# I had no idea... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773 "2007-11-16T22:47:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/1 "2007-11-16T22:47:04Z")
I’m middle-aged, well-read, extensive vocabulary, read dictionaries for fun. And I had no idea until last night that “cay” was pronounced the same as “key”. (Apparently “kay” is a secondary, acceptable pronunciation…but still.) :smack: ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/2 "2007-11-16T23:07:41Z")
I always saw it spelled as Quay, but knew it was pronounced “key”. ---
**Author:** ![FourPaws](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e0b2c6/32.png) [@FourPaws](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FourPaws)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/3 "2007-11-16T23:15:29Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] I’m middle-aged, well-read, extensive vocabulary, read dictionaries for fun. And I had no idea until last night that “cay” was pronounced the same as “key”. (Apparently “kay” is a secondary, acceptable pronunciation…but still.) :smack: [/QUOTE] It’s O-cay, er, kay. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/4 "2007-11-16T23:33:03Z")
[QUOTE=feppytweed] I always saw it spelled as Quay, but knew it was pronounced “key”. [/QUOTE] :eek: Holy crap! That’s two in one day! Actually, they’re two different things: quay = dock; cay = island; but both are pronounced “kee”. I’ve always pronounced them as “kway” and “kay”. (actually, the opportunities for saying “quay” out loud have been virtually nil. But that’s how I pronounce it in my head.) (and I assume that the Florida Keys are actually the Florida Cays) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/5 "2007-11-17T17:26:49Z")
I’m an English teacher and I just learned today that zoology is pronounced, “zow \_ ology”. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/6 "2007-11-17T17:50:02Z")
I didn’t know until Kelsey Grammer ranted about it on Leno that flaccid is pronounced flak-sid, not flas-sid. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/8 "2007-11-17T19:14:14Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] I didn’t know until Kelsey Grammer ranted about it on Leno that flaccid is pronounced flak-sid, not flas-sid. [/QUOTE] I was just about to do another :eek: , but looked it up. flas-sid is listed first; flak-sid second. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/9 "2007-11-17T19:55:04Z")
Really? Well, now I don’t feel like such an idiot. Except for accepting what Grammer said. 🙂 How about mauve? Is it mawve or mowve? ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/10 "2007-11-18T00:05:00Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] I’m an English teacher and I just learned today that zoology is pronounced, “zow \_ ology”. [/QUOTE] Wow. My high school biology teacher, who was a zoology major in college and had a masters degree in the same, pronounced it zo-ology. No “zow” about it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/11 "2007-11-18T00:07:09Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Wow. My high school biology teacher, who was a zoology major in college and had a masters degree in the same, pronounced it zo-ology. No “zow” about it. [/QUOTE] I majored in zoology in college and all my instructors called it “zoh-ology” (long o, then short o). ---
**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:** [November 18, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/12 "2007-11-18T00:25:24Z")
A Zoo is called that because it’s short for “Zo-ological” Gardens. So really it ought to be a “Zo”. Or a “Zo-o”. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/13 "2007-11-18T03:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=Miss Purl McKnittington] Wow. My high school biology teacher, who was a zoology major in college and had a masters degree in the same, pronounced it zo-ology. No “zow” about it. [/QUOTE] zow = zo I just did a bad time thinking of how to write it. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/14 "2007-11-18T03:47:58Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] zow = zo I just did a bad time thinking of how to write it. :smack: [/QUOTE] You mean “zoh”? 🙂 I see “zow” and I think, “Rhymes with ‘cow’.” ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/15 "2007-11-18T14:48:47Z")
All my zoology professors, and [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zoology) say it’s zoo-ology. Until you’ve got a cite that says different, I’m gonna stick to the old way. ---
**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:** [November 18, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/16 "2007-11-18T15:00:49Z")
[QUOTE=feppytweed] I always saw it spelled as Quay, but knew it was pronounced “key”. [/QUOTE] I came here to mention that. > [@GuanoLad](#): > > A Zoo is called that because it’s short for “Zo-ological” Gardens. > > Or a “Zo-o”. I just made that comment to a coworker a week or so ago. > [@MrFantsyPants](#): > > All my zoology professors, and [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/zoology) say it’s zoo-ology. Until you’ve got a cite that says different, I’m gonna stick to the old way. [Cite](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/zoology) (edited to approximate special characters): > [@](#): > > _ **Usage Note:** _ Traditionally, the first syllable of _zoology_ has been pronounced as (zo), rhyming with _toe_. However, most likely due to the familiarity of the word zoo (which is merely a shortened form of _zoological garden_), the pronunciation of the first syllable as (zoo) is also commonly heard. In 1999, 88 percent of the Panelists found the (zo) pronunciation acceptable, and 60 percent found the (zoo) pronunciation acceptable, with 68 percent using the (zo) pronunciation and 32 percent using the (zoo) pronunciation in their own speech. Thus, while both pronunciations can be considered acceptable, the (zo) pronunciation may be perceived as more correct. > > The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 ---
**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 18, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/17 "2007-11-18T15:32:55Z")
[QUOTE=jsc1953] I was just about to do another :eek: , but looked it up. flas-sid is listed first; flak-sid second. [/QUOTE] My dictionary lists it the other way, but in the end it really just comes down to Kelsey Grammer having an appropriately spelled last name. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2007, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-had-no-idea/426773/18 "2007-11-18T16:56:25Z")
Wait. What? Quay is not pronounced kway? But it’s such a cool word that way! \ I knew cay=key and I knew about flaccid because of a book I read long ago (never mind), but quay? Key is just boring. There aren’t enough qu- words as it is. I feel a grassroots movement starting–let’s take back the kw- and starting quacking about this on the quay! \