# Pronounciation: Is ‘fenta-nawl’ the new ‘new-cue-lur’? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 24, 2020, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900 "2020-01-24T15:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![deltogre](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deltogre/32/5041_2.png) [@deltogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltogre)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/21 "2024-10-17T20:39:21Z")
Okay, sorry to bring a zombie back to life… This has been making me CRAZY for the length of this news cycle. And @jackknifed_juggernaut, I live in the 10TV viewing area, and for the love of all things holy, they are the WORST about this. But now, Sherrod Brown is saying it incorrectly in his ads, because, as we all know, it’s the only issue in Ohio…but I digress. Benadryl = “Behn-uh-drill,” for those not familiar with pronunciation marks. Not “Behn-uh-DROLL.” It’s so coarse on my ears, and it’s getting worse. Tylenol, not Tylenyl. Methyl, not Methol. It’s like when people started saying “HAIR-ISS-ment,” instead of “Ha-RASS-ment.” I must have missed the memo… Please everyone, carry on with your day. I’ll take my misophonia and crazy OCD nonsense somewhere else, where letters and where they appear in a word actually matter. (That place is NOT Central Ohio…) ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/22 "2024-10-18T14:04:21Z")
I’ve got tinnitus. Try discussing the proper pronunciation of the term with other people. IME, even medical professionals can’t seem to agree. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/23 "2024-10-18T14:32:54Z")
> [@deltogre](#): > > It’s like when people started saying “HAIR-ISS-ment,” instead of “Ha-RASS-ment.” I must have missed the memo… Wait - I thought “HAIR-ISS-ment” was how it _used_ to be pronounced, and “ha-RASS-ment” was a later development. (Wasn’t the joke on _Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em_ that Frank always said “I’m being ha-RASSED!” because he didn’t know the then-standard pronunciation?) ---
**Author:** ![Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pasta)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/24 "2024-10-18T16:06:17Z")
> [@deltogre](#): > > somewhere else, where **letters** and **where** they appear in a word actually **matter**. …that place where “where” and “here” rhyme and where “letters” and “matter” are spelled “ledders” and “madder” to align with their pronunciation. 😁 I think the dictionaries will catch up with usage soon on fentanyl to list this as an alternative. I hear the “awl” ending for fentanyl more than any other, which is to say that’s how lots of people in both professional and casual settings are saying the word and being mutually understood, which is basically the only way to determine how anything is said. Certainly the written form need not have privilege over the spoken (or so say “where/here” and “right” and “choir” and “knot” and “cough/tough/through/bough”). ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/25 "2024-10-18T19:05:26Z")
You can have nyew-kyalure when you pry it from my cold dead hands. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/26 "2024-10-23T00:52:55Z")
So why does Ta-Nehisi Coates pronounce it Ta-Nehahsi? ---
**Author:** ![iceraider001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e68b1a/32.png) [@iceraider001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iceraider001)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/27 "2025-05-29T22:39:08Z")
Fentanyl . Rhymes with Benadryl. Does not rhyme with alcohol . Public facing people on TV are using selective ignorance ; maybe it rolls off the tongue more easily ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/28 "2025-05-29T22:53:40Z")
> [@iceraider001](#): > > Fentanyl . Rhymes with Benadryl. Does not rhyme with alcohol . I’ve heard it pronounced by medical professionals and on radio and TV news. Always fent-a-nil, never anything else. Uncontroversially pronounced just the way it’s spelled. I can’t imagine where these alternate pronunciations come from – maybe when pronounced with an American southern drawl? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/29 "2025-05-30T12:41:51Z")
And then you have the boneheads who pronounce the word **and** as **‘n’**. How many times have you hear some illiterate say something like “mac ‘n’ cheese” or “rice ‘n’ beans.” And no one pronounces “February” as it’s spelled. Those that think they are typically insert a ‘w’ sound where there should be a glottal stop. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/30 "2025-05-30T21:34:38Z")
