# How do you pronounce primer (textbook or explanatory text.) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036 "2012-02-07T00:41:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/21 "2012-02-07T06:11:19Z")
In my dialect, tour and pour don’t rhyme. ---
**Author:** ![Butterscotch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Butterscotch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Butterscotch)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/22 "2012-02-07T06:44:12Z")
As A Brit I would only ever say pry-mer. The first time I heard it as prim-mer was when I went to work in an American school with an American principal. She would always refer to the books as prim-mers. I thought it was odd, based on the spelling of the word. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2012, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/23 "2012-02-07T06:56:57Z")
For the textbook, I’ve always known it and pronounce it as “primmer.” “Pry-mer” in all other situations. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/24 "2012-02-07T07:05:22Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > In my dialect > > (text) primer rhymes with trimmer; (paint) primer rhymes with rhymer > > dour rhymes with tour and pour I once heard George Will pronounce ‘dour’ to rhyme with ‘tour’, and that’s good enough for me. I defer to him on literacy issues. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/25 "2012-02-07T07:17:36Z")
When I hear Jodie Foster in Contact say “It’s a Primmer!” I feel the need to slap her. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/26 "2012-02-07T11:12:52Z")
> [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](#): > > I once heard George Will pronounce ‘dour’ to rhyme with ‘tour’, and that’s good enough for me. I defer to him on literacy issues. In my English accent, ‘dour’ rhymes roughly with ‘shower’. Nothing look tour and pour (which for me would both rhyme with ‘door’). Oh, and it’s ‘pry-mer’ for me too. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/27 "2012-02-07T11:27:22Z")
I always used “pry-mer” until a former boss asked me for a brief “prim-mer” on a subject that I deal with. It’s now stuck in my head, and “prim-mer” just slips out. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/28 "2012-02-07T12:44:13Z")
Canadian here. It’s always been “pry-mer.” The first I ever heard “prim-mer” was from my American ex-wife. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/29 "2012-02-07T12:48:21Z")
I originally heard it pronounced PRY-mer, and that seems to make logical sense. It’s also how you pronounce the name of the paint.I know that the “real” pronunciation is supposed to be “primmer”, but it sounds outrageously forced and unreasonable to me, so I always say PRYmer as part of my conscious efort to help sway the accepted pronunciation that way. It’s always bothered me that the “recognized” pronunciation of “impious” is IMP-ee-us, and I always pronounce it im-PIE-us as part of a similar campaign. But nobody uses the damned word in the first place, so I dion’t think thsat campaign is making much headway. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/30 "2012-02-07T12:56:03Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > When I hear Jodie Foster in Contact say “It’s a Primmer!” I feel the need to slap her. I saw the movie twice without ever understanding what the hell she was saying. I just assumed it was a mathematical term I’d never heard. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/31 "2012-02-07T13:47:51Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > When I hear Jodie Foster in Contact say “It’s a Primmer!” I feel the need to slap her. > [@RickJay](#): > > I saw the movie twice without ever understanding what the hell she was saying. I just assumed it was a mathematical term I’d never heard. At least it wasn’t a cookbook. ---
**Author:** ![dataguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eada6e/32.png) [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/32 "2012-02-07T14:07:00Z")
I’m in the PRYmer camp for reasons of linguistic consistency. I, too was instructed at some point that the correct pronunciation is PRIMmer. I objected on the grounds of common sense. There’s only so much arrant pedantry up with which I will put. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/33 "2012-02-07T17:13:38Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > dour rhymes with tour and pour I love these pronunciation threads for moments like these that show just how much variation there is in language. In my dialect, none of those three words rhymes with each other. But Mary, merry, and marry all sound the same to me. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/34 "2012-02-07T17:29:43Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I love these pronunciation threads for moments like these that show just how much variation there is in language. In my dialect, none of those three words rhymes with each other. Same here. “Dour,” “tour,” and “pour,” all have different vowels in mine, too. Without getting into IPA, the first rhymes with “tower,”; “tour” is basically “too” with an “r” tacked on; “pour” is “pawr” or “pohr.” ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/35 "2012-02-07T17:30:27Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I love these pronunciation threads for moments like these that show just how much variation there is in language. In my dialect, none of those three words rhymes with each other. > > But Mary, merry, and marry all sound the same to me. Actually, I mistyped. Dour rhymes with tour and _poor_, not pour, in my dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/36 "2012-02-07T17:47:19Z")
Text, “primmer” Paint, “prymer” I think. This kind of stuff is why I am afraid to talk. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/37 "2012-02-07T17:52:57Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Actually, I mistyped. Dour rhymes with tour and _poor_, not pour, in my dialect. In my dialect, “pour” and “poor” rhyme with “door.” Like **pulykamell** , “Tour” is “too” + R. “Dour” I avoid because my spelling pronunciation was “dower” and I’m pretty sure it’s to rhyme with “tour.” I had the same pry-mer \> primmer \> pry-mer journey as a lot of others posted above: pronounced it as spelled, learned the “correct” pronunciation, then learned the as-spelled pronuciation was just as correct and so went back to it. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/38 "2012-02-07T19:00:44Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I thought it was PRY-mer up until Jr. High (I saw the word almost every month in MAD Magazine), then I was corrected by my 8th grade creative writing teacher and pronounced it primmer ever since. I also used to say “pry-mer” until I heard the alternate “correct” pronunciation. But using “primer” to refer to an elementary textbook has always seemed like an old-timey word to me; I would never use it in ordinary conversation. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/39 "2012-02-07T21:00:01Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Text, “primmer” > Paint, “prymer” > > I think. This kind of stuff is why I am afraid to talk. Haaa! Word. Like Thudlow Boink said, I just avoid the word altogether. ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036/40 "2012-02-08T16:39:07Z")
I am not quite sure why the paint and the textbook should be pronounced differently. The fundamental usage of the word is the same in both cases - something that prepares the wall (or child) for further painting (or study) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-pronounce-primer-textbook-or-explanatory-text/612036.md?page=3)