# Laurel or Yanny **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 15, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250 "2018-05-15T23:29:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/61 "2018-05-16T18:56:49Z")
They played it on the Entertainment Weekly Radio Morning Show, and I definitely heard Laurel - except that one time when it was being played over one of the host’s cellphone, it did sound more like Yanny. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/62 "2018-05-16T19:15:41Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The only way I could hear “laurel” was through the NY Times interactive tool. > [We Made a Tool So You Can Hear Both Yanny and Laurel - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/16/upshot/audio-clip-yanny-laurel-debate.html) Love this. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/63 "2018-05-16T19:35:16Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The only way I could hear “laurel” was through the NY Times interactive tool. > [We Made a Tool So You Can Hear Both Yanny and Laurel - The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/16/upshot/audio-clip-yanny-laurel-debate.html) To my ears, even when pushing that tool all the way to the “Laurel” end, I’m still hearing Yanny, albeit with a bit of an “ora” sound in there. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/64 "2018-05-16T19:49:13Z")
I hear Mangrove Throatwarbler > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > My wife is hearing ‘yally’, and\*\* my son heard ‘Yahweh’. \*\*Clearly this poll does not have enough options. It’s the second coming! ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/65 "2018-05-16T19:50:46Z")
First I heard Laurel then I heard Hardy. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/66 "2018-05-16T20:12:09Z")
I"m pretty much a ditto of what **RavenMan** experienced up on post #17: I heard 3 or 4 "Yanny"s and then nothing but “Laurels” since and it isn’t going back. I guess I’m just resting on my laurels. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/67 "2018-05-16T20:24:01Z")
Yanny ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/68 "2018-05-16T20:32:09Z")
The correct answer is Yanny. (Yammy, whatever.) If you don’t hear that, it is literally because you don’t have very good hearing and cannot hear the higher frequency (and louder) “yanny” sound. I find it curious I can hear Yanny, as I’m 46, which is a bit old to pick up high frequencies. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/69 "2018-05-16T21:10:31Z")
I wonder if the folks like me who hear both have a musical background? I am used to picking out separate tracks. And with the coaching of being asked which I was hearing, I picked up both easily, naturally. ?? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/70 "2018-05-16T21:19:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The correct answer is Yanny. (Yammy, whatever.) If you don’t hear that, it is literally because you don’t have very good hearing and cannot hear the higher frequency (and louder) “yanny” sound. > > I find it curious I can hear Yanny, as I’m 46, which is a bit old to pick up high frequencies. Although if you read the NYT article, the word spoken is Laurel, from [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com). StG ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/71 "2018-05-16T21:23:56Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > It apparently has to do with the frequencies you can hear. “Yanni” is transmitted at the upper range of human-audible frequencies around 20kHz while “Laurel” is transmitted at lower freqs. I’m surprised a man in his mid-30s like myself can still hear around 20kHz. But I’m a 66-year old man with a documented diminished hearing at frequencies over 11kHz and all I can hear is Yanni. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/72 "2018-05-16T21:25:11Z")
I listened this morning and heard “yanny” distinctly. Couldn’t get anything remotely like “Laurel.” I answered the poll accordingly, but after reading the responses here, I turned the volume to 100% and heard “Laurel.” Now even if I turn the volume down, I hear “Laurel.” How did this whole thing get started? Was someone listening to an interview with Yanni and heard his name as “Laurel”? Who made the original recording of Yanny/Laurel? ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/73 "2018-05-16T21:35:00Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I wonder if the folks like me who hear both have a musical background? I am used to picking out separate tracks. And with the coaching of being asked which I was hearing, I picked up both easily, naturally. ?? It turns out that an opera singer is speaking the word in question, which is supposed to be laurel. > **[The True History of 'Yanny' and 'Laurel'](https://www.wired.com/story/yanny-and-laurel-true-history/)** > > Here's where the meme came from, what the recording is actually saying, and who recorded it in the first place. For me this raises more questions than it answers. My assumption after hearing the word several times was that it is computer generated, which is why I had previously referred to the speaker as an “it”. Now I’m trying to figure out how a human, and a trained opera singer at that, can produce a word that sounds like yammy when he/she is trying to say laurel. It really does boggle the mind. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/74 "2018-05-16T21:45:09Z")
Do you Yanny weirdos ignore the warning not to jam Qtips in your ears, or what? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/75 "2018-05-16T21:46:31Z")
Reminds me of the [“what way spins the dancer”-gif](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CEr2GfGilw). Only there you can actually make a shift in the way she turns in your own head. Weird. I heard Laurel, clear as day. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/76 "2018-05-16T21:53:03Z")
I just checked out [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com) and looked up laurel. The first time the yammy / laurel recording came up. I then looked up laurels and the recording was of a male voice pronouncing it normally. I then looked up laurel again and this time it was a normal male voice pronouncing the word laurel normally. I wonder if someone snuck the yammy version in as a joke of some kind, or if most of the words on [vocabulary.com](http://vocabulary.com) have several different speakers. ---
**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:** [May 16, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/77 "2018-05-16T21:55:47Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > It turns out that an opera singer is speaking the word in question, which is supposed to be laurel. > > [Where the Yanny and Laurel Meme Comes From | WIRED](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/yanny-and-laurel-true-history/amp) > > For me this raises more questions than it answers. My assumption after hearing the word several times was that it is computer generated, which is why I had previously referred to the speaker as an “it”. Now I’m trying to figure out how a human, and a trained opera singer at that, can produce a word that sounds like yammy when he/she is trying to say laurel. It really does boggle the mind. Interesting. And here it is in context: [https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/laurel](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/laurel) So, ha!!!. I was right all along! ETA: Darn you, **FlikTheBlue** , ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/78 "2018-05-16T22:10:07Z")
I hear Yanny, no question. It could make for an interesting study to compare other things that the opposite groups hear, see etc. The dress was white and gold too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/79 "2018-05-16T22:23:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I hear nothing but “Laurel” there. I can’t even get my ears to hear “Yanny.” This is an auditory illusion, but unlike most illusions, there IS in fact a correct answer. He’s saying “Laurel”, in a deep bass voice, like that which a newscaster might use. The low frequency, a bit like a frog’s croak, can fool your ears into thinking it’s hearing something in a high-pitched scratchy voice, but if you listen intently for the inflection of “Laurel”, you will hear it and you will not be able to hear “Yanny” again. There’s also the fact that Laurel is an actual fucking word, and Yanny isn’t one. Yanni (Ioannis) is a Greek name, but not with a Y at the end, and certainly _not_ pronounced to rhyme with “Manny.” So, long story short: it’s Laurel, full stop. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2018, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/80 "2018-05-16T22:49:04Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Do you Yanny weirdos ignore the warning not to jam Qtips in your ears, or what? 😉 Actually, it’s those who hear “laurel” who have less acute hearing. > [@Jacquernagy](#): > > This is an auditory illusion, but unlike most illusions, there IS in fact a correct answer. There may be a correct answer to “What word was recorded?” but there are two correct answers to “Which word do you hear?” 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=5)