# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/121 "2018-05-17T16:09:37Z")
_Answer:_ Too muffled to make out. ---
**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 17, 2018, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/122 "2018-05-17T16:31:22Z")
I’m impressed; this is one of the most balanced polls IMHO has ever had. You would have a hard time creating any other poll in which you could come out with a roughly 50%-50% result. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/123 "2018-05-17T16:39:39Z")
Laurel. It would be interesting to have a poll broken down by age. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/124 "2018-05-17T16:49:01Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > So this is another of those what color is the dress things, except now people are hearing a different word. Me, I’m clearly hearing one word, so it’s unclear how anyone could hear the other. > > But then the dress was CLEARLY white and gold. 😉 > > [Yanny or Laurel: Recording Causes Arguments - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/yanny-or-laurel-recording-causes-arguments-2018-5) Laurel. And this is clearly blue and black. [Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+or+gold+dress&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#imgrc=JIX8v6KM6FOT5M:) ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/125 "2018-05-17T16:59:41Z")
After listening to the version that clearly says Yanny that’s all I can hear now. It’s the weirdest thing. I can’t hear laurel anymore even though that’s all I heard the first 5 times I played it. Very bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/126 "2018-05-17T17:12:45Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > What do you hear in the [really original](https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/laurel) one, just out of interest? After hearing Laurel in the original. All the others now sound like Laurel. Is this some clever hoax or is it a power of suggestion? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/127 "2018-05-17T17:29:21Z")
Laurel the first few times, then with the base lowered I got Yanny, but it was faint, tryed again with that and just Got Laurel. Several more attempts one more Yanny, everything else is Laurel. ---
**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 17, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/128 "2018-05-17T22:47:10Z")
Evidently some people have taken offense to the US Air Force [making a joke about Yanny and Laurel.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/air-force-apologizes-tone-deaf-tweet-trying-join-viral-debate-180859324.html) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/129 "2018-05-17T23:26:36Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Evidently some people have taken offense to the US Air Force [making a joke about Yanny and Laurel.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/air-force-apologizes-tone-deaf-tweet-trying-join-viral-debate-180859324.html) Oh, ha ha! I bet you would rather have heard yanny or laurel than die because we killed you! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/130 "2018-05-18T01:25:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I couldn’t agree more; thanks for starting the thread 🙂 :mad::mad: Of course, this is not the first time that has happened. > [@octopus](#): > > Laurel. > And this is clearly blue and black. [blue or gold dress - Google Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+or+gold+dress&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari#imgrc=JIX8v6KM6FOT5M:) lol. I’m still seeing white and gold. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/131 "2018-05-18T01:52:48Z")
At first, all I heard was Yanni…now all I hear is Laurel. ---
**Author:** ![Arcite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/67e7ee/32.png) [@Arcite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arcite)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/132 "2018-05-18T03:29:51Z")
Sounds like “yairy” to me, maybe with the “r” blending a bit into a “w” sound, as if the speaker had rhotacism, like Elmer Fudd or Barry from The Big Bang Theory. If I play with one of those tools designed to let you hear one or the other, at the low frequency end it sounds like “Laurel,” but at the high frequency end it still sounds like “yairy.” How anyone hears an “n” sound in there is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Jake\_Bullet\_Traffic\_Control](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@Jake\_Bullet\_Traffic\_Control](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake_Bullet_Traffic_Control)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/133 "2018-05-18T06:51:41Z")
I played this to the guys at work tonight. 3 Laurels, 2 Yammis. It was anarchy. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/134 "2018-05-18T08:30:22Z")
The answer is laurel, I can easily hear both, and I find that it is insanely difficult to hear the other if one of the words is written in front of me at the time. The power of suggestion in all of this is amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/135 "2018-05-18T13:42:34Z")
> [@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. ISTM that the sound has been manipulated after being recorded. I doubt if anyone would have heard yanni if they heard the guy actually saying it. > [@Jacquernagy](#): > > 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.” FWIW, I myself hear Yanni but not rhyming with “Manny”. To me, the first syllable is a “yeah” sound. So it’s more like “yeanny”. > [@voltaire](#): > > When presented with the “Laurel or Yanni?” question, Trump alternately hears either “Mueller” or “Avenatti”. Actually, he hears [covfefe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=1qsRU7C_Gp0). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/136 "2018-05-18T14:55:40Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > So this is another of those what color is the dress things, except now people are hearing a different word. Me, I’m clearly hearing one word, so it’s unclear how anyone could hear the other. > > But then the dress was CLEARLY white and gold. 😉 > > [Yanny or Laurel: Recording Causes Arguments - Business Insider](http://www.businessinsider.com/yanny-or-laurel-recording-causes-arguments-2018-5) Laurel. But when it’s downpitched 30% I hear Yammy (not Yanni) . I think it’s definitely tied to pitch, and everybody’s ears are differently attenuated to it. It’s why teenagers can have ringers the teachers can’t hear. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/137 "2018-05-18T16:40:10Z")
Another vote for Yammy with an “M”. I messed around with sound settings and could not hear anything but that. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2018, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/138 "2018-05-18T17:06:04Z")
> [@Arcite](#): > > Sounds like “yairy” to me, maybe with the “r” blending a bit into a “w” sound, as if the speaker had rhotacism, like Elmer Fudd or Barry from The Big Bang Theory. If I play with one of those tools designed to let you hear one or the other, at the low frequency end it sounds like “Laurel,” but at the high frequency end it still sounds like “yairy.” How anyone hears an “n” sound in there is beyond me. This is what I hear, too. No “n” or “m” sound. ---
**Author:** ![bowlweevils](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e5b9ba/32.png) [@bowlweevils](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bowlweevils)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/139 "2018-05-19T03:28:47Z")
> [@Jacquernagy](#): > > 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.” Exactly. There are dresses that are white and gold and dresses that are blue and black. But yanny isn’t a word. And the single example given of a use of yanny isn’t. So someone found a recording of an actual word that sounded weird to them and spread it around. And this was either happenstance, or took a good deal of effort, because laurel isn’t a common word. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250/140 "2018-05-19T04:00:01Z")
I swear, in _Landslide_, **Stevie Nicks** sings _“Brung it down”._ I’ve yet to persuade the populous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laurel-or-yanny/814250.md?page=8)