# Pronouncing "Gemini"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-gemini/101419>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 2, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-gemini/101419 "2002-04-02T17:41:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ety3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7feea3/32.png) [@ety3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ety3)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-gemini/101419/1 "2002-04-02T17:41:47Z")

</div>

In watching various documentaries, movies, shows, etc. on America’s space program, I noticed that many astronauts and others affiliated with NASA pronounce “Gemini” so that it rhymes with “knee” instead of “eye.”

Is there a reason for this?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@KXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KXL)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-gemini/101419/2 "2002-04-02T18:21:09Z")

</div>

Regional accents differ. Some astronauts are from the South and some the mid-west. Listen to the rest of thw words they say and you’ll hear differences there too.

Well, it’s aboot toom I went hoom…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-gemini/101419/3 "2002-04-02T20:25:36Z")

</div>

What’ll really blow your mind is that there’s also a pronounciation with a hard G that’s acceptable.
