# I have an Idear! Learn how to say IDEA! (Hint: drop the "r") **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 17, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475 "2003-12-17T05:18:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/21 "2003-12-17T13:40:07Z")
My grandma pronounces idea “_i_-dee”. I have an idear she just does it to make me nuts. Can I bitch in here about people who say “Miamuh” for Miami? ---
**Author:** ![dav01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8491ac/32.png) [@dav01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dav01)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/22 "2003-12-17T13:49:11Z")
> [@](#): > > ## quote: > > ## _Originally posted by BayleDomon_ Where the hell does the ‘sh’ come from? It’s T-I, ferchrissakes! > > Those 4 letters are an indication that the pronounciation rules of the English language are shit. Somebody once said- I think it was George Bernard Shaw, but I’m probably wrong- that we should spell the word ‘fish’ as ‘ghoti’ -the ‘gh’ sounds like ‘f’, as in ‘enough’ -the ‘o’ sounds like a short ‘i’, as in ‘women’ -the ‘ti’ sounds like ‘sh’, as in any word ending in ‘-tion’ ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/23 "2003-12-17T14:30:37Z")
Where did the “r” in Hah-vahd go? To Cuber and Afriker. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/24 "2003-12-17T16:41:52Z")
Our Brit coworkers are always wanting to examine their datar. You’d think they could wait until they got home. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/25 "2003-12-17T17:00:10Z")
OK, pay attention, y’all… … _pro **nun** ciation_ is a noun… “The **pronunciation** of the word ‘water’, varies regionally.” … _pro **noun** ce_ is a verb… “How do you **pronounce** your name?” … _“pro **noun** ciation”_, whether you pronounciate it “pronunciation” or pronunciate it “pronounciation”, is not a word in the English language. Sometimes, English spelling does match its pronunciation. Sort of. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/26 "2003-12-17T17:06:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\* > “The **pronunciation** of the word ‘water’, varies regionally.” > \*\* Tch! “The **pronunciation** of the word ‘water’ varies regionally.” ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/27 "2003-12-17T17:15:31Z")
I thought it was bad living in Wusta (Worcester, MA) but now I deal with a factory in Canada. They call me many times every day to talk aboot my orders. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/28 "2003-12-17T17:16:18Z")
All right, all right… Gaudere’s Law strikes again. I thought maybe I should look that word up, but hey, I’m a good speller. :rolleyes: My point still stands, though. Spelling corresponds to, but does not determine pro **nun** ciation. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/29 "2003-12-17T21:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by congodwarf \* > \*\*I thought it was bad living in Wusta (Worcester, MA) but now I deal with a factory in Canada. They call me many times every day to talk aboot my orders. \*\* I have never heard a Canadian say ‘aboot’ unless he was speaking of footwear. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/30 "2003-12-17T21:14:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GingerOfTheNorth \* > \*\*I have never heard a Canadian say ‘aboot’ unless he was speaking of footwear. \*\* To be fair, ‘aboot’ isn’t a perfect representation. It’s more like halfway between ‘aboot’ and ‘aboat’. It’s definitely not, however, the american ‘abowt’. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/31 "2003-12-17T21:26:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > **Doesn’t surprise me this is a New England thing - it’s an English thing as well, as far as my experience goes (not necessarily Brit, though).** Well, not necessarily present in all Brit accents, anyway. But I do remember hearing Sheena Easton (a Scot) pronounce her name as “Sheenur”. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/32 "2003-12-17T21:34:56Z")
Here in Boston, it’s widely believed that they changed the name of the NMR to MRI because many patients thought they were coming in for an entirely different procedure… ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/33 "2003-12-17T22:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by NurseCarmen \* > _But as a normal, every day, beer drinking, pickup driving, (sans flag) office farting, red blooded Merican male, I found myself cringing every time I heard the man who’s goal is to be the leader of the free world telling me that he had an idear._ > \*\* I hear what you’re saying, and being an Australian who doesn’t pronounce the letter ‘r’ with the same emphasis that the American accent tends to do, yes, it certainly seems a silly thing to do. However, with the utmost respect, I’d like to discuss the “leader of the free world” remark if I may. Ummmm… perhaps if the rest of us in the Western World were allowed to vote in the US Presidential Elections, perhaps then it might be appropriate to refer to the US President as the leader of the free world, but one’s thing for sure, I don’t know how to speak French very well these days but if I could, I’ll bet you a million bucks there are more than a few Frenchmen who’d be saying something along the lines of “He’s not my fucking leader mate…” No offence intended there to my American friends of course. Just a little thing to ponder. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/34 "2003-12-17T23:05:48Z")
