my experience, in the U.S., senses 1 and 3 are pronounced /eɪ/ while senses 2 and 4 are pronounced /ɛ/. If my experience isn't unique, shouldn't this be described somehow in the entry? As it is, the entry implies that Canadians and Britons pronounce all senses the same (though differently from each other). LtPowers (talk) 15:07, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

I'm in agreement with this, and in my experience, in Canada senses 1 through three are pronounced /eɪ/, while sense 4 is pronounced /ɛ/. However, I would amend that, also in my experience, in the US senses 1 and 4 are indeed pronounced /eɪ/ and /ɛ/, respectively, but senses 2 and 3 are not in use, especially not sense 3. If I've heard sense 2 at all there, it's pronounced /eɪ/, but don't put to much stock in that last observation. -Coreydragon (talk) 08:53, 22 March 2018 (UTC)

Agreed, interj senses 1 and 2 are /eɪ/ while 4 is /ɛ/; adjective is also /ɛ/. I always write the first two as "ay" since "eh" for /eɪ/ makes no sense. – Nixinova [‌T|C] 03:18, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

That's very confusing, since "ay" is another spelling for "aye" (yes). Do you also refuse to use the spelling "eight" because there's no /g/ sound in it? Equinox ◑ 06:29, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

"Eight" has an etymological spelling; "eh" is just onomatopoeia, so its spelling should make sense. I spell it "ay" to differentiate it from the "meh" sense of "eh". See also [1] "The cries from the aye/ay camp got me thinking", [2] ""Ay" - also spelt "eh" - is a particle that Kiwis love to tack on to the end of a sentence.", [3] "There's not even a lot of agreement about how to spell it (We're going with 'eh', but ay, aye, ae and ey are all equally valid". – Nixinova [‌T|C] 00:53, 27 October 2020 (UTC)