# Mul-TIM-it-er, or MUL-tee-mee-ter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 4, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271 "2015-07-04T21:13:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/41 "2015-07-06T22:07:50Z")
I made my first one and I call it ‘George’ and am not going to change. So there. ( still have it too. ) ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2015, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/42 "2015-07-06T23:27:19Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Not once have I ever heard the “TIM” pronunciation of multimeter. For fun, I am going to start pronouncing it that way in our lab. 🙂 I sometimes pronounce _thermocouple_ as thir-MA-cu-pole. Drives my coworkers nuts. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/43 "2015-07-07T00:49:44Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > If you are a red head with a hot body, firm tits, and wearing a body thong you can pronounce it however you like 🙂 none of the above. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/44 "2015-07-07T00:52:50Z")
I made my first one from a Radio Shack kit and called it a VOM (vee owe em). It may have had a milliamp range, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/45 "2015-07-07T01:26:34Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Former electrician: called it a MUL-tih-mee’-ter (secondary accent on “mee”) since day one, as did every other electrician I ever knew. Dad was an apprenticed electrician. This is how I always heard it too. The rest of y’all are weird. 😛 I mean, come from a different community of practice. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZurBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/71e660/32.png) [@ZurBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZurBob)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271/46 "2015-07-07T04:41:03Z")
Much has to do with the context of what one is talking about at any given time, and with whom one is talking to. In our shop, we talk in terms of “what it metered”. Irrespective of unit in question, we all understand what the other is referring to. We **NEVER** refer to what the “multimeter” (regardless of the pronunciation or spelling) indicates. The two exceptions are for our readings on a meg-ohm-meter and a hi-pot. We refer to them as: “what it megg’ed” and “what it thumped”, depending on the origin of the reading, be it a megger or, a hi-pot-enuse. If some nimrod tells me his Fluke 87 multI, multa, multE, etc., meter indicates 0.5 ohms resistance in a circuit… I get it. Any variant of one’s preferred pronunciation can be chalked up to a regional derivation… Nothing more, nothing less. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mul-tim-it-er-or-mul-tee-mee-ter/724271.md?page=2)