Would you trust a surgeon who repeatedly said "axe" instead of "ask"?

OP is a racist

No, OP. I would not allow someone who thinks "axe" is any other thing than a tool to operate on me. Racist or not, lines must be drawn.

He wasn't black, r1. YOU may be racist for assuming that only black people say "axe" though. 🙄

I just typed the same thing r3.. I've known white people who have said it that way, english was not their first language. Really r1 who is the racist here?

I mustache you a question

I would trust a surgeon with a mustache. Especially if the mustache and facial hair is neat, clean and even. That would demonstrate to me the doctor's attentiveness to detail and meticulousness.

I would NOT trust a surgeon who says "AXE". That demonstrates, at least to me, that the doctor is either unaware / oblivious to how he/she sounds. It could also demonstrate the doctor doesn't really care about attention to detail.

When I first read quickly this I thought OP said would you trust a surgeon who said he would use an AX.

A surgeon just needs good hands.

Is he a tree surgeon?

“Ax” was the most likely original pronunciation in the British Isles, and eventually as the language spread, some people “mispronounced” the word as “ask,” and then when the language was standardized that became the norm. There is nothing about the pronunciation of this word that suggests a person’s intelligence or abilities one way or another, and yes, this is a race-baiting racist thread.

“”It’s is not a new thing; it is not a mistake," he says. "It is a regular feature of English."

Sheidlower says you can trace "ax" back to the eighth century. The pronunciation derives from the Old English verb "acsian." Chaucer used "ax." It's in the first complete English translation of the Bible (the Coverdale Bible): " 'Axe and it shall be given.'”

Some cattiness here is tolerable, but being proudly racist belongs over in the Breitbart.com or WhiteHouse.gov comments section, not here.

Why does the OP want to be taken seriously?

The word is spelled A S K, not A K S

I've heard lots of Italian Americans in the northeast use axe for ask. I always assumed they just came from very uneducated families. But if that is your heritage and you get out in the world and don't realize how lowbrow it makes you sound and work to stop doing it then you're just too dumb for words.

I had a professor at university who taught modern poetry. He was the most amazing, charismatic professor from whom I ever took a course. Each class with him was an experience. He was originally from Trinidad, and he said "axe" instead of "ask." I thought it was charming.

It’s derived from “acsian.”

AX-ee-in.

Not ASK-ee-in.

is he black?

Actually it's simply the effect of being raised with a certain type of accent. Their tongues don't operate the way many other's tongues operate when they form words and due to the force of habit it's very hard for them to form certain sounds the normal way.