# It's nucular, Lisa: NUCULAR **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687 "2005-02-12T01:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/21 "2005-02-12T06:11:47Z")
My favorite is the justification that “nuclear” is an unusual sound, so mispronouncing it is understandable. Gee, that’s a great rule, I just wish they taught it to me back in school. I wonder if the people who pronounce it nucular would also pronounce the center of the cell as the nuculous. Sadly, some do indeed. When they try the latest acne cream, I wonder how they manage to say the “new clearasil”, since it’s so tricky to pronounce and all. Similar to mask, task, and bask, not to even mention basket. That’s why I happily pronounce that sweet, sticky fruit as oranag, because since orange is so unusual, it must be legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/22 "2005-02-12T06:39:36Z")
Now that I think of it, the pronunciation of the word “arctic” as “_artic_” has been accepted for quite some time. It is really aggravating to hear a television meteorologist pronounce it that way. It’s even more aggravating to hear them refer to themselves as “_meter_ologists”. So is any of this important? Do we really want people to have good speakable skills? Heck, the people certainly don’t think it takes away from “Dubya’s” presidentiarial performance. As I’ve said before, the fight against ignorance must begin at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/23 "2005-02-12T06:42:57Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Okay folks I’m from Boston (where the owls say ‘whom’). Maybe it is my stuck-up blueblood upbringing (actually it was middle class) but here we like to speak proper English. And I think it is the way ALL people should be speaking. No, I don’t think all Americans should say “BARTH” or “LARF”. And I don’t care if you have an accent be it Southern or Texan or foreign. However, my opinion of a person’s knowledge (and yes maybe intelligence) is lowered when I hear mispronunciations such as NOOK-YA-LAR. > Okay Dopers, what would you think of someone if they pronounced > Goethe as GO-THEE > Freud as FROOD > faux pas as FOX PASS ? > Would you hire someone who used pronunciations such as JOO-LA-REE, REE-LA-TEE, LI-BERRY ? > How would you feel about a neurosurgeon who says that he will be making an _incisson_ into your _cramiun_ ? > I for one am glad that surgeon is _NOT_ an elected position !!! > > Well go ahead, it’s time to play “pounce on this posting”. I think the linguist cited above did that preemptively. There are specific theories as to how the pronunciation evolved and why. It is nothing like pronouncing faux pas as fox pass, which is just an ignorance of French. Enough highly intelligent and knowledgable people use the pronunciation “nucular” that the audacity of your disdain is conspicuous. ---
**Author:** ![aurelian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f4b2a3/32.png) [@aurelian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurelian)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/24 "2005-02-12T06:46:15Z")
Awesome title. “Nucular, that’s what I said, nucular.” ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/25 "2005-02-12T06:56:31Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Okay folks I’m from Boston (where the owls say ‘whom’). Maybe it is my stuck-up blueblood upbringing (actually it was middle class) but here we like to speak proper English. Boston, eh? Good chowda out there. I was in Warshington last summer, and the idear popped into my mind to go visit Boston, but I ended up in Nooyaaahk instead. (Tickets were much cheaper!) P.S. Bostonians have long since gang-raped and left for dead the English language. Various peoples may or may not have the moral authority to critique pronounciations and whatnot; Bostonians are not among them. ---
**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 12, 2005, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/26 "2005-02-12T07:13:14Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Would you hire someone who used pronunciations such as JOO-LA-REE, REE-LA-TEE, LI-BERRY ? There’s nothing wrong with the pronunciation “joo-la-ree”. Especially since outside of America, it is correctly spelled, i.e _jewellery_. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/27 "2005-02-12T07:19:26Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > As much as the pronunciation _nyu-kyuh-luhr_grates on my nerves, it is acceptable in _Webster’s_. I’m pretty sure that just means it’s a common usage. Dictionaries aren’t the language police. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/28 "2005-02-12T07:38:09Z")
Well I did invite everyoine to pounce on the posting. Not surprising that **Liberal and Brutus** were quick to criticize. It would be a rare thread in which they actually agreed with me. 😃 Heck, this is the SDMB and it’s all in good fun right? But be that as it may (and I doubt if it ever was), I think I’ll bring up one more incorrect pronunciation. In some parts of this country, they refer to this state as “MassaTOOsetts”. To quote **Liberal** _There are specific theories as to how the pronunciation evolved and why._ Okay, I’d sure like to know the ‘how and why’ of _that_ pronunciation. Maybe it is due to people being lazy and not really giving a damn about speaking proper English? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/29 "2005-02-12T08:15:12Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Well I did invite everyoine to pounce on the posting. > Not surprising that **Liberal and Brutus** were quick to criticize. It would be a rare thread in which they actually agreed with me. 😃 > Heck, this is the SDMB and it’s all in good fun right? It is, yes. And you have a good attitude about it. The only I criticized was your rather imprudent decision to declare people who say “nucular” to be less knowledgable, when you yourself had no knowledge of why they do. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/30 "2005-02-12T09:12:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > 1. William Atherton covered in marshmallow. 1. Penis Ensues! ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/31 "2005-02-12T14:20:14Z")
