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How Do You Pronounce “Scone?” – Map of the UK and Ireland

October 9, 2018 34 Comments

Scone Map of the UK and Ireland

Map created by reddit user bezzleford

How do you pronounce the word scone?

If you live in Scotland you almost certainly pronounce it in a way that rhymes with “gone”, whereas if you live in Ireland you’re far more likely to pronounce it so it rhymes with “cone.” And in England and Wales, well let’s just say it’s complicated.

Reedit user Bezzleford who created the map explains:

Anyone from the UK knows that the no.1 cause of family feuds is over the pronounciation of “Scone” (except maybe what kind of treat this is or the great dinner vs. tea debate). The data was collected by Cambridge university and managed to map the pronounciation of Scone across the UK and Ireland. Scone rhyming with gone is almost universal in Scotland whereas in England it’s a lot more controversial.

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 savoury, 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 inline with statistics that show younger people tend to pronounce is rhyming with “cone” rather than “gone”

So how do you pronounce it?

Filed Under: United Kingdom

Comments

  1. Lynn Malnekoff says

    October 10, 2018 at 4:02 pm

    It has been called an English Muffin in the U.S. And yes, we call it scone (rhymes with cone) when we know what it is.

    Reply
    • Samuel Byward says

      November 1, 2018 at 10:47 pm

      English muffins are not the same as scones. Scones are like tea biscuits and have a smooth texture, whereas english muffins have large air bubbles in the dough so they have a coarse, open texture.

      Reply
    • Sheila Richardson says

      November 3, 2018 at 3:56 am

      Scone does rhyme with cone in the U.S. but as for English muffins, that’s a different thing. You’re probably thinking of crumpets. See:
      https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-crumpets-113577

      Reply
      • Jason Cottle says

        February 23, 2021 at 9:23 am

        you mean Pikelets..

        Reply
        • Ruth says

          August 7, 2021 at 10:17 am

          Pikelets and crumpets are similar, but not the same. I pikelet is thinner like a thick scotch pancake with holes, whereas crumpets are much thicker like 1.5 inches.

          Reply
          • Gump says

            March 5, 2022 at 7:12 pm

            Except in Hull, where a pikelet was definitely what is now called, pretty much everywhere, a crumpet, due to the influence of supermarkets. Elizabeth David’s ‘English Bread and Yeast Cookery’ is probably the best guide to this debate.

    • Ros says

      November 3, 2018 at 6:58 pm

      Everything I heard called an English muffin in the US was indeed a(n) (English) muffin. Scones are quite different.

      Reply
    • Ruth says

      August 7, 2021 at 10:15 am

      AnbEnglish muffin is an entirely different thing, also yummy, but they are small yeasted breadcakes cooked on a griddle

      Reply
  2. H says

    October 10, 2018 at 9:15 pm

    Gone

    Reply
  3. Stephen Madill says

    October 12, 2018 at 7:30 pm

    You haven’t even put Scone (pronounced scoon) on the map! It’s near Perth, by the way.

    Reply
  4. Franklin Joe says

    October 19, 2018 at 7:09 am

    I am not sure how to interpret the map ! If “0 – 5% say scone rhymes with cone” is this not the same as 95 – 100% say “Scone rhymes with gone” or is there another option ?

    Reply
    • Andrew Saunders says

      January 13, 2021 at 3:56 pm

      the graph is labeled % people who think scone rhymes with gone. At 95 – 100% that pronunciation predominates, at 0 – 5%, people are more inclined to pronounce it rhyming with cone. The labeling is a bit confusing.

      Reply
  5. Catherine says

    November 1, 2018 at 1:36 pm

    They do not call it an English muffin in the US where I am. They call it a biscuit. An English muffin is something else entirely.

    Reply
    • Catarina says

      August 22, 2020 at 8:56 pm

      Actually, an American biscuit is not the same as a scone, but they are extremely similar.

      Reply
  6. Tom says

    December 5, 2018 at 2:18 pm

    This is a poor graph because it doesn’t cater for population size. I would like a graph with a per capita scale for Scon vs Scone.

    Reply
  7. Sharon says

    February 6, 2019 at 10:33 pm

    Good grief!! It was always rhymed with gone, where I’m from, but an English muffin and a crumpet are NOT the same at all!! I will concede that the scone is closer to an American biscuit than anything else described, though the latter is more savory. As for the muffin/crumpet controversy; the muffin tends to be less chewy and lighter in texture than the crumpet. They may appear very similar, but they are not the same. The crumpet is dense and chewy and has very regular air holes throughout…I love crumpets!

