Jaguar

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’m sure most of you heard the news story of the woman who claimed she just “leaned over the barrier” of the jaguar exhibit at an Arizona zoo and had her hand mauled by the jaguar. Reports were that she was trying to take a selfie. She has disputed that. At least the jaguar wasn’t euthanized because of her. And she apologized. She’s still an idiot tho.

Anyway, listening to the news reporters, including Savanah Guthrie and Hota Kotb, say jag-wire over and over again just about drove me nuts.

I’ve always pronounced it ja-gwar. The dictionary says this is correct. Is jag-wire a regional pronunciation?

I’ve heard people pronounce it jag-wire when talking about the car too. UGH

2

‘jag-whar’ is what people say. I’ve never heard anyone say ‘jag-wire’.

It’s the Mercan word for jaguar.

3

I’m not sure about the jag-wire pronunciation. It’s always been jag-u-er to me, whether it’s the car or the beast.

I am pretty sure that the selfie-lady was an idiot, though.

4

Don’t the British sat “jag u wire”?

5

For me its more always been jag-u-are; and among the clan/family as well. A few of us have owned the cars now and then over the ages and that is how we’ve said it.

6

TRC4941, it drives me nuts too. I think more people in these parts say “jag-wire” than say it correctly. I just don’t understand where it comes from. Haven’t they seen the word?

7

Yeah, it makes me go nucular, too.

8

no, pretty much always “jag you ah” creature or car.

9

Agreed, though I say/hear something more like shunpiker’s “jag-u-er”. But as usual, these discussions are imprecise without the use of the IPA anyway.

10

correct, for me “you and u” and “ah and er” can be exactly the same sound for me. Especially the latter, a nonsense rhyme from my childhood memorably went “oompah, oompah, stick it up yer jumper”

11

True, in my head I say ‘jhag-you-wuh’, with the ‘wuh’ being very short.

12

That’s how it’s said in Utah. At least in Salt Lake.

13

“Jag-wire” is what I remember hearing growing up in St Louis. Of course they pronounce a lot of things funny, so go figure. (Fig-wire?)

I’m more likely to say “jag-war” now, although I realize the British say it with three syllables, “jag-you-were”.

14

Pan’-thur.

15

Does ‘wire’ mean something else in these pronunciations than I think it does? I have never heard anyone say ‘jag-wire’, sounding like the word ‘wire’. As mentioned already I mostly hear ‘jar-whar’, where ‘whar’ sounds like ‘car’. Some people do make it into 3 syllables, ‘jag-you-are’ The middle one could be ‘you’, ‘oo’, or ‘uh’, the last syllable could be ‘are’ or ‘whar’ depending on how the middle comes out, and once I met a woman who made the first syllable ‘zhag’, like nothing I can think of rhyming too.

16

That’s how it was said in Utah when I was growing up. That’s still how I say it.

17

Lucas Electrics! They suck, am I right? They don’t call him “The Prince of Darkness” for nothin’! I’ll be here all week, be sure to tip your bartender and waitress!

18

??

19

Have to keep my ears open now and try to pick that up.

20

In Chicago, if the car or cat was mentioned at all, it was pronounced, “jag-war”.

Jag-u-ar sound affected. Somewhere, I remember a zinger, “What a jag-you-are.”