# Is the US pronunciation of "solder" unique to the US ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997 "2014-09-09T19:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/61 "2014-09-10T14:11:17Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > In that case, I have been saying it wrong all my life. For me it rhymes with “older” and “bolder”. When I get back to Dublin I’ll ask some of my colleagues how they pronounce it, just to satisfy my own curiosity. So it does for me, in England. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/62 "2014-09-10T14:43:41Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I’m still amused by Americans pronouncing “puma” as “poomer” - once I got over my bewilderment over what the heck a “poomer” is. Americans in general don’t pronounce “puma” like that. There are accents in the US that will put an “r” at the end of a work that ends in a vowel (such as in New England) but it’s not common elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/63 "2014-09-10T15:43:30Z")
> [@Bones\_Daley](#): > > I am hoping that some Canadian, Oz, African etc members will chip in and reveal what their preferred pronunciation is, as well as anyone for whom English is a second language. FWIW (and somewhat tangential to the thread), my understanding is that ESL teaches UK pronunciation (RP, I assume) outside of the US; in the US, we favor US pronunciations. You’ll occasionally pick this up from Europeans speaking English if they’ve mostly or entirely managed to drop their native accent. ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/64 "2014-09-10T15:53:16Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Could, would, should, salmon…lots of words we don’t pronounce the “l” in. Nobody has ever pronounced the L in _could_. It’s unetymological, inserted on analogy with \*would \*( \< _will_) and \*should \*( \< _shall_). The one I’m never sure about is “almond.” Both “al-mund” and “ah-mund” sound right to me. Lots of spelling pronunciations out there. Many people have re-inserted the T in _often_ out of hypercorrection, while they never do so in _soften_. And every American I know pronounces the -monger words as “monger” rather than “munger,” which is correct in my mind for some reason—probably from my Canadian parent. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/65 "2014-09-10T16:01:17Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Americans in general don’t pronounce “puma” like that. There are accents in the US that will put an “r” at the end of a work that ends in a vowel (such as in New England) but it’s not common elsewhere. It’s the “oo” part that is significant, not the “r” (which I agree does not exist.) Britons distinctly pronounce the U (“pyoomah”), rather than saying “poomah”. The same thing happens with _jaguar_. I don’t know if it’s cat related. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/66 "2014-09-10T16:03:32Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Americans in general don’t pronounce “puma” like that. There are accents in the US that will put an “r” at the end of a work that ends in a vowel (such as in New England) but it’s not common elsewhere. I’m talking about the poo, not the mer. Poo-muh is a closer to what I heard. In the rest of the English speaking world, it’s pronounced “pew-muh” and the first syllable rhymes with “few” and not “poo”. The first time I heard the American pronunciation I had no idea what the heck a “poo-muh” was and it took me several minutes to work out that they were talking about a puma. Anyway, Australian here, and I’ve only ever heard “sodder” on US TV shows. I solder things myself occasionally, and my dad was an electrician, so it’s not like I was unfamiliar with the word, just the US dialect version. I got that one right away, though, as they were clearly so **l** dering something at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/67 "2014-09-10T16:11:05Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Britons distinctly pronounce the U (“pyoomah”), rather than saying “poomah”. The same thing happens with _jaguar_. I don’t know if it’s cat related. I’m Australian, not a Briton. It’s the whole rest of the English-speaking world, including Commonwealth countries where English is an official language, like India and Pakistan, not just the British Isles and the places like Australia and New Zealand and South Africa where English is the majority language. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/68 "2014-09-10T16:42:35Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > How is it like aluminum? We pronounce all of the letters in ‘aluminum’ just as they are written. At least, I do…how do you pronounce it? Since this got missed, in the UK the element is called “aluminium.” It has five syllables and is pronounced like al-YOO-min-i-um. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/69 "2014-09-10T16:45:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s the “oo” part that is significant, not the “r” (which I agree does not exist.) Britons distinctly pronounce the U (“pyoomah”), rather than saying “poomah”. The same thing happens with _jaguar_. I don’t know if it’s cat related. Yod-dropping can get rather complex but if I may engage in blatant generalities: [j] is always dropped after tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, r, and j so words like chew, jury, rude and so on. [j] is always dropped in SAE and sometimes\* in SBE after θ, s, and z so words like enthusiasm, suit or Zeus are enthoosiasm, soot and Zoos for me but enthyoosiasm, syoot and Zyoos for a Brit. [j] is always dropped in SAE but not in SBE after t,d, and n so words like tune, dew and new to me are toone, doo, and noo but tyoone, dyoo and nyoo to that Brit. This is all predicated on the assumption that the yod and its predecessor are in the same syllable. If there’s a syllable break as in words like Matthew, volume or menu, there is no yod-dropping in either British or American english. \*What I gather is that historically, a british person who yod drops in these instances would be perceived as engaging in non-standard speech but that perception has lessened lately. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/70 "2014-09-10T16:58:53Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I’m Australian, not a Briton. Nobody’s perfect. 😉 ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/71 "2014-09-10T17:15:02Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > In the rest of the English speaking world, it’s pronounced “pew-muh” and the first syllable rhymes with “few” and not “poo”. The first time I heard the American pronunciation I had no idea what the heck a “poo-muh” was and it took me several minutes to work out that they were talking about a puma. I’m American, and I pronounce it “pyoo-ma,” as do many other Americans (including the Smothers Brothers). But the word comes from Spanish, and Americans especially in areas with large Spanish-speaking populations may have been influenced by the Spanish pronunciation to call it a “poo-ma.” Compare [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=640221) debating the pronunciation of “Cuba” in Cuba Gooding Jr.'s name. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/72 "2014-09-10T18:19:55Z")
