# Coo-pon or Queue-pon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732 "2011-05-13T00:47:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/21 "2011-05-13T06:21:42Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > “kew-pon” grates on me like “new-kyoo-ler”. I get the same reaction from kyoo-pon. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/22 "2011-05-13T06:29:05Z")
Queue and everyone else is poo! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/23 "2011-05-13T06:37:06Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > There’s no **doubt** with **debt**. Not all silent letters follow the same rules, so I don’t see your point. My point, my little white friend, is that you were trying to be prescriptive about pronunciation using an argument founded in spelling. In _English_. That shit don’t fly. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/24 "2011-05-13T06:39:06Z")
Coo, can’t say I’ve ever heard “kew” used Queue d’eta is a chainsaw massacre at the bus stop. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/25 "2011-05-13T06:51:37Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > My point, my little white friend, is that you were trying to be prescriptive about pronunciation using an argument founded in spelling. What the… I’m surrounded by nerds! How did they get in here? ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/26 "2011-05-13T06:53:08Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > “kew-pon” grates on me like “new-kyoo-ler”. What is “new-kyoo-ler”?? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/27 "2011-05-13T07:27:31Z")
I vacillate between the two pronunciations. I actually have no idea which one I grew up saying–I think it was the “kyoo” variation. But now, for some reason, I just as often yod-drop, and I can tell when I’m doing it, so that must mean I’m going against my instinct of saying it with the “kyoo.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/28 "2011-05-13T07:29:49Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > What is “new-kyoo-ler”?? It’s a dialectal pronunciation of “nuclear,” if I’m not being whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/29 "2011-05-13T07:32:59Z")
And a [relevant note:](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coupon) > [@](#): > > [kyoo-pon] Show IPA > with an unhistorical y -sound not justified by the spelling. This pronunciation is used by educated speakers and is well-established as perfectly standard, although it is sometimes criticized. Its development may have been encouraged by analogy with words like curious, cupid, and cute, where c is followed by a “long u ” and the [y] is mandatory. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/30 "2011-05-13T13:55:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Keep on keeping on. > > There’s an ‘o’ before the ‘u’ folks. It’s pronounced “koop-on.” Well, technically the “ou” combination is typically a diphthong, which would make it “cow-pon”. But I defer to **pulykamell** ’s cite which proves I am not crazy (well on this issue at least :D). ---
**Author:** ![surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@surrounded\_by\_literalists](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/surrounded_by_literalists)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/31 "2011-05-13T15:34:22Z")
…and somewhere in the universe, far away from us, the struggle for freedom rises from the ashes to begin anew; proving once again that evil will never be the final condition. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/32 "2011-05-13T15:52:21Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > And a [relevant note:](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/coupon) > > > [@](#): > > > > [kyoo-pon] Show IPA > > with an unhistorical y -sound not justified by the spelling. This pronunciation is used by educated speakers and is well-established as perfectly standard, although it is sometimes criticized. Its development may have been encouraged by analogy with words like curious, cupid, and cute, where c is followed by a “long u ” and the [y] is mandatory. So they’re saying that the “y” sound started as a pretentious affectation? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/33 "2011-05-13T16:14:43Z")
This has been a minor bone of contention in my house, one that I regret. When we married, my wife said queue-pon, while I, on the other hand, pronounced it correctly. Her pronunciation grated so much I finally mentioned it to her, and gently explained that to my ears, her version sounded, well, slightly uneducated. She had never even noticed that there were two pronunciations, and now she’s horribly paranoid about it. Half the time, she comically overpronounces it just to get my goat: “KOOOOOOOOOO-pawwwn”. I wish I’d never said anything. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/34 "2011-05-13T16:24:30Z")
> [@Max\_the\_Immortal](#): > > So they’re saying that the “y” sound started as a pretentious affectation? I assume you’re alluding to our recent rash of pretention threads, but, no, that’s not what it’s saying. At the risk of over-explaining, as I read it, it’s saying that smart people, too, use that pronunciation, so it’s not some sort of weird “local yokel” pronunciation. The “kyoo” pronunciation seems to have developed out of a misapplied analogy to words like “curious,” and “cute,” much like the pronuncation “n(y)oo-kyoo-luhr” came from analogizing with words like “circular,” “particular,” “molecular,” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/35 "2011-05-13T16:27:12Z")
Queue-pon here. I’m surprised at the poll results. I was thinking it would be more 50/50. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/36 "2011-05-13T19:44:21Z")
I’ve seen some episodes of that Extreme Couponing program on TLC and it just grates on my nerves when some of the mid-western people on that show say \*Kyoo-pon. \*There’s an O before the U! ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/37 "2011-05-13T19:48:37Z")
I say both. Now I am going to think about it every time I say it. Arg! ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/38 "2011-05-13T20:09:25Z")
[Coupins.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovk4JNw3hAk) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/39 "2011-05-13T20:16:25Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > The “kyoo” pronunciation seems to have developed out of a misapplied analogy to words like “curious,” and “cute,” I have often wondered where the “kyoo” pronunciation came from, since I hear it all the time but it makes no friggin’ sense. By the way, even though I know it’s wrong, I pronounce “ **queue** ” the way it’s spelled, making it rhyme with “kiwi.” ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732/40 "2011-05-13T20:48:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I assume you’re alluding to our recent rash of pretention threads, but, no, that’s not what it’s saying. At the risk of over-explaining, as I read it, it’s saying that smart people, too, use that pronunciation, so it’s not some sort of weird “local yokel” pronunciation. The “kyoo” pronunciation seems to have developed out of a misapplied analogy to words like “curious,” and “cute,” much like the pronuncation “n(y)oo-kyoo-luhr” came from analogizing with words like “circular,” “particular,” “molecular,” etc. My recollection is the opposite. Until I was in college, in the early to mid 80s, the only time you heard an adult say “koo-pon” was if he was pretending to be a “widdle kid”. Then I started hearing more and more people pronounce it that way. In the early 90s I started hearing a few people pronounce it that way in radio ads, but it wasn’t ubiquitous until the mid to late 90s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coo-pon-or-queue-pon/581732.md?page=3)