Lambaste vs lambast (Am) English usage

[Jesper Lauridsen]

In (Am) English, is there any distinction between the use of lambaste vs lambast?

I generally use it as a verb, i.e., to lambast(e) someone; but I'm not sure
if there is a distinction between the two pronunciations (and spellings).

[contrex]

The "distinction" is like those between color and colour; odor and odour; visualize and visualise - for the verb meaning (1) to beat or (2) to scold or berate, lambaste is the preferred spelling in American and Canadian English, while lambast is preferred in varieties of English from outside North America.

As for the pronunciation, as a British English speaker, I pronounce both 'a' vowels like those in crash, dash, hat, mat, cat etc. I see that Cambridge Dictionaries provides audio samples of US and UK pronunciation:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/english/lambaste

It seems that North Americans pronounce the -baste part to rhyme with haste, baste, paste, waste, etc.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

Both seem to be used in both BrE and AmE.

Two BrE and one AmE short-a (/a/) versions here, and two "haste"-rhyming
(/e/) AmE versions. here:
http://forvo.com/word/lambaste/#en


This has the "haste" (/e/) version in BrE:
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/lambaste

as well as the spelling "lambast" with a short-a (/a/).

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.english.usage)

[John Varela]

It's not a word one hears often, but I am surprised to learn that
the short-a version even exists.

--
John Varela