incorrect. Rules are in place for a reason. Otherwise if everyone has their own pronunciation rules what's stopping someone from pronouncing this sentence "Fuck you MattMangels"? posted by MattMangels at 11:01 PM on January 3 Now I don't care where the hell you're from, if you're speaking English "ate" and "late" rhyme, period. If they don't, you're doing it wrong. Obviously pronunciation of many English words can vary widely from region to region but this particular case is simply not up for debate. As a Brit (home counties) living in the US, the R sound and the word "water" give me the most trouble. When spelling my name to an American on the phone, I have learned to pronounce the letter R as "arr", because I eventually learned that my pronunciation sounds like "ahh" to an American ear. A recent reverse translation episode with the letter R, that made me giggle. I said the word "naugahyde" to a USian co-worker who had never heard it before. He applied some kind of British translation filter to what he heard, and repeated it back to me as "nor-ger-hide". The word "water" is the single most difficult one for a USian to understand from the mouth of a Brit. Best misunderstanding of that one: Me: do you have any bottles of water? Her: uh, I'm sorry? Me: do you have any bottles of water? (Repeat exchange several more times, with increasing levels of distress for both parties. Eventually, she leads me across the