Nowadays, people use slang words more than actual words. The slang words differ from country to country and are confined to or used only by a particular group of people. One of the most used slang words is that of the word ‘Aunt’. Aunt’ is the formal word, whereas ‘aunty’ or ‘auntie’ is the slang term for it.
So a question might pop into your head about what is the difference between ‘aunty’ and ‘auntie.’ The main difference between ‘aunty’ and ‘auntie’ is that ‘aunty’ is used in British English whereas auntie is used in American English. However, there are a few more dissimilarities that we will be discussing in this article in depth.
So keep reading this article to know more about each of the terms and how they differ from each other!
What Is The Meaning Of The Word ‘Aunty’?
The word ‘aunty’ has been derived from the French word ‘ante,’ which is an adaptation of the Latin word ‘Amita.’ It was derived in the early 18th century and is an informal word that is used more in British English.
Now, if we talk about the word ‘aunty’, it is used in two ways. The first one is the sister of your father or mother, that is someone with whom you have a blood relation with your uncle’s wife. Other than that, in a lot of regions, an older woman is usually referred to as aunty out of respect.
Many people prefer to add a prefix in front of the word aunty with respect to the relation that they are talking about. For example, they might use the word ‘grand-aunt’ to refer to their grandmother, but that is not acceptable terminology. According to the meaning, any lady with whom you share more than 25% of blood relation is termed as an aunt, irrespective of their age.
Now that we have understood the word ‘aunty’ in detail, let’s have a look at another variation of the term ‘aunt.’
What Is The Meaning Of The Word ‘Auntie’?
‘Auntie’ is another informal term or a slang term for the word ‘aunt’. This variation of the word ‘aunt’ is used mostly in American English and has found a place in literature as well.
The word is used to express affection and has got a more friendly and casual tone to it. People use it to refer to a woman to whom they are close. This term is also used by people to refer to someone who gossips a lot or for those women who like to talk more in comparison to the average woman.
The word is often considered to be less formal and that is why it is used for the woman with whom you have got an emotional connection and just a blood relation.
Let’s see an example that will help you identify the undertone of each of the sentences.
- ‘My aunt has baked a cake for me.’
- ‘My auntie has baked me a birthday cake.’
It could be seen from the above-mentioned examples that the second sentence has got a more informal tone than compared to the first one. Moreover, the second sentence sounds more affectionate than the first sentence.
Difference Between ‘Aunty’ And ‘Auntie’
Tone
The word ‘Aunty’ has got a more formal tone whereas the word ‘auntie’ has got a casual tone and displays more affection than the word ‘aunty.’
British And American English
‘British English uses the word ‘Aunty’ as slang for the word ‘aunt’, whereas the people who follow ‘American English’ use the word ‘aunt’.
Referred To
‘Aunty’ is used to refer to any person with whom you have a blood relation of more than twenty-five percent. On the other hand, ‘Auntie’ is used for any person with whom one shares a cordial relation and is not restricted to just immediate or distant family members.
Comparison Chart: ‘Aunty’ Vs ‘Auntie’
| Point Of Difference | Aunty | Auntie |
| Existence | The word is derived from the formal word ‘Aunt.’ | The word is said to be derived from the word ‘aunty.’ |
| Origin | The word has come into existence since the early half of the 18th century. | The word is a comparatively newer word. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Should The Word ‘Aunty’ Be Used As A Suffix Or As Prefix To A Name?
There is no particular way of using the word aunty. A lot of countries prefer to use the word as a prefix for example, ‘Aunty Farrah is a very good chef’. This pattern is mostly observed in the West.
Whereas, aunty is used as a suffix by the people of the other side of the globe. Therefore, it depends completely on the area that you reside in and there is no such rule that one needs to follow.
Which article needs to be used before aunt? Is It ‘A aunt’ or ‘An aunt’?
A vowel is used when the word for which it is used is the sound of ‘a’, ’e’, ’i’, ’o’, or ‘u’, and these words are pronounced with your mouth open. These words are accompanied by the article ‘an’.
If the word has any other sound to it, apart from the vowels then it is called a consonant and the word is to be accompanied by the article ‘a’.
Going by the explanation, the word aunt has the sound of ‘a’ in it and therefore it is ‘An aunt’ and not ‘a aunt.’
Conclusion
Keeping track of slang words is a difficult task. Not only that, sometimes there are variations of a single word due to different origins. Similarly, many people find themselves confused between the terms ‘aunty’ and ‘auntie’, the meaning of each of them, and how they differ from each other.
We hope this article has helped you out to clear all your doubts regarding the same. So the next time you find yourself confused about which term to use, follow the above-mentioned guidelines and you won’t get confused!
