I say nuclear wrong. I know I do because people have told me so. It's a good thing, too, because I honestly can't hear a difference between the two pronunciations. Sure, if someone exaggerates what they're saying, I can hear it. I can even say it right if I completely stop the flow of the conversation and say it in my head before forcing the exaggerated version out of my mouth. However, in a normal conversation with everyone speaking as normal I honestly could not tell you if the person I'm talking to is saying it correctly.
I find this extremely frustrating because mispronouncing this word seems to automatically lower your IQ by at least 50 points. In fact, mispronouncing this word can, simply on its own merit be sufficient proof that you're an idiot for people to dismiss you from then on.
Now, I won’t say I’m particularly intelligent. I’m insecure enough about myself that I have no idea how smart or stupid I am. However, I can’t see how mispronouncing nuclear would have any effect on that. I can’t pronounce bag correctly, either, but I’ve never had someone say that I was unintelligent because of that. What’s so special about nuclear that makes mispronouncing it such a stigma?
Posted by Amanecer (Member # 4068) on :
Because George W. mispronounced it and people used his regional pronunciation as evident proof of his stupidity because that's what they wanted to believe. I said it incorrectly for years before that and nobody ever batted an eye.
I feel for you on this issue. For the most part, I don't have any accent. But there are some words I absolutely can't say correctly without thinking very hard about it. And no matter how hard I try, I have never been able to hear a difference between "Mail" and "Male".
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
It's probably because it's a sciency word—a word that intelligent people should know—so if you mispronounce it, then you must not know it and must be unintelligent. It's a stupid stigma, of course.
Edit: The stigma has been around for much longer than George W. Bush has been in office. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Ford, Carter, and Clinton all said it, too, along with hosts of other well-educated people.
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
There's a difference between "mail" and "male"? Which accent is that?
Posted by raventh1 (Member # 3750) on :
There isn't a difference between mail and mail (hah!)
Anyways, it's always fun to mix up some things, femail, various other ones: Think webmail site that is popular and has the word hot in it with dot com. I wouldn't recommend going there, but man when I worked at MSN that was a horror story waiting to happen.
Honestly, it's to the point where so many people mispronounce it that it's going to be another 'correct' way to say it soon. I would argue that it doesn't drop your IQ, but it might show someone how much you've read or not read. I personally don't care either way, nor would I look down on you (much) for a mispronunciation.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
My astronomy professor says "Nucular." Why does it even matter?
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
For the same reason that mispronouncing any word matters. Because it's wrong.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
"My astronomy professor says "Nucular." Why does it even matter?"
quote:...1. [My astronomy professor] showed up the first day and told us his lesson plan was 25 years old, that he wasn't too keen on technology so there would be no visuals, and he wasn't going to read the homework or give essay questions on tests. 2. He enouraged us not to study so that the curve would be low and we would have an easier time getting ok grades. he was NOT kidding... ...5. He suggested we not bother reading the book- he certainly never had.
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
I think it's because that particular mispronunciation is one of a few words that seem to be more prevalent among rural, (and presumably less educated) people. Others would be "lie-berry" for "library" and "warsh" for "wash".
And this was so, at least in my experience, long before GWB came into public prominence.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Amanecer: And no matter how hard I try, I have never been able to hear a difference between "Mail" and "Male".
There is no difference between those two words.
The reason "nukyuler" sounds dumb to a lot of people is that there's a bias in the US against southern accents, and nukyuler sounds southern.
I'm an elitist midwestern snob, and nukyuler, liberry, Feb-you-arry and jewlery all make me squirm. The funny thing to me is hearing people who say the last two making fun of people who say nukyuler.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Uh... what KarlEd said.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
It's really difficult for me to say nuclear correctly. But I try really hard to over-emphasize the cleee-arrrr because people, no matter how close they are to you, apparently get really, really angry. >_<
quote: Feb-you-arry
Wait... uh... then how do you say it?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:For the same reason that mispronouncing any word matters. Because it's wrong.
