Pronunciation project develops a globe-spanning accent map for the word ‘potato’

If there’s one food that unites the world, it’s the potato. From the sour cream-slathered Idaho russett to a hearty Peruvian shrimp chowder to the sublime purple-yam ice cream of Japan, most everybody has found a way to enjoy this lumpy starch. And now we can hear how different English-speaking cultures say “potato,” thanks to a pronunciation project from British publisher Pan Macmillan. To hype up a new book about accents – You Say Potato, by father/son team David and Ben Crystal – the company is letting people record their renditions of “potato” and have them pinned to an interactive map. They currently have 213 different accents from around the world.