# How is "lurve" pronounced? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463 "2012-10-11T21:49:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/1 "2012-10-11T21:49:47Z")
Not sure where to put this. So occassionally I’ll encounter written forms (like message board posts) where someone tries to exaggerate the pronunciation of “love” like “I really luuuuve that”, only instead of replacing the o with a u and maybe drawing it out (like I just did), they replace the o with “ur”. Whenever I read that, I can’t help but think “where the hell did that r come from?” There’s no R in that word, even when drawn out by the overdramatic. So my question is, are the people spelling it “lurve” non-rhotics? Is that why they stick an r in there? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/2 "2012-10-11T21:51:42Z")
I’ve heard people pronounce it as it’s spelled. But it’s not a real word so who knows? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/3 "2012-10-11T22:21:45Z")
From Annie Hall: Alvy Singer: Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F’s, yes I have to invent, of course I - I do, don’t you think I do? ---
**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:** [October 11, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/4 "2012-10-11T22:40:47Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So my question is, are the people spelling it “lurve” non-rhotics? Is that why they stick an r in there? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/5 "2012-10-12T00:19:02Z")
Use of the typed word “lurve” does not have anything to do with pronunciation or rhoticism, in my experience. It’s just a textspeak term used to show a high degree of affection for something or someone. I don’t know where or when I first noticed the usage, but I’ve only seen it typed. I’ve never heard it spoken. I have never spoken it aloud, and would think anyone who did was really weird. Like a person who unironically says “LOL” out loud. Who \*does \*that?? Nobody does that. And I don’t think there’s a wrong way to pronounce a word that is, for all practical purposes, never spoken aloud. As far as usage is concerned, I occasionally use the word (as in, type it) while gaming. So do guildmates and others I’ve come across who speak with a wide variety of accents (“I lurve playing my monk!” “I lurve toblerone!” “Don’t you just lurve the new raid boss?” etc). ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/6 "2012-10-12T00:21:54Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Use of the typed word “lurve” does not have anything to do with pronunciation or rhoticism, in my experience. It’s just a textspeak term used to show a high degree of affection for something or someone. I don’t know where or when I first noticed the usage, but I’ve only seen it typed. I’ve never heard it spoken. I have never spoken it aloud, and would think anyone who did was really weird. Like a person who unironically says “LOL” out loud. Who \*does \*that?? Nobody does that. And I don’t think there’s a wrong way to pronounce a word that is, for all practical purposes, never spoken aloud. > > As far as usage is concerned, I occasionally use the word (as in, type it) while gaming. So do guildmates and others I’ve come across who speak with a wide variety of accents (“I lurve playing my monk!” “I lurve toblerone!” “Don’t you just lurve the new raid boss?” etc). Now read your post aloud and tell us what you said for the word ‘lurve’. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/7 "2012-10-12T01:10:32Z")
We’ve said lurve since I was little in the 1970s. It predates textspeak by a very long time. We always said it too, I lurve you! It was cutesy and funny. > **[Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](https://languages.oup.com/)** > > Explore Oxford Languages, the home of world-renowned language data. Says origin is 1930s ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/8 "2012-10-12T01:22:59Z")
Rhymes with curve, the way I say it. Not that I’ve ever said it. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/9 "2012-10-12T05:28:26Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > From Annie Hall: > > Alvy Singer: Love is too weak a word for what I feel - I luuurve you, you know, I loave you, I luff you, two F’s, yes I have to invent, of course I - I do, don’t you think I do? So in Annie Hall, it was rhotic? > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Use of the typed word “lurve” does not have anything to do with pronunciation or rhoticism, in my experience. It’s just a textspeak term used to show a high degree of affection for something or someone. I don’t know where or when I first noticed the usage, but I’ve only seen it typed. I’ve never heard it spoken. While I appreciate that you’ve only encountered the r version in writing, that doesn’t really answer the question, except to suggest my suspicion is correct, and that nobody actually pronounces the r, and the r version is from non-rhotic Brits and the like, who use the letter r to indicate their varient of certain vowels. That is, for example, why Americans tend to pronounce the singer Sade’s name as “Sharday” - because one time she was trying to write down how to pronounce it, and used the British non-rhotic r to color the vowel. Americans, being rhotics, read in the r. I can certainly see how a rhotic person could encounter it in written settings, not know about non-rhoticism, and thus think the word with the r. But never actually _say_ it with an r, because it’s an internet thing. That’s where I’ve been until recently, when becoming familiar with non-rhoticism. And thus my question. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > [Oxford Languages | The Home of Language Data](http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/lurve) > > Says origin is 1930s Next question: that link gives the pronunciation as **Pronunciation:** /ləːv/ What does the double arrow thingy mean? Wiki on IPA is unhelpful. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/10 "2012-10-12T12:31:16Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > Next question: that link gives the pronunciation as **Pronunciation:** /ləːv/ > > What does the double arrow thingy mean? Wiki on IPA is unhelpful. It means the vowel is [long](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colon_(punctuation)#Diacritical_usage). ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/11 "2012-10-12T17:48:14Z")
Holy cow, the things I lurne on the Dope! I’ve always associated it with Celine Dion and her accent. Although, thinking about the Titanic theme, she says it “luff” so now I can’t remember what song made me reach that conclusion. But I swear I never would have guessed it had any other origin or that it was so widespread. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/12 "2012-10-12T17:59:53Z")
So, given that, once again I am seeing indications that the r is non-rhotic. This site seems to back that up, with both the British and US pronunciation files not pronouncing the r. However, I note that the US pronunciation sounds like a Brit. > **[lurve](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/lurve)** > > 1. love: 2. to love someone or something: 3. love: I do note that some urban dictionaries do now indicate pronouncing the r. My surmise is that the word originated by non-rhotics exaggerating the drawn out o in “love” using the r as their non-rhotic vowel modifier. Subsequently, rhotics (like Americans) have encountered this spelling and have mistakenly been adding the r sound, because it is not typically something you get the spelling and the sound simultaneously. Either you get someone saying the word “love” all exaggerated, or you get someone spelling the word “love” and trying to represent the exaggerated sound. Enter the malicious non-rhotic r. Of course I don’t actually have any proof. I was hoping someone here would know more of the etymology. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/13 "2012-10-12T18:11:24Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So, given that, once again I am seeing indications that the r is non-rhotic. > > This site seems to back that up, with both the British and US pronunciation files not pronouncing the r. However, I note that the US pronunciation sounds like a Brit. > [LURVE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/lurve) > > I do note that some urban dictionaries do now indicate pronouncing the r. My surmise is that the word originated by non-rhotics exaggerating the drawn out o in “love” using the r as their non-rhotic vowel modifier. Subsequently, rhotics (like Americans) have encountered this spelling and have mistakenly been adding the r sound, because it is not typically something you get the spelling and the sound simultaneously. Either you get someone saying the word “love” all exaggerated, or you get someone spelling the word “love” and trying to represent the exaggerated sound. Enter the malicious non-rhotic r. This is exactly what happened with “er” and “erm.” In American English, they’re spelled “uh” and “um.” But Americans got hold of text written by non-rhotic British writers, and now there are Americans who say “er” and “erm” with rhoticization. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/14 "2012-10-12T19:21:21Z")
I’ve never heard of it being non-rhotic. In fact, you hold out the R when you say it. It’s a way to indicate sounding silly and mopey, sorta like the Cowardly Lion voice. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-lurve-pronounced/637463/15 "2012-10-12T19:22:52Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > So in Annie Hall, it was rhotic? Yes, Alvy’s “lurve” rhymed with “curve”. I didn’t realise the term pre-dated the movie, though.