Alicia Silverstone Sparks Debate Over How To Pronounce Herbs

Alicia Silverstone’s relaxed Instagram post unwittingly let loose an international debate. The Clueless star queried her audience, ‘How do y’all pronounce it?? Oh how I wish I could see my mother today ’ with a snippet about the word “herbs.” And the crowd had some GREAT THOUGHTS.

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The video shows Silverstone explaining how her mother would say ‘herbs’ with that hard H, British style, while the American style is to drop that H completely, leaving us with ‘erbs.’ What ensued was a whirlwind comment section filled with heated linguistic battles, declarations of national pride, and funny cultural observations.

First to come to the defense of the Brits were: @plantpowerdoctor saying, ‘We say herbs Erbs sounds weird to me .’ Meanwhile, @fightingale_x said: ‘This is correct. On account of the H at the start. And yes, all British people say it the correct way.’ Oof, sass.

And it’s not just the UK. Australia also made a loud declaration: ‘Aussie here, we say Herbs! American English is different to British English which is what both Aussies and Brits use,’ said @krissy.com.au, adding, ‘Glad you don’t drop the H, haha I find Erbs super irritating.’ Somebody give this woman an award for linguistic patriotism.

And then Canada made an appearance. @iron.mike.ryklee got straight to the point: says ‘Canada says Herbs. There’s an H, it ain’t silent. ’ Meanwhile, @georgielouisegirlie went on record saying, ‘Herbs, I’m in Canada, I’ve almost never heard anyone around saying it without H.’

And now, back to the states, divided. Some, like @christyb828, conceded, ‘That’s how I say it and get laughed at all the time… side note I’m also from Georgia and have no explanation why I say it that way.’ Whereas others seem to be mocking it: @charlietaylorstudio: ‘Honestly, when I first arrived in America I couldn’t understand why people were pretending to have a fake French accent when pronouncing ‘erbs’. Le confusion. HERBS. ’

Then came the wildcards: @lanatrovoada interjects, ‘In Brasil we call it ‘COENTRO’ and i looove coentro ’ and, honestly, crazy yet what a genuine perspective. Meanwhile, @raw.sevens drew the Irish connection: ‘My Irish ancestors would also call it HHHerbs, ta bee sharrrr..’

The argument spilled out to the other half of the vocabulary. @grace.dash.1 says jokingly, ‘Herbs vs Erbs. Schedule vs Skedule. To-mah-to vs To-may-to. Let’s called the whole thing off!’ (For real, autocorrect.)

Yet far more than with all of this pronunciation battle, Silverstone’s post had a heartwarming undertone. The actress shared about missing her mom; many commenters shared stories that were equally touching. @deferraris said, ‘Your mom was so sweet… I worked at Peninsula Humane Society when she volunteered there:),’ while @rawchefandrea commented, ‘Thank You for helping me go Vegan 27 years strong here.’

Okay so which one is it? If you say ‘herbs,’ you are in good company with the Brits, Aussies, Canadians, and skittish bunch of Americans, too. Our American friends might bicker, and come with their own stronger arguments, but if you say ‘erbs,’ I guess the French would back your case? Either way, Silverstone has created the healthiest linguistic clash ever.

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And that is what we are here for, really. Language is weird, and people get passionate about it. But in the end, we just want to know if we’re saying basil right.