I’ve long pondered the true pronunciation of this word, but am at a loss. All my teachers say that it is “Your-uh-nus”, but I think they only feel this way because “Your-anus” is icky. There are several other pronunciations also. What was the very first pronunciation of this planet? Was the pronunciation ever changed (as I’ve heard a few times)?
it was “Your-anus” till about late 80’s then I started to hear the (IMHO) PC version “Your-uh-nus”
If it’s any consulation It will always be your anus to me.
Well, the original Greek word is Ouranos, which would be pronounced roughly oor-uh-NOSS. However, the planet was never called this. Nor was it called either of the pronunciations that kanicbird gives. The first syllable is pronounced yoor or maybe yur, not your.
The Ancient Greek name of the sky deity this planet was named after was Ouranos - the pronunciation has apparently changed in the last fifteen years to be similar to the greek-
but I couldn’t say how Herschel (the planet’s discoverer) would have said it…
he wanted to call the new planet ‘Georgium Sidas’ after the King, then it was called ‘Herschel’ for a while, before settling on this mutation of a greek name.
Doesn’t matter, they’ll change the name in a hundred years to Urectum.
Actually, I think Carl Sagan might have pronounced it “YOOR-uh-nus” in Cosmos, which was circa 1980. I don’t have my OED handy, but I think when it was originally compiled, it might have been pronounced “yoo-RAN-us” with the middle syllable rhyming with “can.”
… I pronounce mine “AY - nuss”
how do you pronounce urs?
Ah-Niss
I’m british.
According to my dictionaries, one printed in '64 and one printed int '98, both are correct. The people that bitch about the “rude one” have problems that go much deeper than mythology.
Your-anus.
Urine-us.
You can’t help but win either way. Assuming you’re an 8-year-old boy.
>>it was “Your-anus” till about late 80’s then I started to hear the (IMHO) PC version “Your-uh-nus”
In the late 70’s when I was an astronomy student, my professors told me that the English-speaking astronomical community was trying to change from “Your-anus” to “Your-uh-nus” because they had recently found rings around it and were tired of the jokes.
“where are we going, capt. Picard?”
“we’re going to search Uranus for Klingons, number 1”
sorry, couldn’t resist
Leela: “I don’t get it.”
Dang you, Mr. Blue Sky, for stealing the line I was going to use.
And ‘Sidas’ means ‘Seat’ so Your Anus is apropos IMO.
I pronounce it Your Anus. Some PC crap just goes too far for no legitimate reason. Urine iss yellow. It doesn’t get better by changing the pronunctiation.
There was a bit about this in National Lampoon. They pointed out that any way you pronounce it is obscene :
Your anus
Urine us
You’re in us
My advice: Pronounce it however you want. You’re damned anyway.
And consider this: Uranus was th ver first planet to be discovered and named since Classical times. William Herschel, who did the discovering, wanted to suck up to the King of England – He anted to call it “George” (Georgium Sideris, actually)
I’ll take Uranus over that anyday.