# How is the U.S.S. Leopard pronounced? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525 "2009-12-16T20:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/21 "2009-12-17T22:06:49Z")
It’s a high school history teacher thing. We had one who taught us about King Nebuchadnezzar - or, as he pronounced it, “Neboo-SHAD-nez-ar” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/22 "2009-12-17T22:10:22Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > Great sprinter? I thought leopards mainly hung around in trees. No, it’s jagulars that hang around in trees. And when you look up, they drop on you. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/23 "2009-12-17T22:11:31Z")
> [@fandango](#): > > Great sprinter? I thought leopards mainly hung around in trees. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/24 "2009-12-18T01:30:13Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > It’s a high school history teacher thing. We had one who taught us about King Nebuchadnezzar - or, as he pronounced it, “Neboo-SHAD-nez-ar” Morpheus’s ship in _The Matrix_ is named that, as it happens. But they don’t pronounce it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/25 "2009-12-18T02:07:38Z")
what about jag-you-are-s from nick-are-ag-you-uh ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/26 "2009-12-18T08:14:45Z")
Thirty years ago as an Admiralty civil servant (more or less) I heard [this ship](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RFA_Sir_Geraint_(L3027)) called “Sir Jerr-aynt”. The (Welsh) name “Geraint” is usually pronounced with a G as in biG, the second vowel is “eye” and the stress falls on the first syllable. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/27 "2009-12-18T08:39:46Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > I thought le-o-pards hang around your legs. No, no, no. You’re thinking of leg-warmers. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/28 "2009-12-18T08:47:02Z")
Was the ship made of alu-mini-um? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/29 "2009-12-18T09:19:56Z")
Aluminium is a bad analogy given the word is spelled differently and both pronunciations logically follow the spellings. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/30 "2009-12-18T19:00:36Z")
…preferring it to me original 'andle, “Panther”! ---
**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:** [December 18, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/31 "2009-12-18T19:05:27Z")
In the Hornblower books the French vessel _Deux Freres_ is pronounced “Duke’s Freers”. Among other things, it prevented confusion. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if “Leopard” had been pronounced “LEE-oh-pard”. Small groups, especially specialized ones often indulge in their own apparently eccentric pronunciations. It wouldn’t be a big stretch. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/32 "2009-12-18T21:45:15Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > In the Hornblower books the French vessel _Deux Freres_ is pronounced “Duke’s Freers”. Among other things, it prevented confusion. > It wouldn’t surprise me at all if “Leopard” had been pronounced “LEE-oh-pard”. Small groups, especially specialized ones often indulge in their own apparently eccentric pronunciations. It wouldn’t be a big stretch. Yes. Similarly in WW1 Ypres was commonly known as “Wipers”, Plougsteert Wood as “Plugstreet”, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525/33 "2009-12-18T21:47:56Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It wouldn’t surprise me at all if “Leopard” had been pronounced “LEE-oh-pard”. Small groups, especially specialized ones often indulge in their own apparently eccentric pronunciations. It wouldn’t be a big stretch. Yes, but a high school teacher in the late 20th century would not be one of those people! Unless **Highlander** was really a documentary. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-the-u-s-s-leopard-pronounced/521525.md?page=1)