Of course. Anybody who doesn't speak with [insert MY accent here] is wrong. End of story.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by MyrddinFyre: It's really difficult for me to say nuclear correctly. But I try really hard to over-emphasize the cleee-arrrr because people, no matter how close they are to you, apparently get really, really angry. >_<
Just think of it as an adjective or an adverb. How do atom bombs explode? Nukely. Nukely, nukelier, nukeliest. The middle one is how you pronounce nuclear.
quote:Originally posted by MyrddinFyre:
quote: Feb-you-arry
Wait... uh... then how do you say it?
Heh.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Read the usage note. While I've always heard it with the first "r" pronounced, it's apparently ok either way.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
My pet peeve about pronounciation is really the way so many people pronounce an "h" like a "y" in words like "humor", "huge", "humongous".
When I was a freshman in high school, we were doing a unit on optics, and the book gave little pronunciation guides for the technical terms. It actually said that "humor" (as in aqueous and vitreous) was pronounced "YOO-mer". For years, I thought that pronunciation was specific to humor in the context of eyeball juice. I didn't realize that it was just a dialect thing.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Corwin: Read the usage note. While I've always heard it with the first "r" pronounced, it's apparently ok either way.
Huh. I'm surprised they don't have jewlery as an alternate pronunciation, in that case. It's just as common. They do have LIE-bree as an educated usage of library, but they frown on lie-berry (which sounds like a breakfast cereal to me).
I think whoever did this page just put his or her own personal preferences in. It seems awfully arbitrary. Or should that be "arbitree"?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
And... is this a midwest thing? My little brother, and about half the people I went to school with, pronounced "milk" as "melk". Anyone else run into this?
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
If it makes you feel any better, I'm a very smart person, but I can't stop myself most of the time from pronouncing "creek" as "crick." It's because I was raised in Idaho, where everybody says "crick."
If you want to have a little mnemonic device for pronouncing "nuclear" correctly, then remember that it refers to the nucleus of an atom...so nuclEEus, nuclEEar. That helps me, anyway!
Lisa, yes - the "melk" thing I've noticed a lot, but I've noticed it with native Washingtonians, who also tend to call their state Warshington and to write with a pin instead of a pen. heehee.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa:
I'm an elitist midwestern snob, and nukyuler, liberry, Feb-you-arry and jewlery all make me squirm. The funny thing to me is hearing people who say the last two making fun of people who say nukyuler.
Everybody in my family hates it when I say February instead of Febyooary. But they're all originally from either rural Washington (Warshington) or rural Idaho, so I guess I can understand. I think they think I'm trying to be an elitist snob. I'm not; I'm just trying to be correct. At least I'm still on board with them with "crick."
...But then, most members of my family also call a calculator a counculator and the attic the addict.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:For the same reason that mispronouncing any word matters. Because it's wrong.
Of course. Anybody who doesn't speak with [insert MY accent here] is wrong. End of story.
I think there's a difference between accents and mispronounciations. Accents change how you say vowels and how you inflect. They don't change how words are spelled. That is, unless your accent is due to having a different first language from English. Even then, you're still pronouncing words incorrectly.
I freely admit that I'm dead wrong in pronouncing "creek" as "crick." Wrong, wrong, wrong. It has nothing to do with any accent. People from Idaho generally aren't thought to have an accent, unless it's your standard west-coast accent.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:nukyuler
*shudder* (Sorry, blacwolve)
quote: liberry
ack!
quote: Feb-you-arry
um, no
quote:jewlery
uh . . . Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I think the only reason I know the difference between nuclear and nucular is because of The Simpsons, and for that reason I almost always pronounce it wrong, sometimes intentionaly, sometimes not.
That way, when I say "nucular" and someone corrects me, I get to pretend they are the dumb one and correct them a la Homer Simpson: "It's nu-CU-lar". And then, when they try to correct me again I get to prove how ultra-cooler-than-them I am, because they don't get the reference. Oh yeah, using my own idiocy to make me look cool. Oh yeah.
Edit to add: And I don't get it about jewlery. What am I missing?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Me neither. I saw jewel-ree... I have no idea if that's right or not.
