# How do you pronounce 'Kilometer'? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 28, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105 "2010-03-28T14:34:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/41 "2010-03-29T07:01:33Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > When speaking in a technical context, I stress the first syllable, but when referring to maps or vehicle speeds, I stress the second. Me to. Which is actually kinda weird now that I think about it. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/42 "2010-03-29T07:59:28Z")
I pronounce it kil-AH-meter, but one of my heroes, the late great mister Carl Sagan, pronounces it KEE-lo-meter. It makes me feel a little guilty for some reason. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/43 "2010-03-29T09:36:46Z")
With my own accent, probably something closer to “K’lommt’ur.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/44 "2010-03-29T13:20:06Z")
> [@'\[cc](#): > > ;12278366’]the late great mister Carl Sagan, pronounces it KEE-lo-meter. It makes me feel a little guilty for some reason. ☹ To feel that way is only **yuman**. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/45 "2010-03-29T13:32:25Z")
j-ust o-ver half a mi-le 😃 kih-LOM-mih-ter ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/46 "2010-03-29T16:19:20Z")
Funnily enough, for all the Canadians here saying how we pronounce it, we usually give distances in hours. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/47 "2010-03-29T16:33:30Z")
I pronounce it both ways depending on whom I am talking to. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/48 "2010-03-29T16:51:21Z")
Argh…I misclicked. No matter what my response indicates, I say “kill-AH-mi-ter”, not “KILL-uh-me-ter”. Most of the time, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/49 "2010-03-29T21:04:09Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Funnily enough, for all the Canadians here saying how we pronounce it, we usually give distances in hours. 🙂 That’s pretty common in Michigan, too. I only keep track of actual miles for expense report purposes. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2010, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/50 "2010-03-29T22:51:40Z")
I pronounce it MYE-uls. 😉 Actually, it’s about halfway between kil-AH-mit-er and kil-LOW-mit-er. US, around Chicago. Canadian mom. ---
**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:** [March 29, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/51 "2010-03-29T23:09:56Z")
When Canada went metric (around 1974 IIRC), there was a big campaign to get people to stress the first syllable (supposedly in accordance with the ISO), but sometime during the past 36 years, they have given up. Actually, the way I say it, there is also a secondary stress on the -met-. All of which illustrates how English quite naturally falls into iambic feet and the stress has nothing to do with the phonemic structure of the word. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/52 "2010-03-30T18:48:35Z")
> [@nicole1912](#): > > Same here - I’m a Brit. Another Brit here, me too. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/53 "2010-03-30T19:56:30Z")
Seeing as I live in the United States, where the word is not typically used, I pronounce however I feel it should be pronounced, and that changes from day to day. This is how I’m pronouncing it today: Gambolputty de von Ausfern -schplenden -schlitter -crasscrenbon -fried -digger -dangle -dungle -burstein -von -knacker -thrasher -apple -banger -horowitz -ticolensic -grander -knotty -spelltinkle -grandlich -grumblemeyer -spelterwasser -kürstlich -himbleeisen -bahnwagen -gutenabend -bitte -eine -nürnburger -bratwustle -gerspurten -mit -zweimache -luber -hundsfut -gumberaber -shönendanker -kalbsfleisch -mittler -raucher von Hautkopft of Ulm. All right, enough with the jokes. I say “ki-LOM-uh-ter” and I answered the poll accordingly (I think the poll says (kil-AH-me-ter) but it’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Eleasarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/779978/32.png) [@Eleasarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleasarian)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2010, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/54 "2010-03-30T22:02:32Z")
Well, now I think about it. Oddly, when I say “its a kilometre away” I say “kill-AH-mi-ter”, but when I using it with a number, like “its 5 kilometres away” I say “kih-LOM-mih-tuh”. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/55 "2010-04-03T23:45:24Z")
Kellicam. 😛 Actually, "kih-LOM-mih-ter " sounds about the closest to the way I say it. ---
**Author:** ![wombatinspats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@wombatinspats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombatinspats)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/56 "2010-04-03T23:56:26Z")
> [@JohnnyMac](#): > > kih-LOM-mih-tuh. “kill-AH-mi-ter” reads in a very strong American accent, to me ;). > > Kiwi, here. This, but I’m in Aus. In practice, though, most people here just refer to the measurement as ‘ks’. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/57 "2010-06-20T06:59:47Z")
> [@JohnnyMac](#): > > kih-LOM-mih-tuh. “kill-AH-mi-ter” reads in a very strong American accent, to me ;). OK fine… I think the main issue though is which syllable the emphasis is on. And possibly secondarily whether it ends in an R or a R+vowel ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/58 "2010-06-20T07:05:48Z")
But of course that begs the issue of… people who don’t pronounce it with the emphasis on the second syllable presumably are trying to have some sort of bizarre pronunciation consistency principle because of how they pronounce other \*-meters. But this seems flawed because 1. Is there anybody in the world who says kil **O** meters and also says cent **I** meters or mill **I** meters? Clearly the pronunciation for 2nd syllabers is not a consistency issue but rather an issue of proper _ahem_ meter (rhythm). 2. I don’t think anyone pronounces kilograms kilOgrams, thus adding further evidence that rules for rhythm in pronunciation are more important than consistency of emphasis amongst related family member of compound science terms. And it also makes me wonder if the majority of these people are those who have never actually heard other human beings utter the word, and have divined a pronunciation based upon extrapolation alone? \*I feel that this poll has been in some small way inspired by the recent Punchbuggy vs Slugbug debacle. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/59 "2010-06-20T07:33:51Z")
Kay Am ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105/60 "2010-06-20T15:42:00Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > kil-LOM-it-er for speed in a car or distance on a map. > > Kil-o-meter for math questions in a book. > > I don’t know why. I just do it that way. Sort of this, (UK born and bred). More specifically, if the amount in question was 1.5 I’d say Kil-o-meter. If it were 25,000 I’d say Kil-LOM-it-er. No…I’ve no idea why either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-kilometer/534105.md?page=4)