# Settle this contentious and divisive Christmas question. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809 "2017-12-07T18:18:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/1 "2017-12-07T18:18:27Z")
Which is it? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/2 "2017-12-07T18:19:41Z")
That one. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/3 "2017-12-07T18:21:25Z")
I have never heard a T at the end of the first syllable. I frequently hear setta and settia as the ending of the word. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/4 "2017-12-07T18:24:23Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > That one. That;'s a ger-a-ni-um you’re pointing at. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/5 "2017-12-07T18:27:49Z")
There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/6 "2017-12-07T18:44:58Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” +1 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/7 "2017-12-07T18:54:17Z")
The way it’s spelled. POIN-SET-TI-A. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/8 "2017-12-07T18:57:15Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” +2 ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/9 "2017-12-07T19:11:20Z")
Well then, no wonder there have been fights to the death. No one can be correct as there is no “T” in the first syllable. All this carnage at family gatherings for nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/10 "2017-12-07T19:19:16Z")
What **manson1972** said. +3 ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/11 "2017-12-07T19:20:49Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The way it’s spelled. POIN-SET-TI-A. +1 Exactly right. That’s the way it’s spelled. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/12 "2017-12-07T19:38:13Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That;'s a ger-a-ni-um you’re pointing at. I swear, the poll wasn’t up when I posted that! ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/13 "2017-12-07T19:51:56Z")
Poin-setta. No “T” in the first syllable. The “I” sound near the end is rounded off in my Texan dialect. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/14 "2017-12-07T19:53:21Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” +1 ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/15 "2017-12-07T19:54:36Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” - whatever it’s up to. poinsettia [poin-set-ee-uh, -set-uh] Spell Syllables Examples Word Origin noun 1. a plant, Euphorbia (Poinsettia) pulcherrima, of the spurge family, native to Mexico and Central America, having variously lobed leaves and brilliant scarlet, pink, or white petallike bracts. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/16 "2017-12-07T20:01:21Z")
Not Levi-osa, it’s le-vi-OSA… ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/17 "2017-12-07T20:03:03Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Poin-setta. No “T” in the first syllable. The “I” sound near the end is rounded off in my Texan dialect. Like this. It’s one of the dictionary pronunciations, and the one I first heard. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/18 "2017-12-07T20:04:15Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The way it’s spelled. POIN-SET-TI-A. right-ti-a! ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/19 "2017-12-07T20:05:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > +2 +3 or 4 or wherever we’re at. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/20 "2017-12-07T21:08:44Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > There is no option for how I pronounce it - “poin setta” This. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809.md?page=2)