    Reply
  8. Sharlene says

    March 27, 2019 at 12:23 am

    I’ve never heard a Canadian pronounce it to rhyme with “gone”, but it’s a very large country, so it’s possible! I live in Ontario and here we pronounce it to rhyme with “cone”!

    Reply
    • Ranylt says

      April 9, 2019 at 7:06 pm

      Same. Ottawa tends to go “cone”-Scone IME.

      Reply
      • David Loan says

        August 5, 2019 at 10:46 pm

        I’m in Ottawa and rhyme it with “gone”. But you’re right – most people here say it the other way. Also, the plural of scone is scone: I’ll take 3 scone, please.

        Reply
        • emily says

          August 31, 2020 at 6:42 pm

          I’m also Canadian and I rhyme it with cone.

          Reply
  9. Spunky says

    April 22, 2019 at 9:21 am

    The town of Scone (pronounced scoon, from the Scots “scuin”) was the ancient capital of Scotland where coronations took place.

    I pronounce it like “gone”, 90% of the time.

    Reply
  10. J McCrudden says

    October 11, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    I lived in Scone in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia, for many years. The people there pronounce it Scone to rhyme with Cone.
    I have never heard an Australian rhyme the town with gone.
    Scones that are eaten rhyme with gone.

    Reply
  11. Hilary Milburn says

    January 25, 2020 at 5:40 pm

    Oh dear. Scones, crumpets and muffins. How to differentiate to a non U.K. reader. Scones are usually about 3 inches across and 2 high, often containing currants or sultanas, baked in the oven then served with butter, or clotted cream and strawberry jam. Crumpets are made with a thick batter containing baking powder which causes air holes to form. The batter is poured into a metal ring placed on a hot griddle so the final result has a flat, browned bottom and a top full of air holes. Serve with butter which seeps into the holes and then down your arm. A muffin is different again, quite bready in texture, split then toasted and served hot with butter and jam. Best Googled, really.

    Reply
  12. TB Parkes says

    June 9, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    Hilary Milburn .. what you call a Crumpet is also know as a Pikelet . (perhaps a Black Country dialect term)

    Reply
  13. Seaneen says

    August 22, 2020 at 11:58 pm

    In the southwest of Ireland, we say, “shcone” (rhymes with shtone.)

    Reply
  14. Alasdair Scott Sutherland says

    December 22, 2020 at 7:19 pm

    Here’s how..
    look up john betjeman’s famous 1950s poem “how to get on in society” in which he satirises every “wrong” word not to be used in everyday polite speak. The last verse says
    Now here is a fork for your pastries
    And do use the couch for your feet
    I know that I wanted to ask you,
    Is trifle sufficient for sweet?
    Milk and then just as it comes dear?
    I’m afraid the preserve’s full of stone
    Beg pardon, I’m soiling the doilies
    With afternoon tea-cakes and scones.

    Reply
  15. Rob says

    March 7, 2021 at 8:41 am

    What this doesn’t address is the regional issues of social class in this map, in my experience this is a significant factor.

    Reply
  16. Joe VanDerBos says

    October 23, 2021 at 9:50 pm

    Scones are common in the US, and almost always rhyme with Cone. While they aren’t cooked at home as often as flaky American biscuits are, no one here confuses them with biscuits either. We’re well aware of the difference between scones, (american) biscuits, and english muffins.

    Reply
  17. Danny says

    January 2, 2022 at 10:51 pm

    To me it’s rhymes with cone and them muffins look similiar to buns. Dublin non-elite!

    Reply
  18. John says

    March 5, 2022 at 4:05 pm

    I’d question 100% usage in Scotland. Here in Orkney a scone (as ‘cone’) is a drop scone – something entirely different. The other sort of tea cake thing was unknown until recently.

    Reply
  19. Shannon Ferguson says

    March 5, 2022 at 4:11 pm

    I am a Canadian (southern Ontario). For the baked good, I say scone rhymes with gone. However, there is a small town near me, and I believe it is pronounced Scone rhymes with cone.

    Reply
  20. Marion Young says

    March 6, 2022 at 12:09 am

    In New South Wales in Australia most people pronounce the sweet treat as rhyming with gone. But the places called “Scone” is pronouned rhyming with cone. Go figure!

    Reply
  21. Jeff C says

    May 27, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    This map was utterly unhelpful to me, as I pronounce “cone” and “gone” as rhyming with each other. If you had used “done”

    Reply
  22. Ysospir says

    September 13, 2022 at 8:54 am

    Erm, but, how do you pronounce “gone”, then? I recall a Python sketch (“wooden/tinny words”), where it was near “gorn”

    Reply

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