[arnuhld] It’s naht a Poomuh [/arnuhld] ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/73 "2014-09-10T23:19:27Z")
FWIW the French is soudure. You know it is a lot like asking why we don’t say the b in debt (French dette). Some asshole added those letters late in the game and a few people take it seriously. A more interesting one is often. While some Americans pronounce the t, I don’t and my dictionary doesn’t even list it as a second pronunciation. But as far as I know, all Canadians pronounce the t. There is no accounting for dialects, they just are. A colleague who was interest in linguistics once claimed that he had examples of every letter in English being silent, with the exception of v. Of course there are words where a v disappeared but we drop the v is spelling (Halloween, e’er for ever, etc.) ---
**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:** [September 10, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/74 "2014-09-10T23:37:15Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > But as far as I know, all Canadians pronounce the t. There is no accounting for dialects, they just are. That explains a lot. For some reason, I particularly pick up on whether people pronounce the “t” or not in “often.” I keep hearing it over and over on NPR, but now that you mention the Canadian connection, I think a lot of my “hits” are with CBC radio broadcasts or Canadian commentators on NPR. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2014, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/75 "2014-09-10T23:42:08Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > …But as far as I know, all Canadians pronounce the t. …) No we don’t. It might be a regional thing, but I don’t pronounce the t. I’ve heard both pronunciations. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/76 "2014-09-11T01:24:48Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > In that case, I have been saying it wrong all my life. For me it rhymes with “older” and “bolder”. When I get back to Dublin I’ll ask some of my colleagues how they pronounce it, just to satisfy my own curiosity. You haven’t been saying it wrong. You’ve just been saying it differnently from how I, and the people in my circle, have been saying it. There are at least four pronunciations possible - with or without the ‘l’, with a long ‘o’ or a short ‘o’. And that’s before we get into whether the terminal ‘r’ is voiced. The OED recognised two pronunciations in RP. There could well be two (or more) pronunciations current in Hiberno-English. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/77 "2014-09-11T01:28:00Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Since this got missed, in the UK the element is called “aluminium.” It has five syllables and is pronounced like al-YOO-min-i-um. Nitpick: It’s al-you-MIN-ee-um. Stress on the antepenultimate syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/78 "2014-09-11T01:35:10Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Americans in general don’t pronounce “puma” like that. There are accents in the US that will put an “r” at the end of a work that ends in a vowel (such as in New England) but it’s not common elsewhere. Lots of non-rhotic dialects (mostly non-US, of course) will insert [intrusive Rs](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linking_and_intrusive_R) between words that end and start with vowel sounds. “India and Pakistan” may come out as “Indier and Pakistan” (the R being rhotic), for instance. It’s widespread enough that I’ve heard presenters on the BBC do it. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/79 "2014-09-11T02:13:18Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > A friend suggested melting the metal in a separate container and then pouring it over the second piece of metal. Which would be a great way to cover a hunk of something cheap with a fancier more expensive metal but I’m not sure how effective it would be at, say, joining two ends of a pipe. Plumbers used to make ‘wiped’ joints, use a non-eutectic solder, (which means it warms to a slurry). [wiped joint](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=wkOl953ZG-UC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37). I’ve only ever actually seen one such joint, and it was not as beautiful as that picture: thay stopped doing that a long time ago. The students (electronics) in Melbourne laughed at my dad for using the American pronunciation, but he was a larger-than-life character, and it was good natured. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997/80 "2014-09-11T17:18:27Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Ireland: SOLL-der > > For what it’s worth, the OED (“the pronunciations given are those in use among educated urban speakers of standard English in Britain and the United States”) gives two pronunciations, one with ‘l’ and one without, but they also have different vowel sounds: SOLL-der and SOAD-er. > Nitpick: GBS was not an Englishman. He made rather a point of not being English. Fair cop. It makes sense that an Irishman would notice and articulate most clearly that interesting aspect of English society. It’s kind of an “outsider” observation. I’ve never heard of dialect differences across Ireland underpinning class- or geography-based hatred, other than those attributable to conflicts associated with The Troubles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-us-pronunciation-of-solder-unique-to-the-us/697997.md?page=5)