In elementary school, we were specifically taught that the first r in February was silent. I had no idea that it wasn't so in some places. That just boggles my mind.
And nuclear isn't a memory thing so much as the sounds are difficult for me to put together. But I don't want to get into the "it's hard to pronounce things near r's" thing again Posted by kmbboots (Member # 8576) on :
Look at the order of the letters. Where do you get "Nu-cu-lar"?
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
quote:And I don't get it about jewlery. What am I missing?
Well, there's "jew-el-ry" (which is how I say it), or there's "jew-ler-y" (which I guess according to Lisa is wrong), or there's "jew-el-ler-y" (which seems like overkill).
Or there's the easiest way: "joolry".
And I'm not exactly sure how I say February. As a child I used to say Feb-you-ary, and was shocked when I learned that there was another "R" in there. But even now I'm not sure I really pronounce the "R", unless I'm thinking about it and being very careful. When I speak fast it's more like "Febooary" or "Febwary". It just takes a long time to fit all those letters in. Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Because otherwise I'd be saying Nucleah. The e or the a sounds (like the o sound) do not transition into the r around these here parts. U sounds (as well as i and ea (like in clear) sounds) do. I do like to keep my dignity and say my r's
edit: laaag.
Posted by Uprooted (Member # 8353) on :
I say "joolry." And I do say February, but it's a trained pronunciation; when I was little, I said Feb-yoo-ary. Definitely nuclear and I know it's snobbish but I do cringe when I hear "nuke-you-ler." I don't know why I have such a bias about that and I don't like myself for it.
My good friend from Idaho says "yooj" for huge. I think I say the "h"s on all those words, but when I thought about the Good Humor truck I realized I don't say the "h" on that one!
How 'bout Realtor? Ree-al-tor or Reel-i-tor? (since it's a made up word I don't know that it matters much anyway . . . but the second seems to be by far the more common pronunciation and I don't get why.)
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
quote:In elementary school, we were specifically taught that the first r in February was silent. I had no idea that it wasn't so in some places. That just boggles my mind.
Me too. I was also taught to pronounce the third day of the work week as Wensday. Am I gonna find out I'm really supposed to pronounce it Wed-nes-day now? Because I ain't gonna do it, to darn hard, not gonna happen. It is and forever will be Feb-you-ary, Wensday and Mall-boro.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
Same for me, with the silent r in February. And while I am from the south, I'm not from the rural south.
Posted by suminonA (Member # 8757) on :
People that pronounce "nuclear" as "nucular" really (no kidding) make me wonder: How are are able to read the word "clear"?
I see "nuclear" as "nu"+"clear".
A.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
quote:Am I gonna find out I'm really supposed to pronounce it Wed-nes-day now?
Whoa there! Back to your roots. The day is named after the Norse god Woden. Woden's day or Wedn's day. Then Thor's day, then Fria's day.
Posted by PUNJABEE (Member # 7359) on :
Noo-Kyoo-Lur is not correct.
Noo-Klee-Ur is correct.
The "NOO" sound can also be pronounced "New" if you want to get really specific.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I am not guilty of any of those mistakes, but I do INTENTIONALLY say words wrong in conversation, but its obvious I am doing it. Its just more fun that way.
Ill pronounce the silent letters in words, because usually people pick up on it better. After awhile I forget about them and move on to new words and start saying the old ones right again. Or I just come up with alternate ways to say things, for the heck of it.
Right Now:
Birth Control = Baby Control (it just sounds funnier)
Sandwich = Sammich,
Yesterday I cracked myself up by using the word "Curry" as in the food, and "Curry" as in to "Curry Favor" in the same sentence.
and pretty much any word not spelled the way it sounds gets literalist treatment.
Well I am done going on and on.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Libbie: If you want to have a little mnemonic device for pronouncing "nuclear" correctly, then remember that it refers to the nucleus of an atom...so nuclEEus, nuclEEar. That helps me, anyway!
Of course, if you say "nukyulus", that won't help. <grin>
Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
quote:(since it's a made up word . . .
Which are the "non-made-up" words?
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by vonk: I was also taught to pronounce the third day of the work week as Wensday.
