To rhyme with ‘cone’ or ‘gone’? Countdown’s Susie Dent reveals most common question

Pronunciation of the word in Britain is affected by regional variation. Photograph: monitor6/Getty Images/iStockphoto

As the in-house lexicographer on Channel 4’s enduringly popular Countdown programme, Susie Dent has been arbitrating on word-related disputes for more than 30 years.

Now, Britain’s most famous word expert has revealed the question she is asked most frequently about the sometimes idiosyncratic English language: the correct pronunciation of the word “scone”.