# Pronunciation question: "Robot" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 24, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897 "2026-07-24T17:58:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/1 "2026-07-24T17:58:05Z")
I was watching an old commercial a minute ago featuring “Robert the Robot”, only the last word was pronounced “ro-but”, not “ro-bot”. What is the story about the change to the current pronunciation? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/2 "2026-07-24T18:06:53Z")
I hypothesize this is simply a function of the announcer’s accent. Do you know approximately where he or she is from? _Some_ accents may come up with an “o” but others will give you ɒ, ɔ, ɑ, ə… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/3 "2026-07-24T18:10:04Z")
The commercial was from the 40’s or 50’s I think, and it was a midwestern accent. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/4 "2026-07-24T18:13:41Z")
I954 or so, Ideal Toys. [Robert the Robot | American Classic Toy](https://americanclassictoy.com/shop/robert-the-robot/) ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/5 "2026-07-24T18:15:46Z")
Wiktionary lists the pronunciation with the schwa as “dated” (and under RP) but there is no link; Webster’s Third Edition has it as one of the alternatives, though. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/6 "2026-07-24T18:19:18Z")
That’s how Zoidberg pronounced it when he addressed Bender on _Futurama_ - perhaps as a nod to his throwback Borscht Belt persona. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/7 "2026-07-24T18:25:48Z")
In lots of 1950s sci-fi movies that have robots, that’s how they pronounce robot, too many to list here. I’ve been binging them on Amazon Prime, so I’m kind of used to that pronunciation. One similar jarring pronunciation from back then is in the 1953 movie _Invaders From Mars_. The boy has a telescope and tells his father that he wants to look at Orion. Instead of saying it as we do “O-RYE-in”, he said “OAR-ee-in”. It took me about 30 minutes to figure out what he was referring to. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/8 "2026-07-24T18:33:31Z")
I started saying robut because of Zoidberg and never stopped. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/9 "2026-07-24T18:44:02Z")
This undated clip (probably from the 1940s - Electro was a feature at the 1939 World’s Fair) presents “Elektro the Robot”, but at the very beginning pronounces it ROB -ut, with a short “o” in the first syllable. It’s always bothered me. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3o6JJTpTzk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3o6JJTpTzk)) ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/10 "2026-07-24T19:25:21Z")
My 8th grade science teacher always said “robarts”. As in “robarts are going to take over the world” Never could take him quite seriously, he also said “The interesting thingin about” whatever the topic was. But I still remember why there is wind. “The tilt of the earth leads to unequal heating of the atmosphere where hot wet air replaces cool dry air.” I think I’m leaving out some of the quote, but that was damn near 40 years ago. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/11 "2026-07-24T19:27:35Z")
Old radio and television is great for identifying shifts in pronunciation and usage. “Vitamin” and “Protein” get mentioned in commercials from the 40s and (as I recall) get pronounced “vita-meen” and “pro-te-in” for example. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/12 "2026-07-24T19:29:06Z")
And shifts in syllable emphasis, like “ice CREAM cone” and “boy SCOUTS.” ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/13 "2026-07-24T19:31:29Z")
I was just going to mention that! “Chinese FOOD” becomes “CHINESE food” (and ultimately “Chinese” (as in “We’re going out for Chinese”)). You also hear things like “Hamburger sandwich” instead of “Hamburger” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/14 "2026-07-24T19:41:34Z")
The earliest pronunciation I’ve been able to find is from a review of the New York debut of R.U.R. in the Tribune on October 10, 1922. > A robot (pronounced Rubb-bit) Other articles in different papers on Nov. 5 and Nov. 22 confirm this. > the correct pronunciation of “Robots” is “rub-its.” > The pronunciation of “robot” can be fixed by remembering the phrase “Don’t robot in.” But a Pittsburgh reviewer said on Oct. 15 > the robot (pronounced “robbut”) Both rubbit and robbut are probably just dialectal variations, more similar to one another than the pronunciations given above. They must have been accepted because after some early 1923 mentions newspapers stopped giving the pronunciation of the word in articles about the play. That only happens when they assume most readers don’t need a guide anymore. Asimov’s robot named Robbie appeared in a 1939 story. For assonance I have to think that he intended “robot” to be pronounced “rob-it” or halfway between rubbit and robbut. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/15 "2026-07-24T19:52:22Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Vitamin” and “Protein” get mentioned in commercials from the 40s and (as I recall) get pronounced “vita-meen” and “pro-te-in” for example. That’s how Paul “The Rest of the Story” Harvey used to pronounce it. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/16 "2026-07-24T19:55:03Z")
Thanks. I haven’t heard a Harvey story in a long time (but I listen to 1940s radio reasonably often), so I had forgotten (or never noticed that. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/17 "2026-07-24T19:58:22Z")
He pretty much _was_ a 40s radio announcer until he died. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/18 "2026-07-24T20:29:19Z")
My father _still_ calls ‘em “roh-buts,” the same way he’ll tell anyone that he grew up rooting for the Brooklyn Dodgers. (Usually not in the same sentence.) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/19 "2026-07-24T20:29:39Z")
If your schtick is workin’ don’t f… w success. Besides, the future MAGAts lurve them that era. So you’ve got a huge audience for the taking. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/20 "2026-07-24T20:36:56Z")
I have two 1950s dictionaries, both listing two, but different pronunciations. Both show “row-bot”. In addition: M-W: RAH-bott (both short o’s) F&W: RAH-bət Seems like in the “Our Gang” short “Robot Wrecks (1941)” they pronounce it as “row-boat.” In an earlier (non-Our Gang) short “The Tin Man” (1933) one of the characters pronounces it as “row-boat” and another as “ro-bət.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897.md?page=2)