# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/21 "2026-07-24T20:55:14Z")
Will Robinson always pronounced it RO-but and that sounded weird to me. Oh, the pain. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/22 "2026-07-24T22:52:24Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > My 8th grade science teacher always said “robarts”. As in “robarts are going to take over the world” Hmm. Is this with a rhotic or nonrhotic accent? If the former, I could see someone hearing the usual modern translation of robot from, say, a Brit and assuming that the second vowel has an R. Similar to how wash became warsh in some dialects. ---
**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, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/23 "2026-07-24T23:14:19Z")
Well, um, I’d say rhotic? He was American by way of French Canadian. But several generations in the US. I think he was just odd. I don’t remember any other words he said strangely. Maine ca 1983. ---
**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:** [July 24, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/24 "2026-07-24T23:36:56Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > the usual modern translation of robot I meant pronunciation, of course. @Paintcharge If it’s the only difference, I’d think it was something like what I said. Or he learned the word\* from someone else who had parsed it that way. \*Including if he just was copying someone who he thought said it funny, only to have it become his regular pronunciation over time. I’ve done that. ---
**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 25, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/25 "2026-07-25T00:02:11Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Similar to how wash became warsh in some dialects. Or how sherbet became sherbert. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2026, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/26 "2026-07-25T01:39:55Z")
[Moderating] > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Besides, the future MAGAts lurve them that era. So you’ve got a huge audience for the taking. For a gratuitous political potshot that had nothing at all to do with the subject of the thread, I’m going to have to make this a Warning. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/27 "2026-07-25T02:45:19Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > 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. And apparently the Kessel Run only takes 3 parsecs. I suppose now that technology is more common, pronuciation is more standardized. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/28 "2026-07-25T03:08:06Z")
One answer often used is to go back to the origin. Rossum’s Universal Robots, a play by Karel Čapek. The word itself derives from the Czech word “robota,” or forced labor, as done by serfs. Pronunciation should arguably follow the origin. [A nice article from MIT](https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/origin-word-robot-rur/) The original robots weren’t mechanical, but based upon advanced chemistry. In modern parlance (thanks to Phil K Dick) we would call them androids. Indeed Rossum’s Universal Robots Would be the perfect backdrop to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep or Blade Runner. Karel considered the use of _robot_ to describe an electromechanical device something of an aberration of his intent. [IEEE Spectrum has a nice summary.](https://spectrum.ieee.org/karel-capek-robots) ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/29 "2026-07-25T09:00:16Z")
My Granny in Yorkshire used to refer to traffic lights as Ro-boes. ---
**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:** [July 25, 2026, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/30 "2026-07-25T09:22:52Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > The original robots weren’t mechanical, but based upon advanced chemistry. > In modern parlance (thanks to Phil K Dick) we would call them androids. Capek’s robots are flesh and blood like the Cylons in 2000s Battlestar Galactica, so it’d probably be more appropriate to call them golems. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/31 "2026-07-25T10:06:45Z")
Hard to make exact parallels between different fictional entities. Golems are made from inanimate material, like clay. The animation being magical rather than technological. Phil K Dick’s androids seem a curious melange. They can only be distinguished from humans with tests that reveal subtle differences in psychology. And the presence of implanted memories. They are otherwise biologically essentially equivalent. Just somehow manufactured ab-initio as an adult functioning organism. (I’ll ignore the idea they can reproduce or have serial numbers in their eyes. Both mess with the original premise.) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/32 "2026-07-25T10:15:38Z")
> [@dcbwhaley](#): > > My Granny in Yorkshire used to refer to traffic lights as Ro-boes. Your granny and the people of South Africa apparently, where its the preferred term for traffic lights. From a newspaper search it was also bandied around as a term in the USA, UK and Australia before linguistic boringness set in. Wilmington apparently the first where it went from an automatic cycling STOP-GO system to one responding to traffic flows. [Making sure you're not a bot!](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137798221) Sydney’s first traffic light in 1933 was a ‘robot’. The location still possesses Traffic Signal Box 01, which some of us think is exciting. [Making sure you're not a bot!](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article237918402) Maybe thanks to Rossum’s pioneering work, Prague’s robot was much, much more than just a traffic light. It answered questions as well. [Making sure you're not a bot!](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article90630307) ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/33 "2026-07-25T11:08:27Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Capek’s robots are flesh and blood like the Cylons in 2000s Battlestar Galactica, so it’d probably be more appropriate to call them golems. If you want to borrow a term from sci-fi that denotes specifically a bioengineered artificial humanoid as opposed to a mechanical one, then I’d suggest “replicant”, _Blade Runner_-style. Androids, to me, are mechanical like robots (with a nod to Data). Golems are clay (and not really from sci-fi, more from fantasy). ---
**Author:** ![dcbwhaley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcbwhaley/32/21437_2.png) [@dcbwhaley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dcbwhaley)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/34 "2026-07-25T11:48:18Z")
I have a gripe about planet 7 in the solar system which is named after the Greek muse of astronomy Urania and should be pronounced yuh· **ray** ·nee·us. But most p[people pronounce it your anus, usually with a little giggle ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/35 "2026-07-25T11:57:34Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > _Some_ accents may come up with an “o” but others will give you ɒ, ɔ, ɑ, ə… Are all those supposed to be IPA symbols? I can’t imagine _anyone_ pronounces the second vowel as [o], which would make “robot” sound like “rowboat”. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/36 "2026-07-25T12:16:15Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I can’t imagine _anyone_ pronounces the second vowel as [o], which would make “robot” sound like “rowboat”. That’s how Wiktionary lists the Czech pronunciation, presumably how Čapek pronounced it when he coined the term unless Czech pronunciation has changed substantially in the last 100 years. I’m seeing /o/ listed for some south Asian English accents. Did we get this link already? I may have missed it amongst the IMHO clutter about how Dooers or their friends/family/teachers speak. > **[You Are Pronouncing the Word “Robot” Wrong](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/30/1710902/community/You-Are-Pronouncing-the-Word-Robot-Wrong/)** > > Impress your future AI masters—explore the real pronunciation of ‘robot’ and its Czech roots. Click to get it right! ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/37 "2026-07-25T12:38:09Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > That’s how Wiktionary lists the Czech pronunciation Here it is: [ˈrobot] where /o/ is neither a long vowel nor a diphthong. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/38 "2026-07-25T13:18:31Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > 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. Asimov himself pronounced it “row but”. He coined the term which he derived from the Czech language. Robot comes from the Czech word for work (which is pronounced like “Ra boat”). Since he invented the term I think his pronunciation is the best one, but since it’s a made up word I don’t think it can be called correct or incorrect. ETA: Ignorance fought - I was not aware of Karel Čapek. ---
**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 25, 2026, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/39 "2026-07-25T14:24:55Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > I can’t imagine _anyone_ pronounces the second vowel as [o], which would make “robot” sound like “rowboat”. Well, it has happened, as noted earlier in the thread. Not saying that it was ever common, but it wasn’t without precedent (in English). ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2026, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897/40 "2026-07-25T14:29:58Z")
> [@dcbwhaley](#): > > My Granny in Yorkshire used to refer to traffic lights as Ro-boes. My mother is from Manchester, and curiously also pronounced it ro-boe. She was adamant that it was French, and thus a silent t. It took quite a while for her to change her mind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-question-robot/1031897.md?page=3)