::YAWN!:: OMG, what a sad pathetic life you must have if this is important to you. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/32 "2005-02-12T14:27:36Z")
Although there are a number of quite valid reasons to criticize Mr. Bush, which my esteemed colleagues on the Left have enumerated in the past and hopefully will continue to, the idea that he, having been ridiculed for mispronunciation in the past, might decide to learn the correct pronunciation of the word in question and begin using it, does not strike me as absurd. Of course, I do see the world through rose-colored glasses, so feel free to Pit this comment. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/33 "2005-02-12T16:33:29Z")
Poly, it’s possible that that is the case, but I don’t believe it: he seems a bit fake when trying to put out the “cowboy” vibe. But it is possible: I’m not a mind reader. And to everyone, I’d agree, this isn’t the best founded or most important rant, and perhaps I should have put [lame] disclaimer. But in the Dead Poets Society scale of importance times execution, it comes squarely in the middle of the graph 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/34 "2005-02-12T18:38:00Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > having been ridiculed for mispronunciation in the past, might decide to learn the correct pronunciation of the word in question and begin using it, does not strike me as absurd. It’s part of The Plan. All evil geniuses must have a plan, it’s required. The idea is to get everyone all wrapped up around “noo kyuh ler” while he goes ahead unnoticed with construction of his alludium pu-38 explosive space modulator. The man is truly an evil genius. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/35 "2005-02-12T18:46:49Z")
**Liberal** You said I have a good attitude about these ‘discussions’ ? Thanks. When this message board ceases to be fun, I sure as heck won’t be around. There’s a lot more to life than the Internet … I think. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/36 "2005-02-12T18:58:52Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] As much as the pronunciation _nyu-kyuh-luhr_grates on my nerves, it is acceptable in _Webster’s_. Well, almost. _Webster’s_ uses the _schwa_ instead of the _uh_. (The _schwa_ gives it a _u_ sound as in _cut_ or _abut_.)QUOTE] But where is the letter under the schwa? The problem,if there be one, is that a “u” is being inappropriately inserted between the “C” and the “l”, as it is legitimately found in “molecular”, “particular”, and “muscular”, but not in “clear”. Is that cular to everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/37 "2005-02-12T19:01:09Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > **Liberal** > You said I have a good attitude about these ‘discussions’ ? Thanks. > When this message board ceases to be fun, I sure as heck won’t be around. > There’s a lot more to life than the Internet … I think. > 😃 What is this thing you call “life”? These large rectangular moving images of trees and birds on my wall, surrounded by draperies — is it these of which you speak? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/38 "2005-02-12T19:02:58Z")
[QUOTE=Ignatz] > [@Zoe](#): > > The problem,if there be one, is that a “u” is being inappropriately inserted between the “C” and the “l”, as it is legitimately found in “molecular”, “particular”, and “muscular”, but not in “clear”. > > Is that cular to everyone? That’s exactly what the linguist linked to above discusses, using the example of “circular”. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/39 "2005-02-12T19:38:33Z")
> [@Brutus](#): > > Boston, eh? Good chowda out there. I was in Warshington last summer, and the idear popped into my mind to go visit Boston, but I ended up in Nooyaaahk instead. (Tickets were much cheaper!) > P.S. Bostonians have long since gang-raped and left for dead the English language. Various peoples may or may not have the moral authority to critique pronounciations and whatnot; Bostonians are not among them. Re the ticket price: One gets what one pays for. The good stuff costs more. > [@wolf\_meister](#): > > Now that I think of it, the pronunciation of the word “arctic” as “artic” has been accepted for quite some time. It is really aggravating to hear a television meteorologist pronounce it that way. It’s even more aggravating to hear them refer to themselves as “meterologists”. Re “artic”: I’m glad someone else is aggravated by that. It’s not accepted by people who care about how they are perceived by people who know how to talk correctly. I gnash my teeth every time I see my local weatherman say “As far as tomorrow”, without the “…is concerned” or “…goes”. There must be a Weatherspeak 101 course in the meaty urologist schools that teaches that crap instead of English. Even some idiots on the Weather Channel do it. Use “As for” instead of “As far as”. Like you said later, about “Massatoosetts”, “Maybe it is due to people being lazy and not really giving a damn about speaking proper English?” Ex-Bahstin area resident who is now amused more than bothered by its accent (as well as New Yahk’s). Pahdon the slight hijack extensions. BAND NAME: “Meaty Urologists” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687/40 "2005-02-12T21:57:45Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > I think the linguist cited above did that preemptively. There are specific theories as to how the pronunciation evolved and why. It is nothing like pronouncing faux pas as fox pass, which is just an ignorance of French. Enough highly intelligent and knowledgable people use the pronunciation “nucular” that the audacity of your disdain is conspicuous. Yeah, I agree with Liberal. I’m awful damn tired of people going around claiming that one pronunciation of a word is “correct” while another is “wrong”, and sliding back to excuses that boil down to “Well, that’s what I was taught.” Appeals to spelling are even worse, unless you pronounce “cough” and “though” as rhymes. “Nuclear” and “nucular” are both common pronunciations, like “February” and “Febuary”. God didn’t hand Moses tablets with guides on English usage, and the only authority in language that means anything is the way people speak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-nucular-lisa-nucular/289687.md?page=3)