FWIW, on the “nuclear” one, I tell people to think of a “new, clear window”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/31 "2025-05-30T21:50:01Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > How many times have you hear some illiterate say something like “mac ‘n’ cheese” or “rice ‘n’ beans. It’s usually not illiteracy, but an intentional colloquialism. It’s obviously unsuitable in formal contexts, but otherwise I think it’s fine. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > And no one pronounces “February” as it’s spelled. I do. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/32 "2025-05-30T22:00:20Z")
Eh. . . Someone was absent that day in High School English when they talked about ‘irony’. And if you’re serious about “February,” you’re the only one I’ve ever heard of. And for the “noo-kya-ler” finger-waggers, the original pronunciation was “nyoo-klee-er,” and thru metathesis the y sound was shifted over. So. . . with that mentality, if you’re pronouncing it as “noo-klee-er,” you’re still off-base with regard to the way it entered the language. The ‘y’ sound has disappeared completely in many words where “older folks” pronounced it as in “new,” “due,” “student,” although I think it’s still more common with Brits. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/33 "2025-05-30T22:50:15Z")
> [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Eh. . . Someone was absent that day in High School English when they talked about ‘irony’. Yes, someone was. Some examples (bolding mine): > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > How many times have you **hear** some illiterate say … > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Those that think they **are** You misspelled “those that think they do”,or preferably, “those **who** think they **do** ”. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Those that think they are typically insert a ‘w’ sound where there should be a glottal stop. Nonsense. There is no “w” anywhere in that word. The only reason to insert one is laziness or ignorance. “February” can and should be pronounced exactly as spelled, just like “January”. To be fair, you may be describing your experience with regional pronunciation, but that doesn’t match my experience. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > … the original pronunciation was “nyoo-klee-er,” and thru metathesis the y sound was shifted over. So. . . with that mentality, if you’re pronouncing it as “noo-klee-er,” you’re still off-base with regard to the way it entered the language. You might be correct, but I’m skeptical. At any rate, the currently accepted pronunciation exactly conforms to the spelling, contrary to your claim of being “off-base”. “Nuclear” derives from “nucleus”, and there is nothing in either word that would elicit a “y” sound. Again, no surprise that we have two words that are pronounced exactly as spelled according to every dictionary I’ve looked at. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/34 "2025-06-02T16:43:30Z")
Now can somebody do IN-shur’nce? Or better yet undo it! It’s been in-SURE-ence my whole life, and a lot longer judging from movies, etc., until the last few years when I hear IN-shur’nce more and more, usually but not always from people with southern or country accents. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/35 "2025-06-02T17:02:52Z")
This reminds me of hearing news reporters and other professional speakers call it the “Klu Klux Klan” presumably because saying Klu and not Ku makes it more alliterative. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/36 "2025-06-02T17:04:47Z")
I’ve also heard MU-seum and UM-brella, where they really “punch” the first syllables. 🤬 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/37 "2025-06-02T18:02:00Z")
Aaaand. . . FYI, as far back as the 1950s, Pres. Eisenhower pronounced “nuclear” as “noo-kya-ler.” Same with Pres. Carter in the 1970s, It even appeared in press accounts (ya know, no spell check back then) even further back with that spelling with no quotations indicating anything odd about it, so the pronunciation had already obtained some level of currency. The clutching of pearls at the “noo-kya-ler” pronunciation is relatively recent in comparison. To each his/her own. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2025, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/38 "2025-06-02T19:01:56Z")
Are those the same folks who smoke a SEE-gar by the SEE-ment pond? ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/39 "2025-06-03T01:41:05Z")
The same! ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900/40 "2025-06-04T21:50:39Z")
Because he was given that name by one [Yosef ben Jochannan](https://languagehat.com/ta-nehisi/#comment-2667176) aka “Dr. Ben,” “a knowledgeable elder of the Black community,” who came from either Ethiopia or Puerto Rico. Yosef just pronounced it that way. Further background: The name derives from the Egyptian name of [Nubia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nubia), _nḥsy_ , for which the vowels are unknown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronounciation-is-fenta-nawl-the-new-new-cue-lur/846900.md?page=3)