# How Do You Pronounce "Muslim"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331 "2010-11-03T14:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/1 "2010-11-03T14:59:07Z")
Straightforward: How do you pronounce “Muslim”? ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/2 "2010-11-03T15:09:15Z")
Muss-lim. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/3 "2010-11-03T15:28:27Z")
Islamic. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/4 "2010-11-03T15:39:23Z")
**Moslem** rhymes with “schnozz-lim.” I don’t kow anyone who would pronounce **Muslim** that way. I pronounce with the U in **Muslim** rhyming with the U in “put,” and the S sounded as a Z. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/5 "2010-11-03T16:04:36Z")
[mʊslɪm] [ʊ] as in “book” [bʊk] The second part is exactly like the word “slim.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/6 "2010-11-03T16:46:00Z")
ter-or-eest. I keed! ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/7 "2010-11-03T16:50:47Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > [mʊslɪm] > > [ʊ] as in “book” [bʊk] > > The second part is exactly like the word “slim.” Same, but with a “z” sound rather than an “s”. I voted “other”, as that doesn’t rhyme with any of the examples in the poll, to me. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/8 "2010-11-03T17:14:45Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > **Moslem** rhymes with “schnozz-lim.” I don’t kow anyone who would pronounce **Muslim** that way. > > I pronounce with the U in **Muslim** rhyming with the U in “put,” and the S sounded as a Z. Yup. None of the poll answers work for me. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/9 "2010-11-04T00:02:16Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Same, but with a “z” sound rather than an “s”. I voted “other”, as that doesn’t rhyme with any of the examples in the poll, to me. That is how I pronounce it too. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/10 "2010-11-04T03:59:34Z")
Musselmen. If it is good enough for Thomas Jefferson, it is good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/11 "2010-11-04T04:02:59Z")
“Muzz-lum” ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/12 "2010-11-04T04:08:40Z")
[Like this](http://soundkey.com/rt8hi6) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/13 "2010-11-04T06:13:39Z")
Rhymes with? Heck I just _call 'em_ “fuzz-lims”. 😃 Actually I sometimes say it with the u like in fuzz, sometimes with the oo as in book. Depends on what I’m wearing and if it’s Tuesday or not. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/14 "2010-11-04T06:28:12Z")
I voted for “schnoz,” but that was a mistake. I read it as “schnooz,” which would be about right. I should have voted for “other.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/15 "2010-11-04T07:05:02Z")
Almost rhymes with muslin 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/16 "2010-11-04T07:13:02Z")
U as in book. Zlim. Not on poll. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/17 "2010-11-04T07:49:10Z")
Other: “Mu” with a **very** short “oo”, shorter than “book”, almost a schwa. Accent on this syllable. “Slim” as “zl’m” (another almost-schwa in there; **very, very** short “i”) So I guess the best transliteration I can come up with would be “_ **M** _’zl’m” ---
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/18 "2010-11-04T07:51:43Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > I pronounce with the U in **Muslim** rhyming with the U in “put,” and the S sounded as a Z. Same. ---
**Author:** ![SecondJudith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@SecondJudith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecondJudith)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/19 "2010-11-04T08:52:05Z")
I also pronounce the “u” like the vowel in “put” or “book”, and the “s” somewhere between an s and a z (it’s not “muss-lim”, but it’s not as hard a z as “muz-lim” either). ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331/20 "2010-11-04T12:09:48Z")
I usually pronounce it to rhyme with Fuzz-lim but sometimes pronounce it to _almost_rhyme with loose as in Moose-lim (but with a little of a “u” in there.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-muslim/559331.md?page=2)