# Is the pronunciation of 'biopic' shifting? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355 "2014-10-24T14:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 24, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/1 "2014-10-24T14:57:45Z")
I’ve always read and said ‘biopic’ as [BI-oh-pik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOvVFCLFcE). On the news just now, the talking head pronounced it ‘bi-OPP-ik’. This is not the first time I’ve heard that pronunciation on a news program. Is the pronunciation shifting? Or was the news reader conincidentally the same person who used the word months (or a year, or a couple of years – time flies nowadays) ago? ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/2 "2014-10-24T23:40:30Z")
i don’t know whether the pronunciation is shifting, or whether it’s already shifted as far as it’s going to go. Certainly the pronunciation that suggests a movie concerning dual oppics is pretty widespread, and has been for some years, now – even among those, like film critics, whom you would expect to understand what a **bio** graphical **pic** ture was. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/3 "2014-10-25T00:35:13Z")
Really? I have never heard it. It looks like a simple mistake to me (and I would be confused by it if I did hear it). Of course, mistakes based on spelling, like this, do sometimes get baked into the language. Hardly anyone seems to pronounce **forehead** as _forrid_ any more, though I can remember when we did. (As I understand it, this is a sort of double mistake. **Forehead** , I believe, was originally a spelling invented by pedants who thought, incorrectly, that the spoken word “forrid”, which, after all, refers to part of the fore part of the head, must be a corruption of fore-head. It was a bit of folk etymology that first infiltrated spelling, and now has made its way into spoken language too.) ---
**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:** [October 25, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/4 "2014-10-25T01:24:08Z")
I don’t know if it’s shifting or not. I still feel like it’s an error, but we’ll see what popular usage says. The first few times I’ve seen that word in print, I’ve pronounced it bi-opic, and it always confused me, until I realized it was bio-pic, and then it all made sense. I still have a natural tendency to want to say bi-opic when I see “biopic” in print. It takes me a second or two to realize it’s “bio-pic.” I wouldn’t be surprised if something similar happens to newscasters reading off a teleprompter, and that it’s just a slip of the tongue. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/5 "2014-10-25T01:33:50Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Hardly anyone seems to pronounce **forehead** as _forrid_ any more, though I can remember when we did. (As I understand it, this is a sort of double mistake. **Forehead** , I believe, was originally a spelling invented by pedants who thought, incorrectly, that the spoken word “forrid”, which, after all, refers to part of the fore part of the head, must be a corruption of fore-head. It was a bit of folk etymology that first infiltrated spelling, and now has made its way into spoken language too.) Obviously a reference to the leading prominence of a person’s primal essence. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/6 "2014-10-25T01:52:31Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Really? I have never heard it. It looks like a simple mistake to me (and I would be confused by it if I did hear it). > > Of course, mistakes based on spelling, like this, do sometimes get baked into the language. Hardly anyone seems to pronounce **forehead** as _forrid_ any more, though I can remember when we did. (As I understand it, this is a sort of double mistake. **Forehead** , I believe, was originally a spelling invented by pedants who thought, incorrectly, that the spoken word “forrid”, which, after all, refers to part of the fore part of the head, must be a corruption of fore-head. It was a bit of folk etymology that first infiltrated spelling, and now has made its way into spoken language too.) Wait, I’m confused. Isn’t “forehead” “fore”+“head”? [Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=forehead&searchmode=none) seems to say so. Or am I misunderstanding? I am aware of both pronunciations, though, although I use the “fore”+“head” one myself. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/7 "2014-10-25T02:58:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Is the pronunciation shifting? Or was the news reader conincidentally the same person who used the word months (or a year, or a couple of years – time flies nowadays) ago? Could be the news reader is an idiot. Good bone structure and vocal tone are selected for more than education or intelligence. Or they just screwed up, which can even happen to me. ---
**Author:** ![MsKaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@MsKaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsKaren)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/8 "2014-10-25T03:25:24Z")
Poems of Home: III. Fun for Little Folk “There was a little girl” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) THERE was a little girl, And she had a little curl Right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good She was very, very good, And when she was bad she was horrid. from [http://www.bartleby.com/360/1/120.html](http://www.bartleby.com/360/1/120.html) I think it is bio - pic as well and just mispronounced. I also see bi-opic when I first encounter it. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/9 "2014-10-25T05:29:47Z")
How long has the word “biopic” been around? I first read it maybe five years ago, and pronounced it “bi-oppic” until I figured out that it was a biographical picture so should be bio-pic. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it said, I’ve just read it. I seem to have heard that word about the same time I started coming across the word “trailer” for a film preview, and “cover” for a song done by a different singer/band. You kids and your new words! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/10 "2014-10-25T06:46:46Z")
