How do you pronounce route?

I am from the NE (lived in NYC and suburbs, Boston and suburbs, Philly and suburbs) and I say “root.”

Addendum: My mother was trained for the movies and treasured a non-regional speech. She fulminated against the Bronx accents of my father’s four brothers and made sure we spoke in a way that would not ID our roots in the Bronx also.

i speak the Queen’s, so i pronounce it correctly as root.

I say “root” for “root.” I pronounce “route,” “rowt.” I’m from the South.

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It’s a regional thing. The word “route” is extremely important in my profession, and I’ve travelled all over the world talking to colleagues about “routes”. In America, we say “rowt”. Pretty much everywhere else, the say “root”. America is the outlier here. :)

I say “root”. Too much BBC/ITV viewing, perhaps?

I am from America last time I checked and have always said (root)

Get your kicks on Route 66

Up north its pronounced root. in the south, its pronounced route. i have no idea where the dividing line is located.

It’s regional. I’m from Western NY, live in NE Ohio and I pronounce it “root.” I’ll be interested to hear from someone who lives west of the Rockies.

It depends on what I’m talking about. If I’m saying “Route ‘number’” I say root. But if I’m saying something like “let’s take the scenic route,” I say rowt. Weird!!

@SamIAm some things just sound better together

I guess I’m the oddball again. “I am planning a [rowt] along [root] 66.”

I pronounce it “root”.

I’m English, so we say ‘root’
I dont think we have any regional differences…

I pronounce it “root” also.

I’m from Arizona and I don’t know if it is a regional thing or not, really.

I must be biroutal. I pronounce it both ways.

Our new home is on a major Route in Illinois and I’ve been wondering how to correctly pronounce it. I was hoping to get my answer when I noticed this question. Still don’t have it. sigh. ;)

Interesting though that there seems to be more agreement among Americans on how to pronounce “router” (I’ve never heard anything other than “rowter”). How do the Brits pronounce this, I wonder?

I’m with the “rowt” crowd. I’m a Texan.

But I’ve heard “Root 66” [Route 66] all my life and never thought twice about it.

The plumbing company, Roto-Rooter, pronounces it rohtoh rooter.

Depends on the application for me. Say if I was talking about Route 54, id say it “root” but if I were say talking about foot ball saying he ran a route, id say “rowt”

Many of you are using “root” to indicate a particular pronunciation of “route.” But the word “root” itself can be pronounced at least 2 different ways—(1) rhymes with “boot” and (2) rhymes with “foot.” The latter is how I pronounce “root” and and also the vowel sound of “roof.”

I’ve always pronounced “route” as ROWT with the vowel sound as in “how.” (I grew up in Chicago). Both dictionary._com and merriam-webster._com list the first pronunciation (i.e., more common usage) as ROOT with a vowel sound as in “who.” The other way is listed second, meaning the less common usage.

Either is correct.

A rout is also a noun used to describe a military or athletic defeat and pronounced rowt.

The army was routed.

He routed the defending champion.

Root. California born and raised.

Southerner from NC, I say “root”, but I notice many people in the area use “rawt”.

Btw, New Yorker here

I’m from the Midwest, I say it both ways, depending on usage.
Like @gasman my roof also rhymes with foot.

Rowt.Or sometimes I just say,“Thataway!” ;)

Depends.

If I see the word on its own, I say “rowt.”

If I see it accompanied by a number, I say “root.”

I’m from the south.

I usually say rowt except for specific roads like Root 66. When I was a kid I had a paper rowt.

does your internet access come to you via a rowter or a rooter?

I pronounce it ‘roooot’. I’m in the UK

Same sound/mouth position as in “two”. Roooot.

I’m from California.

I say “rowt” to be appropriately Southern.

NE US, “root”. 2 decades in Seattle, “root”. 4 years Colorado, “root”. (Not just what I say, what I hear, also)

My husband and I both say it the same as @mrentropy. I grew up in Delaware and my husband in Pennsylvania.

Root… anyone?

Not weird @SamIAm. I do the same thing.

Root 93 runs near my house.

We’ll take the scenic rowt home.

I had a paper rowt when I was young. I have driven on root 66.

It’s regional in the U.S. Around here (Silicon Valley) it rhymes with “out.” Where I come from (New England), it rhymes with “boot.” I still say it as I learned it; but I find that I do have to say Cisco makes rowters (rhyming with “shouters”), not rooooters (rhyming with “hooters”).

The question becomes even more interesting when you add in “root.” I grew up saying “route” and “root” exactly alike. But in the Midwest, where I went to school, “root” rhymes with “put.” I don’t think anyone pronounces “route” like that “root.”

Root- from western Canada.