On: Show HN: Whataaabout.com – unique activity ideas for the holiday break

[erkjs]

Ouch! I was not sure about it. Is english your first language? I'm asking out of curiosity, I'm italian

[cole-k → erkjs]

Native English speaker, I agree with the parent.

I don't think it's a big deal, though. The site itself is more important than the name.

Edit: If I were to say a drawn-out "what about" to someone I would probably say "what abooout" but both suggestions sound okay to me.

[tikwidd → erkjs]

It's because the first vowel in 'about' is an unstressed schwa. It sounds unnatural in English to stress or lengthen a schwa.

(The only exception I can think of is 'evennn'. e.g. Bob and Sue are at a dinner party with friends. Bob tells everyone that he likes all vegetables. Sue knows he doesn't like broccoli, so she nudges Bob and says "evennn...?". This makes sense if 'even' in fact contains a syllabic nasal consonant rather than schwa: /'ivn=/.)

That said, I don't think it's a big deal!