# Is there an absolute, 100%, authoritative final word on the pronunciation of the game "Galaga"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 13, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766 "2012-02-13T23:41:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ScatteredFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@ScatteredFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScatteredFrog)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/1 "2012-02-13T23:41:16Z")
So doing a [place favorite search engine here, most likely the one that collects everything about you] search doesn’t lead me to anything but debate… But is there a word from, say, someone at Midway as to how to pronounce the name of this game??? I and everybody else in the world except a friend of mine always pronounced it “GA lah gah” – kind of like “galaxy,” but my friend, and I’m finding all of a sudden a lot of other people, put the stress on the penult, kind of like “armada.” What’s the straight dope on this? I don’t want opinions; I want verifiable fact! (Personally, I pronounce it “That kinda boring game that’s a bit like Space Invaders but not quite and that I really suck at. What?? You want me to pay FIFTY CENTS to play that?? SCREW YOU!!! Geez! It’s been a quarter forever, and now they jacked up the price 100%! The NERVE! It’s not worth playing if you can’t play it on one quarter. Oh well…if I really want to play it, I’ll just go home and run MAME.”) ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/2 "2012-02-13T23:49:34Z")
Well, I’m from the deep south, where we’re kinda lazy in our speechifying habits, and I’ve always pronounced it “Gal-uh-guh”. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/3 "2012-02-13T23:55:49Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Well, I’m from the deep south, where we’re kinda lazy in our speechifying habits, and I’ve always pronounced it “Gal-uh-guh”. Northern Mid-westerner here-- we said Gal-uh-guh. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/4 "2012-02-14T00:02:35Z")
Originally: ギャラガ - Gyaraga. So the first syllable is a little weird. It is mostly pronounced how you’d expect it to be. The “r” is of course a Japanese-style “r.” I never really played it so I don’t have a strong bias, just the normal way. PS. Ninja Guy-den, not Gay-den. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/5 "2012-02-14T00:04:20Z")
The kana for the title transliterate to Gyaraga - suggesting the intended Englishish pronunciation is gal-ah-gah… It’s definitely referencing the word ‘galaxy’ (it’s a sequel to Galaxian). ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/6 "2012-02-14T00:04:54Z")
Ga-Lax-Ee-In. Amongst my friends I don’t think we ever called it _Galaga_. We just kept referring to it as _Galaxian_. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/7 "2012-02-14T00:24:56Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Ga-Lax-Ee-In. > > Amongst my friends I don’t think we ever called it _Galaga_. We just kept referring to it as _Galaxian_. Why? They’re two different games, with totally different gameplay. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/8 "2012-02-14T01:49:55Z")
I don’t know. It was years ago, I was just a kid, and I may even be misremembering. They do look very similar. The fact is, I have no memories of the name _Galaga_, and lots of the name _Galaxian_, so that’s my vague conclusion. However, where I lived there were a few games known by different names than elsewhere, such as _Krazy Kong_ instead of _Donkey Kong_, so perhaps it was that: Misnamed knock-offs. ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/9 "2012-02-14T01:55:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I’ve always pronounced it “Gal-uh-guh”. That’s the correct pronunciation, or at least that’s how everyone in the coin operated gaming industry - from the manufacturer’s reps to the distributors to the operators, everyone I’ve ever spoken with since the game was introduced - pronounced (and pronounces) it. I’ve heard it pronounced other ways, but never by people in the industry. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/10 "2012-02-14T04:45:45Z")
West coast. I pronounced it “gal-uh-guh” too. [QUOTE=ScatteredFrog] (Personally, I pronounce it "That kinda boring game that’s a bit like Space Invaders but not quite and that I really suck at. [/QUOTE] The way you describe it, that seems closer to Galaxian which was Galaga’s predecessor. Galaga was the one where the enemy ships flew out in single or double file groups from top and bottom of the screen into formation. [Here’s a YouTube video showing gameplay for the first two rounds and the challenging stage.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW-ydFFK1yY&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/11 "2012-02-14T05:02:35Z")
Used to play it every day at lunch back in the day. Never heard anyone pronounce it, and we used to say gah-LAH-gah. But what did we know? I think I default to Spanish pronunciation on this type of foreign looking word. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/12 "2012-02-14T05:31:53Z")
I’ve never heard anyone pronounce it as anything other than GA-luh-guh. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/13 "2012-02-14T15:36:52Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve never heard anyone pronounce it as anything other than GA-luh-guh. Ditto. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/14 "2012-02-14T15:41:32Z")
Gal-uh-guh. Fun game, even with the non-shooting bug cheat/exploit. Of course, **Robotron: 2084** is the greatest game ever from that era, so great that I have one at home (not an original, some arcade cabinet thing I got at Target a few years ago. Defender, Stargate, Joust, and some other Williams games are included as well.) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/15 "2012-02-14T15:55:11Z")
Me (and all my friends) always pronounced it Ga-lag-ah. ---
**Author:** ![3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/47e85d/32.png) [@3\_20\_59\_or\_bust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3_20_59_or_bust)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/16 "2012-02-14T17:45:24Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Me (and all my friends) always pronounced it Ga-lag-ah. That’s how we pronounced it as well…although it’s one of those words that I just figured I was saying wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/17 "2012-02-14T18:39:13Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Of course, **Robotron: 2084** is the greatest game ever from that era, so great that I have one at home (not an original, some arcade cabinet thing I got at Target a few years ago. Defender, Stargate, Joust, and some other Williams games are included as well.) Totally agree. I rock the machine at the Pinball Hall of Fame here in Las Vegas at least once a month. Defender is 3rd, with Stargate #2. I love Joust, but I hate playing with idiots who kill me. DAMN but Williams had some great games. BTW, anyone else love and remember the soundtrack from Reactor? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/18 "2012-02-14T21:11:05Z")
Definitely remember… it’s playing in my head right now. Best score on Robotron, factory level settings: 25 million. Actually rolled-over my extra guys and lost the game because of that. So, in my warped logic, I beat the game because it cheated my ass. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/19 "2012-02-14T21:32:32Z")
An old supervisor of mine pronounced it “Gallagher,” but he was from England. I never asked, but I assume the watermelon-shtick comic would’ve been pronounced “Galaga.” > [@Snowboarder Bo](#): > > BTW, anyone else love and remember the soundtrack from Reactor? Yeah, I always sucked at that game but it had a rockin’ theme. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766/20 "2012-02-14T21:38:44Z")
UK here, pronounced just as it was written “Ga-la-ga” with equal stress. Whereas “Sinistar” was pronounced “Fu-kin-im-pos-ible” or more properly…“arghh! bastard! bastard! bastard! piece of shit! bastard twatting shit!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-absolute-100-authoritative-final-word-on-the-pronunciation-of-the-game-galaga/612766.md?page=2)