# How do you pronounce Bokonon? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267 "2015-11-11T05:14:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/1 "2015-11-11T05:14:59Z")
I’ve wondered about this every so often over the years. How do you think the name Bokonon (specifically, the mountebank(\*) from _Cat’s Cradle,_ in case there are others) is supposed to be pronounced? I’ve heard it said with the accent on the first syllable, and with the accent on the second syllable. I have no idea if there is a defined “canonical” way to say it. (ETA: I’m not aware if Vonnegut himself ever said. Did he ever mention the name in a talk or interview?) (\*) Yes, Bokonon himself calls himself that, towards the end of the book. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/2 "2015-11-11T06:55:25Z")
I can’t imagine it as anything but dactylous, with an accent on the first syllable, as if it nearly rhymed with Pokemon. Not only is it how I instinctively read it before I knew what it meant, It’s supposed to be how the name Johnson is pronounced in the area, and Johnson has its first syllable accented. I can only imagine it maps as so: Jo = bo, h = ko nson = non. boKOnon makes no sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/3 "2015-11-11T07:18:31Z")
Once I followed one of the tenets of Bokonon and it worked out well for me. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/4 "2015-11-11T11:11:54Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Once I followed one of the tenets of Bokonon and it worked out well for me. Lemme guess: You took a shy female out on a date and told her “It is not possible to make a mistake” and now she’s your wife? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/5 "2015-11-11T11:21:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I can’t imagine it as anything but dactylous, with an accent on the first syllable, as if it nearly rhymed with Pokemon. > > Not only is it how I instinctively read it before I knew what it meant, It’s supposed to be how the name Johnson is pronounced in the area, and Johnson has its first syllable accented. I can only imagine it maps as so: Jo = bo, h = ko nson = non. > > boKOnon makes no sense to me. ISTM the pronunciation you suggest is the one I’ve heard more often, and I’ve also thought of, and agree with, your logic. But yet, I’ve also heard boKOnon, and it is at least a feasible stress pattern, similar to “forgotten” and “toboggan” and “Pomona”. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/6 "2015-11-11T12:45:24Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > ISTM the pronunciation you suggest is the one I’ve heard more often, and I’ve also thought of, and agree with, your logic. But yet, I’ve also heard boKOnon, and it is at least a feasible stress pattern, similar to “forgotten” and “toboggan” and “Pomona”. I thought there was a pronunciation recommended in the book, with the accent on the second syllable (like Pomona). That’s how I’ve pronounced it (in my head), even though it seems awkward to me. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/7 "2015-11-11T16:48:02Z")
“Johnson.” ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/8 "2015-11-11T17:01:44Z")
“Throatwarbler Mangrove” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/9 "2015-11-11T17:41:08Z")
How do others in your karass say it? ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/10 "2015-11-11T18:21:58Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I can’t imagine it as anything but dactylous, with an accent on the first syllable, as if it nearly rhymed with Pokemon. I love how in English there’s a word for everything. What an awesome language! Pity it’s so hard to spell though. In my head, I’ve always pronounced it as an amphibrach, but I’ll switch the the dactyl if that’s the consensus. That seems to make Bokononism a bit harder to say, but it’s not like I say it aloud very often or, in fact, ever. > [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > “Throatwarbler Mangrove” Throatwobbler Mangrove. Dammit, if you’re going to trot out this joke in every single “How Do You Pronounce …” thread (before I get a chance to do it), then at least get it right! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/11 "2015-11-11T18:26:35Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Lemme guess: You took a shy female out on a date and told her “It is not possible to make a mistake” and now she’s your wife? Or asked her to perform _boko-maru_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/12 "2015-11-12T02:17:37Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > I love how in English there’s a word for everything. What an awesome language! Pity it’s so hard to spell though. To be fair, “dactylous” is my own preferred term. The proper adjective form of dactyl is “dactylic.” But that looks to me like it could be pronounced dack-TILL-lick, which is not a dactyl. The original Greek word was _daktylos_ (well δάκτυλος), which was a dactyl. And the Latin word was dactylus, also a dactyl. So I prefer to also use an autological word in English. I actually prefer to pronounce all of the metric feet in this way. It works for “iamb,” “trochee,” and “anapest,” so I like to do it with all the rest. It makes them easier to remember. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/13 "2015-11-12T03:41:08Z")
Long-short-short, long-short-short Dactyls in dimeter, Verse form with choriambs (Masculine rhyme): One sentence (two stanzas) Hexasyllabically Challenges poets who Don’t have the time. -Roger L. Robison ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/14 "2015-11-12T03:42:24Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Once I followed one of the tenets of Bokonon and it worked out well for me. > [@Colibri](#): > > Or asked her to perform _boko-maru_. > [@Senegoid](#): > > Lemme guess: You took a shy female out on a date and told her “It is not possible to make a mistake” and now she’s your wife? Maybe it was a koan. I was living in Alabama and was on medical leave. It wasn’t my idea but there I was. I have some friends who live in Washington and Oregon. I mentioned I was in communication with them to my roommate and he suggested since I couldn’t work for a couple of weeks anyway, why not pay them a visit? So I did. The tenet or koan? As I remember it, “Odd travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/15 "2015-11-12T05:14:33Z")
Always think of it as buh-KOH-non , because of how the name of a local cereal manufacturer, Bokomo, is pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/16 "2015-11-13T00:27:05Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > To be fair, “dactylous” is my own preferred term. The proper adjective form of dactyl is “dactylic.” But that looks to me like it could be pronounced dack-TILL-lick, which is not a dactyl. > > The original Greek word was _daktylos_ (well δάκτυλος), which was a dactyl. And the Latin word was dactylus, also a dactyl. So I prefer to also use an autological word in English. Right on. If you say “dactylous” with enough confidence, I’m sure you’ll suppress most of the throaty objections of “Hey, it’s dactylic!” However you pronounce it though, you’ll still have to contend with a bunch of blank stares. What’s the adjective form of amphibrach anyway? > [@BigT](#): > > I actually prefer to pronounce all of the metric feet in this way. It works for “iamb,” “trochee,” and “anapest,” so I like to do it with all the rest. It makes them easier to remember. Isn’t iamb stressed on the first syllable, and doesn’t that make it a trochee? My head is spinning. Poets have a really hard job! > [@MrDibble](#): > > Always think of it as buh-KOH-non , because of how the name of a local cereal manufacturer, Bokomo, is pronounced. Now, I would have guessed that to be dactylous and/or -ic like Kokomo, but it’s actually an amphibrach?! Also, I just realized that amphibrach is itself a dactyl. This sucks! What a shoddy system! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-bokonon/737267/17 "2015-11-18T13:41:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Always think of it as buh-KOH-non , because of how the name of a local cereal manufacturer, Bokomo, is pronounced. This is correct. As per the late great Kevin McCarthy in the [Bokonon segment](https://youtu.be/8wjKAiV9RcM?t=1443) of _Between Time and Timbuktu_.