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I was visiting UK, and somebody asked me, "Where do you ....?", which I couldn't understand.

The last word sounded like 'biased'? 'baist'? 'by at'? 'by ast'? something like that...

And, he noticed that I didn't get it, so he changed his words, "where do you work?" So, I guess the first sentence was also asking where I was working. Any guess for the last word that I couldn't understand?

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  • Where do you base? The word base has been used as an intransitive verb that mean to have your place of work.
    – Khan
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 16:57
  • I have never heard anyone say "Where do you base?", though. It's not technically incorrect, since it is an intransitive verb, but it's not the way we usually use it - we usually say you are based in a place, not you base in a place, so I would be very surprised to hear "Where do you base?" Then again, I speak a Northeastern US dialect; maybe the UK is different.
    – stangdon
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 17:23

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Someone would say "Where you based?", or "Where are you based?".

With my accent it would appear to sound as "Biaaaaist" because my vocalisation is heavy with triphthongs.

The vowel sounds vary greatly between UK regions and a simple word like this would be very variable in pronunciation. The variation is so great that I had trouble understanding fellow students from up t'north when I first arrived at University!

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  • English doesn’t have phonemic triphthongs. To be a triphthong, it has to be in the same syllable.
    – tchrist
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 12:04
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    "Where you based?" would be incorrect grammar. "Where are you based?" is correct. But I can easily imagine someone say "Where're you based?" in a way that slurs over the "re" and it sounds like "Where you based?"
    – Jay
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 18:56
  • @Jay - Of course it is incorrect grammar, but it is how real local people speak, which what was what the OP asked.
    – Brian Tompsett - 汤莱恩
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 19:02
  • @BrianTompsett-汤莱恩 Let me rephrase: Among people I know, anyway, no one would say "Where you based?" except as a slip of the tongue. They'd say "Where are you based?" If that's not true where you live, okay. (Those Brits just can't speak proper English ...)
    – Jay
    Commented Nov 9, 2015 at 19:21

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