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How do you say "one of those" or "one of them" fast or naturally? Is it "one uh those" or "one uh them " where 'uh' is the schwa and the 'v' sound is just skipped? When I try to say it myself I think that's what it is, but I couldn't find any sources to confirm, so, can anyone confirm this?

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  • In some regional dialects (southern or rural US) the 'of' would be shortened as you say, but usually it should be said as written.
    – Tofystedeth
    Mar 7, 2016 at 18:59
  • If you must shorten beyond proper English, why not rephrase to a more concise form?
    – legowave440
    Mar 8, 2016 at 16:03
  • People say this expression a lot, like at a store, "can I get one of those?" and I know that they are not fully pronouncing the 'v' there.. but I can't quite make out what they're doing. I don't think it has to do with any 'proper' English by the way... it's just the way people say it (maybe without thinking). And I want to know how they do it, or what they're doing exactly.
    – Max
    Mar 9, 2016 at 6:10
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    I say it (with my Australian accent) a bit like the contraction of words with 'have' (eg: would have, should have). The pronunciation would be closest to 'wunnev' (lol, i don't do the ipa thing). I have heard it the way you describe as well: 'wunner' those.
    – mcalex
    Mar 9, 2016 at 11:39
  • @mcalex I think your connection with the 'would have' was very interesting or revealing.. maybe if you can say the 'v' and 'th' quickly without interruption in a smooth way, which would require skill (which needs specific practice to acquire, and is not just there for non-native speakers to begin with), maybe it results in the natural desired sound without having to drop the 'v'.
    – Max
    Mar 10, 2016 at 6:07

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Without getting into regional dialects, I commonly hear the following in conversational English:

  • One Of Them: we'll squash the words "one" and "of" together, softening the "f" to sound more like a "v", and hacking the "th" of *them" off completely for a final result that looks like "one of 'em."
    • IPA: /wʌn əv ɛm/
    • Spell: /wun uhv em/
  • One Of Those: we'll squash the words "one" and "of" together, but instead of softening the "f" we hack it off completely, and leave the "th" of those intact, for a final results that looks like "one o' those."
    • IPA: /wʌnɒ ðoʊz/ or /wʌnʌ ðoʊz/
    • Spell: /wunna thohz/ or /wunnu thohz/
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  • I think that maybe "wʌnʌ ðoʊz" is really close enough to the 'real'/'proper' thing that noone really notices when they hear it, that there was no 'v' sound made. Also I heard that some people pronounce the 'v' as 'b', I presume because it's just easier, and is not such a bother to pronounce. Or it could be that most of the people are in fact just dropping the 'v'... I guess I just can't be sure because people really seem to vary what they do... how they pronounce things.
    – Max
    Mar 10, 2016 at 6:14

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