Really? I pronounce it "Wends-day". Still wrong, but marginally less so.
And yeah, I actually have this vague memory from when I was in 1st grade, or so, when I first saw that "r" in February. I think that was when I started pronouncing it. I think most of my family doesn't.
And what about OSC's rant from a few months ago where he claimed that you don't pronounce the first "c" in "arctic", and that doing so is actually wrong? He said it with such authority, but I haven't been able to find any backing for it.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
I do sometimes say "k'nife". But it's probably mostly just to be obnoxious. And "k'nee", too.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by KarlEd:
quote:(since it's a made up word . . .
Which are the "non-made-up" words?
Ow! And the like. I don't think anyone made those up... they just sort of happened when the first person stubbed his or her toe.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa:
quote:Originally posted by vonk: I was also taught to pronounce the third day of the work week as Wensday.
Really? I pronounce it "Wends-day". Still wrong, but marginally less so.
And yeah, I actually have this vague memory from when I was in 1st grade, or so, when I first saw that "r" in February. I think that was when I started pronouncing it. I think most of my family doesn't.
And what about OSC's rant from a few months ago where he claimed that you don't pronounce the first "c" in "arctic", and that doing so is actually wrong? He said it with such authority, but I haven't been able to find any backing for it.
I still pronounce the the c in Arctic, Whoops
I say February with the r on purpose, but I just as often pronounce it correctly.
I can't stand people from Utah who say their days of the week with an "ee" sound instead of a "ay" sound at the end
Sundee, Mondee, Tuesdee, Wednesdee, Thursdee, Fridee (usually friday is still called friday), and saturdee. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
The OED thinks the first c is pronounced.
edit: Merriam Webster and American Heritage both think both are fine, and list the one with the c pronounced first.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I can't stand people from Utah who say their days of the week with an "ee" sound instead of a "ay" sound at the end
Sundee, Mondee, Tuesdee, Wednesdee, Thursdee, Fridee (usually friday is still called friday), and saturdee. WHERE DID THIS COME FROM?!
Actually, it's that sort of speech that led to the ridiculous pronunciation of "Mizzoura" for Missouri. It's like calling soda pop "sody pop", or calling Florida "Floridee" or Iowa "Ioway". People in Missouri started to think that Missouri sounded declassé the way those words do, so they hypercorrected to Mizzoura.
After 4 years in college there, I learned to pronounce it as "misery", but that's just me.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
Where I grew up,(Utah)the Arctic Circle (with a glotal stop)was on the globe. The Arctic Circle (no stop) was where you got fry sauce with your frys
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote:Originally posted by suminonA: People that pronounce "nuclear" as "nucular" really (no kidding) make me wonder: How are are able to read the word "clear"?
I see "nuclear" as "nu"+"clear".
A.
Because unless it's over exagerrated, I can't hear the difference between the two. When people say them in conversation, I have absolutely no idea whether it's being pronounced correctly. Not because I don't know which is correct, but because I can't hear the difference.
Likewise, it's not a memory thing, as I said, if I stop and think about it, I can pronounce it correctly. It's that pronouncing it correctly takes a great deal of work on my part because I don't hear the difference.
Posted by John Van Pelt (Member # 5767) on :
I think I've heard Jimmy Carter (who served on a nuclear submarine) say both noo-clee-ur and noo-kue-ler. Though in the most recent clip I saw, I could swear he pronounced it nook-[inaudible]-ur. I think I've heard Gore (another southerner) kind of fudge it, too.
The strategic mumble. It's an option!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Uprooted: How 'bout Realtor? Ree-al-tor or Reel-i-tor?
Neither. The word has two syllables -- reel-ter.
Posted by Ela (Member # 1365) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy:
Edit: The stigma has been around for much longer than George W. Bush has been in office. Eisenhower, Kennedy, Ford, Carter, and Clinton all said it, too, along with hosts of other well-educated people.
What Jon Boy said.
Ironically, my physics instructor in college pronounced nuclear wrong. It always struck me as very odd, as it was clear she was very well-educated - especially in physics!
