# How do you pronounce coitus? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 3, 2006, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237 "2006-06-03T02:29:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/61 "2024-01-28T19:46:59Z")
Oh, sorry, I was led astray by the “18 years later” indication before **James66** ’s post. I assumed Discourse was precise in those remarks and did not check myself. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/62 "2024-01-28T20:24:42Z")
PS flipping through the good old _Satyricon_ some guy talks about “huic dormienti abstulero coitum plenum et optabilem…” so there we go. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/63 "2024-01-28T21:27:35Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Anybody want to try for the correct pronunciation of “Caitlin”? Yes. “Kathleen”. The Gaelic version of “Catherine”. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/64 "2024-01-28T21:33:03Z")
ISWYDT 😊 (God, I hate discourse) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/65 "2024-01-29T02:02:25Z")
I knew a guy named Curtis, whose nickname among his friends was Coitus (with the two-syllable pronunciation). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/66 "2024-01-29T02:44:04Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > If “COY-dus” is good enough for Sheldon Cooper, it’s good enough for me. Before searching I already knew a compilation like this had to exist. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Js-2JpRZPfM/maxresdefault.jpg "every time someone (mostly Sheldon) says ‘coitus’ on the Big Bang theory.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js-2JpRZPfM) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/67 "2024-01-29T15:15:07Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > > [@SCAdian](#): > > > > Anybody want to try for the correct pronunciation of “Caitlin”? > > Yes. “Kathleen”. The Gaelic version of “Catherine”. My wife spent several years in Ireland (high school and college), and knew people named Caitlin. She says it’s pronounced “kotch-LEEN”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/68 "2024-01-29T15:37:31Z")
Irish has broad and slender consonants, kind of like Russian, and all the consonants there are supposed to be slender (except for the C) Caitlin = Caitriona = Catherine = Aikaterine etc. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/69 "2024-01-29T22:41:00Z")
warm smell of coitus rising up through the air ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/70 "2024-01-29T23:04:00Z")
> Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light > My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, > I had to stop for the night. So, he had an orgasm, then rolled over and went to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/71 "2024-01-29T23:14:15Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Coy Tess Only a little at first. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/72 "2024-01-30T13:18:04Z")
I’ve always said it Sheldon Cooper style, but I have to admit that Burgess Meredith’s delivery as 'Co-ee-tus un-interruptus" in one of the “Grumpy Old Men” movies was comically hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2024, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/73 "2024-01-30T20:18:50Z")
I pronounce it “coitus”. ---
**Author:** ![edvansickle1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@edvansickle1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edvansickle1)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/74 "2024-08-05T11:18:58Z")
It’s pronounced just like Daddy said. CO- IT-US. It’s Latin 101. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/75 "2024-08-05T22:48:27Z")
COY-tuhs (uh=schwa) ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237/76 "2024-08-08T16:30:12Z")
I’m with Beck, I’ve never found myself in a situation where that felt like the most appropriate word to use in a sentence. But in reading, I assumed it was the Sheldon Cooper pronunciation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-coitus/359237.md?page=3)