The Great Scone map of the UK and Ireland

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Anyone from the United Kingdom knows that the no.1 cause of family feuds is over the pronunciation of “Scone”. Reddit user Bezzleford used data taken by Cambridge University and mapped the pronunciation of Scone across the British Isles. Scone rhyming with gone is almost universal in Scotland, whereas it’s a lot more controversial in England.

The Great Scone map of the UK and Ireland

The map below shows how people across the United Kingdom and Ireland pronounce ‘scone’

According to wiki Canadians and Australians also pronounce them rhyming with “gone” but I’d like to hear what other people have to say. Americans apparently pronounce them rhyming with “cone”

For anyone outside the UK, a “scone” is a small bread/cake which is baked and lightly sweetened. Some people have compared them to the American word for “biscuit” but the two are very different in texture and how they’re eaten. While a biscuit is usually flaky and often eaten savory, a scone is sweet, dense, crumbly and often served with butter or traditionally cream and strawberries.

I personally pronounce it rhyming with “cone” even though my parents say it rhymes with “gone”. This is in line with statistics that show younger people tend to pronounce is rhyming with “cone” rather than “gone”

Reddit user Bezzleford

This map is based on the enormous new dataset of results of a study conducted by scientists at Cambridge and colleagues at Bern and Zurich universities. Data were derived from 30,000 responses received from The English Dialects App, which made it possible to map the spread, evolution, or reduction of certain words and colloquialisms corresponded to results from the original survey of dialect speakers in 313 localities carried out in the 1950s.

For instance, How do you say “three”? If you drop the “th” and say something like “free,” you’re likely from London or the South East. Scotland and Ireland strongly prefer “th” version of “three.” The data from 60 years ago reveals there was broad agreement in England in favor of “three.” Nowadays only North Londoners said, “free.”.