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
the funny thing with my group of friends is that as we get more drunk we actually pronounce margarita more correctly. As a very ingrained joke, when sober we tend to call them mardagritas, but we kinda forget the joke as the alcomohol kicks in =p
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by vonk:
quote:In elementary school, we were specifically taught that the first r in February was silent. I had no idea that it wasn't so in some places. That just boggles my mind.
Me too. I was also taught to pronounce the third day of the work week as Wensday. Am I gonna find out I'm really supposed to pronounce it Wed-nes-day now? Because I ain't gonna do it, to darn hard, not gonna happen. It is and forever will be Feb-you-ary, Wensday and Mall-boro.
I know I SAY Wed-nes-day, but unless I'm speaking VERY SLOWLY (which is rare), it sounds like Wensday. Kind of like how I actually do write all the letters in my name when I sign checks, but it all comes out in a swoopy squiggle.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by PUNJABEE: Noo-Kyoo-Lur is not correct.
Noo-Klee-Ur is correct.
The "NOO" sound can also be pronounced "New" if you want to get really specific.
In my neck of the woods, "noo" and "new" are pronounced exactly the same. Possibly the only way to discern the West Coast accent from other toned-down accents. Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: I still pronounce the the c in Arctic, Whoops
No diss meant to OSC, but it's still more widely considered correct to pronounce both Cs than to pronounce only the last one.
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
Are people seriously trying to say that Wednesday ought to be pronounced Wed-nes-day?
This whole notion of "correct" pronunciation really grates on my nerves, anyway. We ALL speak a dialect, and your dialect is no better or worse than my dialect. We have Standard English, but its main purpose, in my opinion, anyway, is to serve as a bridge between dialects. Standard English is good for formal speeches and writing.
People who pronounce words differently than you are merely pronouncing them differently, not wrongly. Their pronunciation is based on their background and particular dialect, just as yours is. I would bet that we wouldn't have to look far before we came up with a word that you pronounce differently than the "standard."
After all, if you want to talk "real" pronunciations, then lets go back to Old English--then we'll ALL be wrong. Pronunciations and spellings have changed so much that Old English looks and sounds like a completely different language. But the point is that the language patterns and shifts from Old English on to Modern English can be measured and seen.
Language changes. It always has, and it always will. And sometimes you won't like the changes. Too bad. And if you continue to whine about it, you just might be guaranteeing that people will continue to pronounce your "pet" words wrong--just to piss you off.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
quote: People that pronounce "nuclear" as "nucular" really (no kidding) make me wonder: How are are able to read the word "clear"? [Confused]
I see "nuclear" as "nu"+"clear".
For me, the clear in "nuclear" is pronounced clEE-arrrr, and the clear in "clear" is pronounced clEEr. Do you say clear with two syllables?
Wednesday is Wensday for me, but because I know theres that d there there is one of those almost-silent glottal stops in there. Like when you say little as li'l, you're not really saying lihhhl but li. l. There's something there, just not pronounced.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: And... is this a midwest thing? My little brother, and about half the people I went to school with, pronounced "milk" as "melk". Anyone else run into this?
This is pretty common in the Utah dialect.
feel -> fill fill -> fell fail -> fell fool -> full full -> foal
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
I pronounce new, noo, and nu all the same.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
For all you nucular naysayers, how do you say "comfortable"? Chances are you metathesize the /r/ and /t/, ending up with something like "comftorble" instead. You might also want to read about the phonotactical motivation behind the pronunciation of "nucular." In addition to phonotactic constraints and syllable sonority principles, there's also the fact that only two or three English words end in the sequence /cliər/. A lot more words end in the sequence /cjulər/, so there's also motivation by analogy.
Posted by John Van Pelt (Member # 5767) on :
I pronounce the answers to "What are you doing?" and "Honey, why don't we ask for directions?" the same as the 'i' in Parliament.
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
That's a neat Wiki, it makes me feel a little better about saying nucular when I don't think about it. Except, I definitely say comfterble as well.