As **Arcite** describes, the extra ‘R’ appears when separating certain words that end in vowels from succeeding words that begin with vowels. If you ask Sheena Easton what her first name is, she’ll say “Sheena.” If you ask her full name, she’ll say “Sheenureaston.” Otherwise there’s a risk of an ugly glottal stop to separate the vowels. Captain Picard did this once on TNG, as I recall. “Commander Data ris working on the problem,” or something like that. I have no idear (heh) why certain American dialects throw the extra ‘R’ in when there’s no following initial-vowel word. Just hoping to add some context. ---
**Author:** ![Optihut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/edb3f5/32.png) [@Optihut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optihut)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/35 "2003-12-17T23:11:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gluteus maximus \* > \*\*OK, pay attention, y’all… > > … _pro **nun** ciation_ is a noun… > > … _pro **noun** ce_ is a verb… > > Sometimes, English spelling does match its pronunciation. Sort of. \*\* You know what? That’s mind boggling! I didn’t want to believe it at first, but after checking back with the dictionary, I can see you’re right. Hmmm, I guess sometimes English still baffles me, although I thought that was not possible anymore. Damnation! Regarding the OP: I think I pronounce the word “idea” as “idear”, too. But I’ve always got the excuse of not being a native speaker 😉 ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/36 "2003-12-18T06:41:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Doesn’t surprise me this is a New England thing - it’s an English thing as well, as far as my experience goes (not necessarily Brit, though). \*\* Doesn’t surprise me. After all, Elton John sings “vodker and tonics” and the Moody Blues sing “drawring me near.” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dav01 \* > **Somebody once said- I think it was George Bernard Shaw, but I’m probably wrong- that we should spell the word ‘fish’ as 'ghoti’** I think you’re right it was Shaw. Knew that already, in fact I even wrote a screensaver and named it Ghoti. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/37 "2003-12-18T07:33:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arcite \* > \*\*To be fair, ‘aboot’ isn’t a perfect representation. It’s more like halfway between ‘aboot’ and ‘aboat’. It’s definitely not, however, the american ‘abowt’. \*\* It’s ‘a bout’. Like a boxing match. Spoken with a maritime accent, it sort of becomes ‘aboot’ to these ears. Then again, people in Tennessee seemed to think I was from England because of my accent. I certainly don’t speak with an English accent. I think it’s in the ears that hear rather than the mouth that speaks, to snag a phrase from Stephen Donaldson. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/38 "2003-12-18T07:52:48Z")
I have heard ‘a bout’ or ‘aboot’ used along the coast of Virginia, so the maritime connection makes sense. President Kennedy was known for his eloquence, but I was right in there at first with the other teeth-gnashers when he talked about his “idears on Cuber.” Eventually, it became an endearing quality. You’ll get used to it with Dean. 😉 It was a relief, however, when President Carter was sworn into office and he had no accent at all. In my speech class in college, one young minister-to-be gave a speech on “The Importance of Correct ProNOUNciation.” (shudder) ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/39 "2003-12-18T08:22:17Z")
Hey, the British are worse. Not only do they add an ‘r’ to the end of words that end with a vowell, they _take it off_ when it’s _supposed_ to be there. Don’t believe me? Check out an old episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. When Capt. Picard speaks, Commander Data becomes “Commandah Datar”, and Commander Riker become “Commandah Rikah”. And they _invented_ the language. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2003, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475/40 "2003-12-18T13:54:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cityboy916 \* > **Doesn’t surprise me. After all, Elton John sings “vodker and tonics” and the Moody Blues sing "drawring me near."** Billy Joel does this too in Scenes From an Italian Restaurant: “Brendar and Eddie”. He’s supposedly from Long Island. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-an-idear-learn-how-to-say-idea-hint-drop-the-r/219475.md?page=3)