# Scrubs 11.15 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2007, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663 "2007-11-16T09:49:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/1 "2007-11-16T09:49:55Z")
They kept talking about using “pneumonic devices” to help remember names. I rewound to make sure that is what I heard. Is that some clever joke I missed, or were they actually mispronouncing “mnemonic?” Seems a bit stoopid if true. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/2 "2007-11-16T19:08:02Z")
Bimp. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/3 "2007-11-16T19:51:26Z")
Lots of people pronounce the word wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/4 "2007-11-16T20:14:35Z")
[QUOTE=BobT] Lots of people pronounce the word wrong. [/QUOTE] It also might have been a joke, since it was the Janitor saying it, who is sometimes really dumb, although other times really smart. And I knew that at the end of the episode the one name JD wouldn’t know would be the Janitor’s. Originally, we were going to finally find out his name in the series finale, but with the writer’s strike, I don’t think there is one yet. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/5 "2007-11-16T20:18:02Z")
The closed captioning had “pneumonic” too, and it sure sounded like that was what they were saying. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/6 "2007-11-16T21:23:25Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] It also might have been a joke, since it was the Janitor saying it, who is sometimes really dumb, although other times really smart. [/QUOTE] Actually, it was J.D. and Dr. Cox. [QUOTE=Bob T] Lots of people pronounce the word wrong. [/QUOTE] Really? And they mispronounce it as “pneumonic?” I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ve not heard lots of people do so. But, do lots of people speak from scripts? Do lots of people get many takes to get it right? Are lots of people’s words scrutinized by directors _et. al._ when they speak? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2007, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scrubs-11-15/426663/7 "2007-11-17T04:32:41Z")
I’m guessing that the director and the actors all thought the word was pronounced “pneumonic.” It’s not like you hear people in TV or movies pronouncing “zoology” correctly.