# How do you pronounce 'experiment'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 24, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300 "2023-02-24T13:31:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/81 "2023-03-01T01:00:46Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’m not sure how you pronounce it , but I’ve always heard it like [this](https://en.bab.la/pronunciation/english/turquoise) or [this](https://www.wordreference.com/synonyms/turquoise) (US version) and I definitely do not hear a “w” in there but I do hear an “r”. I’ve always heard it and pronounced it the same way as @BwanaBob: tur-kwoize Turk-oize sounds really weird. It would be like pronoucing _quote_ as _coat_. ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/82 "2023-03-01T01:05:28Z")
Briquette ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/83 "2023-03-01T01:06:43Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Turk-oize sounds really weird. It would be like pronoucing _quote_ as _coat_. Are you in the UK? That’s standard there. In the US, tur-KOYZ is the more usual. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/84 "2023-03-01T01:06:51Z")
That doesn’t have a “quo” ---
**Author:** ![nofloyd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nofloyd/32/2870_2.png) [@nofloyd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nofloyd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/85 "2023-03-01T01:06:52Z")
Coquette ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/86 "2023-03-01T01:07:14Z")
No. NYC. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/87 "2023-03-01T01:07:46Z")
That’s funny 'cause so am I ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/88 "2023-03-01T01:17:23Z")
I’ve lived in New York, California, and places in between, yet I never heard “ex-PEER…” until I moved to Wisconsin, where everyone says that. Everywhere else, it’s “ex-PEAR…”. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/89 "2023-03-01T01:19:16Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > PERR and PEAR are different sounds Not everywhere I’ve lived, and I’ve lived in a lot of places. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/90 "2023-03-01T01:25:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Once in awhile, I will use the “sir”+“up” pronunciation just for fun. (“Sir” there as in “sir” vs “ma’am.”) That’s the normal pronunciation for me. And _stirrup_ rhymes with it – “stir” + “up”. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2023, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/91 "2023-03-01T01:36:17Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Now I’m really flummoxed. > > Turquoise not pronounced 'tur-kwoize"? It’s a world gone mad. > Can you name any other English word (not borrowed) with a quo that is not pronounced as kwo? To my surprise, _quoin_ is pronounced both ways. I’ve always pronounced it “koin”. (Add me to the “terkoiz” list for _turquoise_.) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/92 "2023-03-01T15:00:42Z")
que, not quo ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/93 "2023-03-01T15:01:24Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _quoin_ I’m in my 60’s and never came across this word before. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/94 "2023-03-01T15:10:41Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’ve always heard it and pronounced it the same way as @BwanaBob: tur-kwoize I wonder if NYC is one of the regions that pronounces it in the US with a /kw/, assuming this is a regional feature. I just clicked on some random Youtube videos of “turquoise” and every (or almost every – there was one I couldn’t quite tell – there may have been a very soft /w/ snuck in there) single one (I sampled seven) pronounced it with a /k/ and not a /kw/. However, the set of videos (by the same uploader) I got when searching for “turquoise nyc” _does_ have a /kw/. So I suspect there may be some validity to the regional dialect hypothesis. I can’t find any dialect map specifically for that word, though. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2023, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/95 "2023-03-01T15:18:52Z")
I was wondering if someone else would say “turquoise” this way, but I guess my pronunciation is in a distinct minority among American speakers: I pronounce it **turk-WISE**. In IPA, /tɝ’kwaɪs/. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2023, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300/96 "2023-03-01T19:05:56Z")
I’ve known it since I was in my early 20s. Probably learnt it playing Scrabble. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-experiment/980300.md?page=4)