Quote Originally Posted by maxmixiv View Post
Though not being native speaker, but still.. I wonder how strong [a:] wormed itself into "box"?
Short [o] is suggested by each Internet resource I know.
Short [o] in box is how Brits pronounce them. Americans go with a strong [a:] or a strong [o:] as far as I know.

Compare American pronunciation with British one here
Listen to "box" pronunciation here at the most famous American dictionary
And here