Great British Bake Off prompts debate over correct pronunciation of 'scone'

The debate may never be settled.

It’s been a contentious week for scones.

First, there was the furore surrounding whether the Devon (cream first) or Cornwall (jam first) method of serving the traditional cream tea staple was correct.

And now the age-old debate surrounding the pronunciation of ‘scone’ has erupted once again.

On the back of an episode of the charity series of The Great British Bake Off, baked good aficionados across the nation burst into healthy debate over whether ‘scone’ should rhyme with ‘gone’ or ‘bone’.

Judge Paul Hollywood, hosts Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding, and contestants Ricky Wilson, Stacey Solomon and Nick Hewer all said ‘scone’ as in ‘gone’

But contestant Perri Kiely went for the ‘bone’ pronunciation.

Naturally, this sent viewers into a tizz, arguing over which method is correct.

The debate has been raging for as long as Brits have been eating scones.

Traditionally, those in favour of the short vowel have considered making the vowel long an unnecessary affectation that suggests an attempt to seem posher than you are.

But research from last year suggests that the difference in pronunciation is less a result of class but more based on location.

A study by the University of Cambridge concluded that those in the ‘gone’ scone camp tend to be in the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. On the other hand, ‘bone’ scone pronouncers are more likely to reside in the Midlands and southern Ireland.

As for the rest of the country? It’s a mixture.

It’s certainly a matter about which Brits feel strongly, but a 2016 YouGov poll found that the most people - 51 per cent - rhyme ‘scone’ with ‘gone’.

Just 42 per cent of Brits opt for the long vowel, three per cent said they didn’t know and the final three per cent said they pronounce the word a different way altogether.

Let’s not get started on the Jaffa Cake ‘is it a cake or a biscuit’ debate.