# How do you pronounce eraser? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591 "2012-11-10T18:00:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2012, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/21 "2012-11-10T23:20:30Z")
_rubber_. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/22 "2012-11-11T00:22:58Z")
“I said ee-RAY-sir!” ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/23 "2012-11-11T00:30:40Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > _rubber_. Memories… someone standing up in the high school cafeteria where we were supposed to be studying and boldly asking, “Anyone got a rubber?” _snicker_ I pronounce it e-racer, though the long e is slightly clipped. Canadian, if that matters. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/24 "2012-11-11T00:30:57Z")
I’m almost certain that in speech I say something like uh-ray-sir, but singled out on its own I say ee-ray-sir. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/25 "2012-11-11T00:34:28Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > When you ask me how I say it, or I’m repeating it for emphasis or clarity, I say it with a long e. If I just say it as part of a sentence, I’m pretty sure I schwa it, but one is rarely as self aware of one’s speech as one thinks, so I can’t be sure… Same here. And thanks to this thread, I’m never going to be able to say the word like a normal person again. ---
**Author:** ![Trick\_Rider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Trick\_Rider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trick_Rider)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/26 "2012-11-11T00:59:04Z")
I thought for sure there would be someone else who pronounces it with a short “e”. Have I been saying it wrong the whole time? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/27 "2012-11-11T01:07:40Z")
Long E. And now I have a song stuck in my head: [Pixies-Debaser - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3lhrwio-M) ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/28 "2012-11-11T01:11:39Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Long E. > > And now I have a song stuck in my head: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3lhrwio-M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P3lhrwio-M) Ha ! Love the pixies. _ee-racer_ debaser same difference. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/29 "2012-11-11T01:30:41Z")
Long e. grew up in Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/30 "2012-11-11T08:58:46Z")
My brother said En-racer until at least high school. (I left home around the same year he started HS) I think I say err-acer. But now everything sounds both correct and incorrect to me. _sigh, another topic like this_ I am still not over discovering the “T” in often is supposed to be silent. No one I know drops the T, and thanks to the Dope I get corrected every time I drop it when I am around my family. Born and raised in Northern Ontario, but have lived in 4 different provinces. ---
**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, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/31 "2012-11-11T15:36:07Z")
> [@Trick\_Rider](#): > > I thought for sure there would be someone else who pronounces it with a short “e”. Have I been saying it wrong the whole time? No, you’re not alone. Every dictionary I can find lists it as something like the I in pit. It’s a bit weird actually that with so many people saying they pronounce it with a long E, the dictionaries don’t list that as an alternate pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/32 "2012-11-11T15:59:34Z")
The “head” in the clue refers to the first letter, utterly regardless of pronunciation. It’s a standard cluing convention. **twicks** , who worked FT in the crossword biz for 14 years and continues to freelance for my former employer ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/33 "2012-11-11T18:22:43Z")
I don’t say “eraser.” I sometimes say “an eraser,” which sounds a bit like “a nirracer,” and I sometimes say “the eraser,” which sounds like “thee eeraser.” ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/34 "2012-11-11T18:36:21Z")
Another vote for long e. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/35 "2012-11-11T19:52:13Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > The “head” in the clue refers to the first letter, utterly regardless of pronunciation. It’s a standard cluing convention. > > **twicks** , who worked FT in the crossword biz for 14 years and continues to freelance for my former employer So . . . what, then, makes the letter “E” in eraser “long,” if it isn’t the pronunciation? The font? The length of time it takes the printer to set the type? Is there some standard convention in the crossword biz that can answer this question? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/36 "2012-11-12T00:03:57Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So . . . what, then, makes the letter “E” in eraser “long,” if it isn’t the pronunciation? The font? The length of time it takes the printer to set the type? > > Is there some standard convention in the crossword biz that can answer this question? Whoa. Sorry, I completely missed the “long” part of the clue. :smack: Change my answer to “Sometimes I say it with a long ‘e’ – particularly if it were an isolated word – but in a sentence it’s usually a short ‘e.’” ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/37 "2012-11-12T01:13:36Z")
On the other hand [eradicator](http://vimeo.com/51807092) is pronounced with a long e. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/38 "2012-11-12T01:38:00Z")
The farkbot? Would have never occurred to me to pronounce the first syllable with a schwa. Eraser with a long e. I’m from California. ---
**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, 2012, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/39 "2012-11-12T08:13:26Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I only say that because if you have to throw in terms like “broad,” and refer to “oo,” etc., it just becomes a patchwork. How do you accurately describe /ɪ/ using terms like “long,” “short”? Because the schwa isn’t the only reduced vowel in English, after all. That particular sound I would call short I, though I admit there is no official name for the IPA I used earlier, which is a reduced short I. (Phonemically, all reduced vowels in English are schwas, as far as I know. But they are different phonetically.) I have no problem with a patchwork. I think that’s better than creating new symbols that confuse people like IPA does. IPA is intimidating for people to learn, and most people can get on without it. To me, the point of communication is to be understood. The long/short concept has a long history and people know it. It’s the way they were taught as children when learning to read, so it often communicates better than IPA. At least, amongst native English speakers. I realize that it screws up anyone who speaks a different language, and that it’s more phonemic than phonetic, due to pronunciation variations. You also run into the problem of IPA having no real word for the concept when speaking, unless you go very technical and refer to the “near-close front unrounded vowel.” And, really, how close is near-close? And how unrounded is it? It’s not unrounded in choral singing, for example. And it sometimes drops to near- or mid-front. The best you can get is to say the sound, which sounds incredibly awkward, and is very hard to isolate without accidentally adding another sound to it, like a glottal stop. The only other useful name I’ve seen for \* is open I. But then, according to your logic, wouldn’t calling something open imply there are only 10 vowels, with open and close pairs? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591/40 "2012-11-12T22:12:51Z")
> [@TheChileanBlob](#): > > I say it the same way, was born in Syracuse, and have a sister named Gigi…hmmm > :dubious: 🙂 Not me! I come from over in the Hudson Valley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-eraser/640591.md?page=3)