# Fast talking disk jockeys saying "W" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991 "2003-07-03T11:41:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/1 "2003-07-03T11:41:32Z")
A while back on a talk radio show, the guys were joking about traditional radio DJ’s. They were making bogus song intros in forced radio-announcer voices. One of them said the station’s call letters (WNEW) and made a careful point of exaggerating his pronunciation: “It’s not **double-yoo** , it’s **dubba-doo** ,” he said. That got me thinking: Is that what those lightning-fast announcers are taught to say to get those W’s out? I have been listening extra careful to news and traffic announcers and I’m almost certain that they _are_ saying “dubba-doo” instead of “double-yoo,” but it’s difficult to discern. Is this true? What other odd little pronunciation tricks to they use? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/2 "2003-07-03T12:22:37Z")
Dubya? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/3 "2003-07-03T12:31:49Z")
Double-oo (no y in it) Dub-ye Isn’t it odd that it takes three syllables to pronounce one letter? In other languages there are other weird ones: v-doble (w) i-griega (y) But the W maybe should be double-V or Bottom-side-up M ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/4 "2003-07-03T12:39:36Z")
> [@](#): > > What other odd little pronunciation tricks to they use? Well, there’s the trick where they blather over the intro and outro of a song until you find yourself screaming “ **SHUT THE FUCK UP!** ” at your car radio and scaring your passengers. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![NoctrineX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d78d45/32.png) [@NoctrineX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoctrineX)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/5 "2003-07-03T14:07:38Z")
When I was in school, we spend a lot of time with the “W”, making sure it was pronounced “Double U”. That was so bad at one point in school that when we were writing copy for air checks we had to right W’s as UU (such as BMUU). There was so much emphsis in school that it becomes a joke around some stations. This may not be the case with these two guys, but it was the case with me. ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/6 "2003-07-03T18:36:29Z")
My high school had a radio station, at which I was a DJ in the mid-'90s. The proper pronounciation of “W” was drilled into our heads quite firmly by the station manager (who was also a popular local commercial radio personality). “Dubya” was simply not acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/7 "2003-07-03T18:51:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Well, there’s the trick where they blather over the intro and outro of a song until you find yourself screaming “ **SHUT THE FUCK UP!** ” at your car radio and scaring your passengers. > > :rolleyes: \*\* ahhhhh, but it’s sweet vengeance when they start to blather after the SECOND “outro” to Ana Ng, and forget to turn off the song… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-talking-disk-jockeys-saying-w/185991/8 "2003-07-03T19:21:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NoctrineX \* > \*\*…we were writing copy for air checks we had to right W’s as UU (such as BMUU). \*\* And, ahem, ‘righting’ it “BMUU” never led to someone saying “Bee Em You-You”? The owner of the local Barvarian Motor works dealership who paid for the ad) wouldn’t be too pleased with that. As for the OP, I think the idiots on ‘Blink 102’ were making a joke about black dialects.