That’s pretty stupid. 
Moderator’s Note: I’m shocked, shocked, at all these insults and profanities in General Questions. This is going to go on all of your permanent records! People, we have a simple, factual question about the pronunciation of the word “nuclear” and…
Oh, wait.
Fuck. To the Pit, then.
Thanks MEB.
BTW the OED website offers no phonetic guide, just: nuclear
• adjective 1 relating to a nucleus. 2 using energy released in the fission or fusion of atomic nuclei. 3 possessing or involving nuclear weapons.
Your pronunciation actually adds a syllable. NOO-klee-ar is 3, NEE-oo-klee-ar is 4. Granted, here in the US we speak bastardized English, but I’d like to see what makes your assertion more correct than mine (cite?).
Thankfully, round these parts we’ve got that one down to two syllables, “Ly-bree”. And “Feb-ree”. And “Cut-l’ree”.
You’ve misunderstood it - it’s still three syllables, “NEW-kell-ar”.
Best mod thread bounce announcement ever!
I say we take off and nuke this site from orbit.
It’s the only way to be sure.
*New-klee-ar :doh:
My big fat Unabridged give no less than 3 pronounciations.
The 2nd of which is the “nyoo…”, so sorry, you’re wrong. Even though I feel your pain.
There’s another thread around here about written English (well, semi-, kind of, sort of written English, in poker website chat) when people write “should of” instead of “should’ve.” That issue is problematic, because they’re actually changing grammar based on nothing more than phonology, and their doing it in writing.
When it comes to pronunciation, change is hard to avoid, not that I think “nuclear” should be pronounced the way which annoys OP. (BTW, derivation of words, e.g., nucleus, does not necessarily determine pronunciation. Look and photograph, and photography. The stress is different.) If pronunciation change were never accepted, you’d be complaining about people who don’t pronounce the K in “know,” or the GH in “thought.”
The word “nuclear,” as Bush pronounces it, in particular seems to enrage a lot of people, but there are many other words that are pronounced in “non-standard” (meaning not like the majority) ways, and people don’t seem to complain, or even notice. I don’t think people are deliberately trying to “mispronounce” the word. When Southern congresspeople “hyperdipthong” on the floors of the House and Senate, people don’t really seem to care. I know that’s a regionalism, but why not complain about that?
So dictionaries give several pronuncations; they’re descriptive, rather than prescriptive, (though they don’t bother to inlcude regionalisms with each entry, because they’re fairly systematic, and can be explained in the beginning of the dictionary). I’m not sure why people say “nuclear” as Bush does; I don’t think it’s simply a regionalism. My WAG is that it’s a phenomenon which I can’t remember the name of: because the first syllable has the glide, speakers tend to throw a similar glide in the second syllable. Just a guess.
Meh. I can’t help but remember when a friend told me that the US Navy would be commissioning a new Sea Wolf class submarine, to me named the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter - “Yep, it’s going to be America’s first nucular submarine.” I about busted a gut. And I admire ol’ Jimmy.
Maybe it is a regional mispronunciation. Maybe it’s another Dubya attempt to sound folksy. Maybe it’s a clever attempt to distract people into picking on his speech problems instead of noticing what he’s really up to. Or maybe it truly is a sign that he’s dumber than a tree and I just can’t work up the energy to care anymore because I’m so tired of hearing the same joke come up every six weeks like clockwork. I don’t care. Let him say nucular. I’m more concerned with what he’s up to than with his elocution skills (or lack thereof).
It’s often pronounced new-kew-lar around here by old people. I would say it is a regional thing, but one that is dying off. Other mispronounced words I’ve heard from old people are Loo-zee-an-uh (Louisiana) and ma-der-suhn (medicine). It’s kind of humorous if you ask me.
My assertion isn’t more correct than yours, hence my lighthearted original comment, complete with smiley :D. I was merely trying, in my own boneheaded way, to outline the same point regarding accepted pronunciation.
FTR though, my (admittedly old) Shorter Oxford Dictionary offers a phonetic spelling I don’t know how to duplicate here, but the first bit is niu-.
So, circular should be circlear?
This has been covered. Recently.
You mean styupid, don’t you? :rolleyes:
Doesn’t circular come from circulate?
From American Heritage:
“[Middle English circuler, from Anglo-Norman, from Latin circulris, from circulus, circle. See circle.]”
Besides, pronunciation isn’t necessarily tied to spelling, otherwise we’d pronounce “iron” as EYE-ron.
You forgot “Joo-re” .