Posted by DaisyMae (Member # 9722) on :
I'll be the first to admit irritation at words being pronounced incorrectly, but only if pronounced differently than I say them. I know of no one who says every word the way the dictionary advises. Different regions have pronounced words differently for as long as language has existed.
I used to go MAD in Utah when people would pronounce the words "sell" and "sale" exactly the same, mostly because this would cause tremendous confusion when trying to spell these words. Even in college, many people seemed unaware that one was a verb and one was a noun. In the same day I passed a Women's Soccer "Plant Sell" and then passed a car with a sign that read, "Must Sale."
But I'm just as guilty as the next person for conforming to regional dialects. Of course we're going to pronounce words the way those we learn the language from pronounce them. I never even realized until I was in college that people actually said the word "something" like it is spelled and not "suh-Uhm."
Language is constantly evolving. Whatever becomes the preferred mode of pronunciation for a word by the majority of the public becomes the correct form.
Posted by Artemisia Tridentata (Member # 8746) on :
quote:This is pretty common in the Utah dialect.
feel -> fill fill -> fell fail -> fell fool -> full full -> foal
You may be interested, in Utah, they have a "window in time" to look at this, the "Deseret Alphabet". That was a phononetical spelling scheme that was intended to make it easer for immigrants to learn English. It was only used for a few years, early on in Utah history ca.1850-60. When you actually sound the words out in the Deseret alphabet, you find that Utahns in the 1850's talked a lot like they do now. I had always thought it was a Danish influence. But, that is way too early. I have since had a linguistics guy tell me that it is similar to the "Vermont" dialect of the late 1800's. Anyway, they have been "putting the harse in the born" for a long time.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
I've heard people talk about a reversal of "ar" and "or," but I have never heard it, though I've definitely heard people who pronounced "or" like "ar." I've had a couple of professors who have studied this phenomenon in Utah, and they've always talked about it as a merger, not as a reversal. They've even taken recordings, run them through a spectrograph, and then shown the scatter plots, and it's definitely a merger of "or" with "ar."
Posted by scholar (Member # 9232) on :
As far as assuming stupidity over mispronouncing words, I get that all the time. I have a minor speech impediment. In jr high, while taking all accelerated courses after having taken the gifted courses in elementary, I had a teacher recommend me for special ed courses because with my speech impediment, there must be something wrong with my brain (I was already taking speech therapy courses and she knew that). I had an A in that course and she still couldn't believe that I was intelligent enough to be in her course because of the way I spoke.
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:For the same reason that mispronouncing any word matters. Because it's wrong.
Of course. Anybody who doesn't speak with [insert MY accent here] is wrong. End of story.
Despite what living in such a self-centered country as your own may lead you to believe, people with southern US accents aren't the only ones who pronounce nuclear incorrectly (and I'm sure there are plenty of southern staters who pronounce it properly). People who have the same accent as me do it. It's not an accent thing, it's just a wrong thing. "End of story".
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
I HATE when people say q-pon for coupon, and when people say samwidge.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
I'm with BlackBlade. It's definitely sammich.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Wow. Porteiro said something sarcastic, and jebus took it literally.
In other news, do you hear that sound? It's the universe exploding.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Elmer's Glue: I HATE when people say q-pon for coupon, and when people say samwidge.
What do you say? Koo-pon? Of course it's Q-pon.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Congratulations. You're one of the approximately 31 percent of Americans who pronounce "coupon" wrong. Notice that the letter sequence "cou" is never pronounced /kyu/ in English.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by aspectre: "My astronomy professor says "Nucular." Why does it even matter?"
quote:...1. [My astronomy professor] showed up the first day and told us his lesson plan was 25 years old, that he wasn't too keen on technology so there would be no visuals, and he wasn't going to read the homework or give essay questions on tests. 2. He enouraged us not to study so that the curve would be low and we would have an easier time getting ok grades. he was NOT kidding... ...5. He suggested we not bother reading the book- he certainly never had.
point taken, but I mean, he is like, an actual astronomer, even if he isn't much of a teacher.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy: For all you nucular naysayers, how do you say "comfortable"?
I say COME-fer-ta-bul. Just as it's spelled.
