fair-haired

0I would say "fair-haired" as "fair haired." 0-

0 Thanks, GG. Then I guess this word is probably too old fashioned and has dropped out of use. 0-

0No, its a current idiom that means "the person who has gained the favor of those higher up."02br
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00If you're talking about people at work and you refer to someone as "the fair-haired one" it means that upper management likes this person.0-

0 Well then, it's strange that all the dictionaries give the same weird pronunciation. 0-

0Yes, that is strange.02br
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00Click on the little red speaker symbol. The man says it like I do.02br
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01a05000 02a02br
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00AH! I see. In the dictionary pronunciation guide, "er" is the same sound as "air." I was reading your "herd" the way I'd say

0Thanks, GG. Now this is absolutely confusing to me. I always had problem with reading the pronunciation keys for American English. British pronunciations have long been standardized on IPA. Why can't American English dictionaries use IPA??? The symbols in Merriam-Webster is different from that of American Heritage. And who knows how many different sets of symbols are used by different Ame

0Yes, it's frustrating. Go to the entry for the word "air" and see that it says "er" for the pronunciation. 02br
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00There was a time that I knew IPA backwards and forwards, but I no longer do.0-

0 I see. Do Americans say the vowel in 01i00bet02i00 exactly the same as that in 01i00hair02i00?0-

0You'll get regional variation.02br
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00Try saying be... as in bet but really extend the E and then add the R and you'll end up saying "bare/bear" with rhymes with hair.02br
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00Tray saying bee (like the insect) and add then R, and you'll say "beer."0-

0In British English, what you said are two different vowels and are in fact denoted differently in IPA. The extended ones are diphthongs.02br
00bet / bet /02br
00bear / be05000r /02br
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00bee / bi: / 02br
00beer / bi05100r /02br
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00(The non-rhotic "r" cannot be shown accurately.) 02br
00I