# Omicron pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 30, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211 "2021-11-30T13:23:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roger\_That](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roger_that/32/8505_2.png) [@Roger\_That](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roger_That)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/1 "2021-11-30T13:23:38Z")
This morning’s Morning Joe began with clips of Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci mispronouncing “omicron” yesterday by inserting an extra “n” after the “m,” which is understandable given the common prefix “omni” in our language. May I suggest that we think of this variant as the “OMIGOD!” variant, which will get you closer to the correct pronunciation, or will at least not get you plastered on the news for mangling the word? The first letter, as I understand it, is really pronounced in English as more like “Ah” than “Oh” but I believe that “Oh-my-cron” (like saying it “Oh, micron”?) will be acceptable. If this is more “factual questions” than “cafe society” then, Mods, please move. Or maybe “politics and elections”? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/2 "2021-11-30T13:33:41Z")
All Futurama fans will use Lrrrr’s pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/3 "2021-11-30T13:49:53Z")
Are you telling me that “OHM-ih-kron” _isn’t_ the right pronunciation? Because that’s what makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/4 "2021-11-30T13:54:49Z")
In another thread over in QZ, I suggested calling it the Omigosh variant. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/5 "2021-11-30T14:00:23Z")
It’s a global pandemic! We don’t have time for minced oaths. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/6 "2021-11-30T16:12:48Z")
I just say “oh, me, cron” that seems to work OK ---
**Author:** ![half-elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@half-elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/half-elf)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/7 "2021-11-30T16:18:25Z")
This is the correct pronunciation. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2021, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/8 "2021-11-30T16:18:57Z")
I haven’t heard the “omni” pronunciation, but the chief difference I’ve been hearing is whether that first “o” is what is called in English a “long o” or a “short o.” /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ vs /ɑ/ or /ɒ/. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/9 "2021-11-30T16:21:25Z")
> [@Roger\_That](#): > > This morning’s Morning Joe began with clips of Joe Biden and Anthony Fauci mispronouncing “omicron” yesterday by inserting an extra “n” after the “m,” which is understandable given the common prefix “omni” in our language. My wife kept doing that too, but she has the excuse of being dyslexic. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/10 "2021-11-30T16:26:11Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Are you telling me that “OHM-ih-kron” _isn’t_ the right pronunciation? > > Because that’s what makes sense to me. That’s always how I’ve heard any English speaking person pronounce it. I suspect the OP’s “OMYGOD” is pronounced more like “O m’ God”. I’ve definitely heard “OMYGOD” pronounced that way. I don’t have any issue with people who choose “AH-mih-kron” either (as @pulykamell mentioned). But since o **micron** is a partner letter with o **mega** (meaning small O and big O, respectively), I tend to think it makes more sense for the first syllable to be pronounced the same way in both. And no one says “AH-meh-guh.” ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/11 "2021-11-30T17:02:37Z")
And here I thought it was a part of a meditation exercise: Ohmmmmm-icron. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/12 "2021-11-30T17:21:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > since o **micron** is a partner letter with o **mega** (meaning small O and big O, respectively) Not small and big O, but short and long O. Omicron is a short O as in ‘hot’ or ‘on’, while omega is a long O as in ‘tone’ or, um, ‘omega’. Both omicron and omega have upper and lower case forms. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/13 "2021-11-30T21:49:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I haven’t heard the “omni” pronunciation, but the chief difference I’ve been hearing is whether that first “o” is what is called in English a “long o” or a “short o.” /oʊ/ or /əʊ/ vs /ɑ/ or /ɒ/. The word itself means `short o'. As opposed to omega that obviously means `long o’. ---
**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:** [November 30, 2021, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/14 "2021-11-30T21:57:14Z")
I think that’s already been mentioned a couple of times. Yes, O + micro(n); O + mega. But, so what? “Short o” and “long o” don’t mean the same thing in other languages as they do in English. We’re a bit idiosyncratic in what we call short and long vowels. And, besides, it’s “small o” and “big o.” The Greek omicron is pronounced [o] and omega is pronounced [ɔː], neither exactly corresponding to our “short o” and “long o” but more like an “oh” without sliding into a diphthon and somewhere between an “oh” and “aw.” Listen to the pronunciations here: To my American ear, both “omicron” and “omega” sound closest to “OH” in the first syllable than “ah.” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/28yu1PFc438/maxresdefault.jpg "Greek alphabet the CORRECT pronunciation") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28yu1PFc438) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/15 "2021-11-30T22:21:59Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > But since o **micron** is a partner letter with o **mega** (meaning small O and big O, respectively), I tend to think it makes more sense for the first syllable to be pronounced the same way in both. That’s exactly why I think they’re pronounced differently. If they were the same, why have two different letters? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2021, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/16 "2021-11-30T22:23:06Z")
If they’re pronounced differently, then you can just call one letter oh and the other letter aw. Since they had to disambiguate them, that tells me they said them the same. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/17 "2021-12-01T01:14:14Z")
Fans of Doctor Who will have noticed that name Omega is pronounced in the show differently than an American would pronounce the letter. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/18 "2021-12-01T01:35:03Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > All Futurama fans will use Lrrrr’s pronunciation. Yep, that’s my authority. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/19 "2021-12-01T04:53:31Z")
I knew I couldn’t be alone in thinking this. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2021, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211/20 "2021-12-01T05:01:31Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Fans of Doctor Who will have noticed that name Omega is pronounced in the show differently than an American would pronounce the letter. …and let’s not get into the weird American pronunciation of Delphi. 😄 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omicron-pronunciation/955211.md?page=2)