Posted by Libbie (Member # 9529) on :
quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: [QUOTEpoint taken, but I mean, he is like, an actual astronomer, even if he isn't much of a teacher.
Heeheehee - but he's also a dolt! Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I pronounce nuclear correctly, but the snobby comments I've seen in this thread make me want to mispronounce it.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Franktly I couldn't give a care either way or the other. Grammars and dictioning and allocution are strictally personell.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy: Wow. Porteiro said something sarcastic, and jebus took it literally.
In other news, do you hear that sound? It's the universe exploding.
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy: Congratulations. You're one of the approximately 31 percent of Americans who pronounce "coupon" wrong. Notice that the letter sequence "cou" is never pronounced /kyu/ in English.
I'm sorry, did you see where the descriptivist went? He was just here a second ago . . .
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jon Boy: Congratulations. You're one of the approximately 31 percent of Americans who pronounce "coupon" wrong. Notice that the letter sequence "cou" is never pronounced /kyu/ in English.
Sure it is. I can think of at least one word in which the letter sequence "cou" is pronounced /kyu/ in English.
Hint: You snip them out of the newspaper.
Dude, if 31% of Americans say it that way, you can't call it wrong. Particularly when that 31% includes me.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Comfortable. That's a good point. I'm no longer going to give people a hard time about nukyular. Because I do pronounce it "comfterbul".
Posted by JennaDean (Member # 8816) on :
quote:Dude, if 31% of Americans say it that way, you can't call it wrong.
By that standard, I'm betting you can't call "nukyular" wrong either. Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
Interesting. Did you read what I posted right before you posted that?
Also, it's different, because I'm not part of the whatever percent of Americans that mispronounce nuclear.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: I'm sorry, did you see where the descriptivist went? He was just here a second ago . . .
I say "coupon" with /kju/ too, just so you know. I was just trying to point out to Lisa that she isn't as right as she thinks she is. Besides, a descripivist doesn't have to proclaim that everything is equally correct or acceptable. Even though many people pronounce "coupon" with /kju/, it's still often considered nonstandard.
Lisa: What I meant is that there are no other words in English with that spelling and that pronunciation. The pronunciation /kju/ is not supported by spelling or etymology, but I think it's a result of the fact that /ku/ is extremely rare in stressed syllables in English, while /kju/ is fairly common.
And now I'm wondering what percentage of Americans actually say "nucular." I'd guess it's a lot smaller than 31 percent, but I really have no idea.
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
Upon reflection, I've discovered that I pronounce "nuclear", "comfortable", and "coupon" correctly, most of the time.
However, the alternate pronunciations on all three words sound like things I've most likely said before, possibly many times.
So I don't exactly feel superior about them .
I pronounce both c's in Arctic most of the time, I think, but I'm not sure which way is the "correct" way.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I didn't even realize that anybody pronounces "coupon" in any other way than kyu-pon, but on TV today I heard people pronouncing it coo-pon. Weird.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
To be honest, I kind of wonder about those numbers for "coupon" from the dialect survey. In my own experience, the pronunciation with the inserted "y" sound is far more common.
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Everything I need to know I learned from Star Trek. Including how to pronounce "nuclear". Unfortunately, now I mispronounce "vessel".
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: And... is this a midwest thing? My little brother, and about half the people I went to school with, pronounced "milk" as "melk". Anyone else run into this?
My brother and husband, who both needed speech therapy, both occasionally still do that. Also "pellow" instead of "pillow."
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shigosei: Everything I need to know I learned from Star Trek. Including how to pronounce "nuclear". Unfortunately, now I mispronounce "vessel".
There's more than one way to pronounce "vessel"?
Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
Wessel!
Posted by BaoQingTian (Member # 8775) on :
That was seriously one of the funniest parts of ST4. A Russian during the Cold War asking to see our 'nuclear wessels.'
(Reference was provided for the 2 or 3 non-Trekkies on Hatrack)
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Blushing]](graemlins/blushing.gif)
![[Cool]](cool.gif)
Oh yeah.![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Notice that the letter sequence "cou" is never pronounced /kyu/ in English.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)