funny vs fanny Phoenix Nights S1 ep5

This is a classic! The difference between the English vowels in RP "luck" /lΛk/ and "look" /lUk/ (curly 'u') can be used to comic effect. Northern speakers tend to only have the latter so the two words sound the same, whereas in the south the vowels are different. To a Northerner the southern more open vowel can sound like an /a/, hence the misunderstanding between "funny" and "fanny"

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• phonetics

[rhinocerotic]

being Irish I don't distinguish the vowels in "luck" & "look" either, but I find the scene hard to swallow, she's clearly saying "funny" i doubt any native english speaker (from the british isles at any rate) would analyse an "Λ" as being an "a" rather than a "u" (especially given the context)

[Ethros64]

Fucking students!