It’s been reported this week how one of life’s fiercest debates that’s raged for decades has finally been settled – but sadly that’s not true.

For people living in or around London, the age-old argument over the correct way to pronounce scone must go on.

Various news sites have claimed the quarrel is over after YouGov research found that nationally 51 per cent of people pronounce it to rhyme with gone and only 42 per cent rhyme it with bone.

But this doesn’t provide the definitive answer, because there are contrasting results in London and a closer divide in the rest of the south.

In the capital, 50 per cent of people think scone should be said with a cone sound and only 43 per cent think it is a con sound.

For the south, the result matches the national opinion but is tighter – with 49 per cent saying it should rhyme with John and 44 per cent pronouncing it to sound like Joan.

News Shopper:

YouGov says there are two main factors in how people say the word scone – region and social grade.

Regionally, people in the north and Scotland use the gone pronunciation, but it swings the other way lower down the country.

In terms of ‘class’, there is an even split in the pronunciation among the C2DE ‘lower’ demographic, whereas the ABC1 ‘middle’ classes are more likely to go with the gone option.

So, we’re not really any the wiser on the supposedly correct way to say the word scone and therefore the long-running fight, described by Oxford Dictionaries as enough to “end friendships, destroy marriages, and tear families asunder”, goes on.

At least there is a more decisive answer on whether jam or cream should go first – nationally, jam-first (the Cornish method) is the preferred choice for six in 10 people and it is a similar picture for London and the south.

Do you think scone should be said with a cone or con sound? Should it rhyme with Joan or John? Do you think any less of someone who mispronounces it or do you think either version is acceptable? Add your comments below.