# Cobble? We're Bombing in Cobble? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 22, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923 "2001-10-22T19:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/1 "2001-10-22T19:41:52Z")
When the hell did they change the pronounciation of Kabul? The clockradio comes on this morning and the newsies are all talking about “Cobble.” Is this some “YUR-a-nuss” as opposed to “Your Anus” thing? I always thought you had to say Kah-BOOOOOOOL…really letting it rollllll across your tongue. Like Frank Nelson on the old Jack Benny Program saying “Yuhhhhhhh-essssSSSSSS?” or like Sean Connery in the role of a Imperalist-era British Colonel saying “In-JAHHHHHH.” Was I wrong all along? Was it always Cobble? Was everyone snickering behind my back in my International Affairs seminars? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/2 "2001-10-22T20:32:31Z")
I dunno about pronunciation but how else are we going to fill our desperate shortage of Kabul stones? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/3 "2001-10-22T20:42:50Z")
> [@](#): > > My hovel in Cobble was reduced to robble. the hamburgler ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/4 "2001-10-22T20:44:51Z")
I checked on [m-w.com](http://m-w.com), and they list “cobble” as the preferred pronunciation (i.e., it comes first in the list), but “ka-booooool” is listed as a secondary acceptable pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/5 "2001-10-22T21:07:07Z")
I always thought it was “Kah-BOOOOOOOL” too, glad I’m not the only one. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/6 "2001-10-22T21:16:12Z")
Me, I been saying it the generally conventional way I’m seeing here, I just didn’t realize you had to put so many **O** ’s in it! I been puttin’ tops - TOPS - two, maybe three in there. Sheesh, I better get caught up. [sub] :: to self - “Kah-BOOOOOOOOOL … Kah-BOOOOOOOL …”[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/7 "2001-10-22T21:58:41Z")
Don’t worry, **Ike** - I just heard Wolf Blitzer talking about the bombing, and he put at least three o’s into it. So at least one member of the Corporate Media hasn’t been brainwashed by the Short-U Society. ---
**Author:** ![Pucette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/278dde/32.png) [@Pucette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pucette)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/8 "2001-10-22T22:14:43Z")
It helps me when I think of it as KAH-buhl rather than Cobble. With that “u” pronounced shwa-esquely. ---
**Author:** ![Trucido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Trucido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trucido)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/9 "2001-10-22T22:19:06Z")
The anchors on the BBC World Service have been pronouncing it somewhat like cobble from the beginning. They tend to drag out the ‘a’ the slightest bit, resulting in Kaa-bl. It’s not really a full double-length though, more like one and a quarter. Perhaps it’s just some American tendency, though, for me to think the BBC’s pronounciation more proper than the popular one. Well, I see in preview that **Pucette** has rendered the pronounciation I’m trying to describe much more neatly. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/10 "2001-10-22T22:27:40Z")
FWIW, my dictionary (Collins Oxford) has the M-W ones in reverse order of preference, but the BBC have been pronouncing it KAH-bl for as long as I can remember. Still doesn’t sound _quite_ like cobble to me though. The Voice of America has a guide to pronouncing it, which you can check by clicking [here](http://www.voa.gov/pronunciations/index.cfm) (then use the Text Search field). Yep, that sounds just like cobble to me too, but I think they need a longer “a”. Better still, why not check out [the Afghan Teens Network homepage](http://learn.afghanteens.net/dari/alifba/) (seriously) for advice on how to pronounce their whole alphabet, then see how Kabul is written down in Dari and Hey Presto, Bob’s yer uncle, Fanny’s yer aunt :). ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/11 "2001-10-22T22:30:36Z")
Whoops, **Pucette** and **Trucido** both seem to have beaten me to it. Hope the links help though. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/12 "2001-10-22T23:16:52Z")
Speaking of which, did you notice they’re pronouncing **Qatar** as “Gutter”? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/13 "2001-10-22T23:24:06Z")
Ike, William Safire dealt with this 20 years ago, when Kabul was being bombed by the Evil Empire, not us. You can blame Rudyard Kipling for the error. KAH-b’l is the preferred pronunciation in Pashto and the international standard. However, Rudyard made use of it in several poems and stories, notably “The Wolf of Kabul,” and for metrical reasons he tended to make it iambic, to rhyme with “too full.” And thanks to his Victorian/Edwardian popularity, that version caught on. So don’t criticize the announcers for saying it correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/14 "2001-10-23T01:37:39Z")
‘E carried me away To where dictionaries lay, An’ a bullet come an’ drilled the beggar sharp. ‘E put me safe aside, An’ just before ‘e died, “I 'ope you liked your corrected pronounciation”, sez **Polycarp**. So I’ll meet ‘im later on At the place where ‘e is gone – Where it’s always double drill and no dry tarp; ‘E’ll be squattin’ on the coals Givin’ pronounciations to poor damned souls, An’ I’ll get corrected in Hell by **Polycarp**! Yes, **Carp! Carp! Carp!** You Lazarushian-leather **Polycarp**! Though I’ve belted you and flayed you, By the livin’ Gawd that made you, You’re a better pronouncer than I am, **Polycarp**! ---
**Author:** ![vix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a88e4f/32.png) [@vix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vix)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/15 "2001-10-23T02:10:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Pucette \* > \*\* With that “u” pronounced shwa-esquely. \*\* Yeah, **that’s** a word. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/16 "2001-10-23T12:06:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\*So don’t criticize the announcers for saying it correctly. \*\* Oh, I wouldn’t think of criticizing. As far as I’m concerned, they’re all peach Kabul-ers. – Uke, inordinately pleased with himself for that “Gunga Din” thing and making a ghastly pun as an excuse to boost his own thread so more people see it, who YOU calling pathetic, bub? ---
**Author:** ![Damhna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Damhna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damhna)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/17 "2001-10-23T12:22:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Revtim \* > \*\*I always thought it was “Kah-BOOOOOOOL” too, glad I’m not the only one. \*\* You mean it’s not Kah-BOOOOOOOM ? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/18 "2001-10-23T13:01:10Z")
> [@](#): > > – Uke, inordinately pleased with himself for that “Gunga Din” thing and making a ghastly pun as an excuse to boost his own thread so more people see it, who YOU calling pathetic, bub? [suck-up voice] Oh, **Uke** , that was the best piece of parody verse ever written! I laughed like crazy, I showed it to the Beloved [sub]who said, “What?”[/sub], it should be in thread spotting! [/suck-up voice] [sub]Sheesh! The things I’ll do to stay on a mod’s good side![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/19 "2001-10-23T13:15:37Z")
Thanks for reminding me. I’ve got some shoes that I need to have half-soled. ---
**Author:** ![cygnus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@cygnus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cygnus)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923/20 "2001-10-23T13:51:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BigGiantHead \* > \*\*Me, I been saying it the generally conventional way I’m seeing here, I just didn’t realize you had to put so many **O** ’s in it! I been puttin’ tops - TOPS - two, maybe three in there. Sheesh, I better get caught up. > > [sub] :: to self - “Kah-BOOOOOOOOOL … Kah-BOOOOOOOL …”[/sub] \*\* 😃 My first good laugh of the day! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cobble-were-bombing-in-cobble/88923.md?page=2)