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It seems a stupid question, but I already hear American on TV or movies or even songs, say Are like Do in this context

What are you waiting for

I just listened to it again in this song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJtDXIazrMo

Am i right please? or it is really pronounced as are

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    Are you hearing 'waddaya'? [I didn't listen to the link, but that would be my first thought.]
    – DoneWithThis.
    May 3, 2015 at 17:14
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    We typically slur those words together. What you are hearing as a 'd' and interpreting as the word "do" is really the 't' in what that has been softened into a 'd' and run together with the word 'are' which has been reduced to nothing more than an a schwa and then run in with 'you'. @Tetsujin- notes that this is typically written as waddaya. Although in her song, she really pronounces it more like waddayou.
    – Jim
    May 3, 2015 at 17:39
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    I'd write this as "What're you waiting for". Like Jim says, the words are slurred together. But for other commenters, if you listen to the video (at about 1:10), the "you" part is pretty well distinct from the "what're" part.
    – The Photon
    May 3, 2015 at 17:43
  • @ThePhoton- +1 "What're you" is exactly right.
    – Jim
    May 3, 2015 at 18:12
  • To me, it sounds like "Wha-dar you waiting for".
    – Catija
    May 3, 2015 at 23:02

1 Answer 1

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I listened to the song to confirm what you were asking. What you are hearing is a slurring of the words. American English gets very lazy in some contexts and informal contractions are made during speech only. In American English it's a lazy slur. "What are you waiting for," is slurred to, "whadda you waiting for." Which can very much sound like, "what do you waiting for," if you don't know what you are listening to.

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    This is not American English getting very lazy. It is normal English pronunciation. As well, this singer, an English woman, sings 'wanna' and 'gotta', also showing that speakers of British English also pronounce these words in this fashion, which is also frequently ascribed to AmE only. Analogies with other languages are helpful to few, and they are not encouraged on ELL.
    – user6951
    May 5, 2015 at 14:38
  • I've updated to remove the French part. However, American English in this context IS lazy. It takes more effort to form a T than a D. AE infrequently uses a T when a T is called for in "What." If you replaced the T with a D, you can slur the word, "Whaddo" and "Whadare" easier. If you use a T, there is a necessary break in "What do," and more effort in "Wha tar." Some regions that have such variance from English proper that they don't use a letter at the end of the word, "What," but instead use a glottal stop. Like Boomhauer from "King of the Hill", the Cockney dialect, and Foghorn Leghorn.
    – iolympian
    May 6, 2015 at 15:18
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    "Lazy" as compared to what? What do you mean: when a 'T' is called for? Who calls for it? The spelling? Surely, you don't think that spelling dictates pronunciation, at least not in English (of any variety). Dang, most Brits I know add an -r sound at the end of words whose spelling ends in a vowel. Like Americar or something. What are you talking about "English proper"? What is English Proper? I am a native speaker of American English; what is your background?
    – user6951
    May 6, 2015 at 15:39
  • This answer isn't acceptable. Are all Americans lazy? It's their English you're gonna learn. So with this logic, you need to stop jogging every morning and sit on the couch eating French fries.
    – M.A.R.
    May 6, 2015 at 19:34
  • I suggest this link from BBC Learning English about Connected Speech.
    – user6951
    May 7, 2015 at 4:04

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