I say bi-opic, and always have done. It is consistent with my pronunciation of a book about a real person, bi-ography, and auto-bi-ography. Curiously though, I would also say that a book of that type was auto-_bio_-graphical. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/11 "2014-10-25T07:13:06Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I seem to have heard that word about the same time I started coming across the word “trailer” for a film preview, and “cover” for a song done by a different singer/band. > > You kids and your new words! “Trailer” to refer to a movie preview has been around since the 1920s, possibly earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/12 "2014-10-25T07:27:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > “Trailer” to refer to a movie preview has been around since the 1920s, possibly earlier. Biopic and cover both go back at least to the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/13 "2014-10-25T07:34:34Z")
I have never heard “biopic” pronounced aloud, to my knowledge. In my mind, I have always pronounced it as bio-pic. I have no idea if this is correct but it is the only fact I have to contribute to this General Questions forum thread. ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/14 "2014-10-25T07:45:56Z")
[Cambridge](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/british/biopic)further muddies the waters… ---
**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:** [October 25, 2014, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/15 "2014-10-25T08:19:34Z")
When I hear bi-opic I associate it with “biopsy” and think of it as exploring the character on a deeper level. This is, of course, nonsense, as it’s only a biography picture. But that’s still where my head goes when I hear the mispronunciation. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/16 "2014-10-25T15:11:46Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I say bi-opic, and always have done. It is consistent with my pronunciation of a book about a real person, bi-ography, and auto-bi-ography. Except that the first part of the word is _bio_, meaning ‘life’, and _graphia_ means ‘an account’ or ‘record’. _Bi-_ means ‘two’, and I don’t think there is a suffix ‘-ography’ (just ‘-graphy’) – but I’m not sure about that. . ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/17 "2014-10-25T15:14:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I’ve always read and said ‘biopic’ as [BI-oh-pik](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVOvVFCLFcE). On the news just now, the talking head pronounced it ‘bi-OPP-ik’. This is not the first time I’ve heard that pronunciation on a news program. > > Is the pronunciation shifting? Or was the news reader conincidentally the same person who used the word months (or a year, or a couple of years – time flies nowadays) ago? I heard someone on NPR say it that way last week and it just sounded wrong…then again, it’s not a word you heat spoken very often. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/18 "2014-10-25T17:48:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Wait, I’m confused. Isn’t “forehead” “fore”+“head”? [Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=forehead&searchmode=none) seems to say so. Or am I misunderstanding? I am aware of both pronunciations, though, although I use the “fore”+“head” one myself. What I am saying is that the original, spoken work was “forrid”, which some spelling pedant or lexicographer decided should be spelled **forehead** , on the basis of _false_ (although superficially plausible) assumptions about the etymology. Now that that spelling is established, however, many people have taken to pronouncing it as spelled. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/19 "2014-10-25T18:04:35Z")
_Missed edit window:_ It may be that _forrid_ originally derived from _forheafod_, which is what Etymology Online says, but the word went through a stage where it was pronounced (and probably often spelled, before spelling was regularized) as _forrid_, and, after that, a stage (which I am old enough to recall) when the lexicographically approved spelling was **forehead** , but it was still pronounced _forrid_. Both the currently accepted spelling, and what I think is the now dominant pronunciation, as **forehead** , both seem to have originated as overcorrection errors (separate ones, that happen to be mutually reinforcing). ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355/20 "2014-10-25T18:22:54Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > How long has the word “biopic” been around? I first read it maybe five years ago, and pronounced it “bi-oppic” until I figured out that it was a biographical picture so should be bio-pic. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard it said, I’ve just read it. > > I seem to have heard that word about the same time I started coming across the word “trailer” for a film preview, and “cover” for a song done by a different singer/band. > > You kids and your new words! As might have been guessed the origin is almost certainly Varietyspeak, the language that Variety has used for decades and still uses to report on show business. It’s a shifting and ever-growing argot with neologisms being formed constantly. First cite in OED: > [@](#): > > 1947 Variety 23 July 10/1 A little preface warns audiences that ‘certain necessary liberties have been taken with incident and chronology’, [a] step probably taken to ward off such complaints as followed Jerome Kern’s biopic, ‘Till the Clouds Roll By’. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-pronunciation-of-biopic-shifting/702355.md?page=2)