# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/21 "2017-12-07T21:20:20Z")
I went with _Point-settee-a._ [Named after some dude](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_Roberts_Poinsett). ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/22 "2017-12-07T22:13:28Z")
I go with poin-SET-cha. Not too much “CH” on that last syllable; just enough to nod to the “tia.” ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/23 "2017-12-07T22:21:49Z")
i pronounce it poisensetting [helps to remind me not to let the dog eat them.](http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/poinsettia/) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2017, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/24 "2017-12-07T22:28:18Z")
How it \*is \*pronounced and how it _should be_ pronounced are two different things. ---
**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 8, 2017, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/25 "2017-12-08T00:04:11Z")
Poinsettia. Pronounced “ThroatWarbler Mangrove.” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/26 "2017-12-08T01:21:25Z")
Depends on whom I’m talking to. Gauge people by the language they expect, and then speak it. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/27 "2017-12-08T01:33:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The way it’s spelled. POIN-SET-TI-A. This. Anything with a “point” in it is flat wrong. Ref the descriptivists above, not that that’s never heard. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/28 "2017-12-08T02:24:39Z")
I say poin-sett-a. Fun fact! A poinsettia’s flowers are yellow. What most people think of as their flowers are called “bracts”. [What Color Are the Flowers on a Poinsettia Plant? | Home Guides | SF Gate](http://homeguides.sfgate.com/color-flowers-poinsettia-plant-71419.html) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/29 "2017-12-08T03:50:19Z")
Next up: Bougainvillea. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/30 "2017-12-08T04:07:47Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Next up: Bougainvillea. Depends on the location. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/31 "2017-12-08T04:14:37Z")
> [@simster](#): > > i pronounce it poisensetting > > [helps to remind me not to let the dog eat them.](http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/poinsettia/) Is your dog a pointer-setter mix? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![JPrescott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e36b37/32.png) [@JPrescott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JPrescott)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/32 "2017-12-08T04:27:09Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > How it \*is \*pronounced and how it _should be_ pronounced are two different things. When I moved here, I pronounced the nearby town Lovilia as it looks: lo-vil-E-ah. She laughed at me and told me it’s pronounced lo-vil-ah. I tried to explain it was likely a local bastardization and that my pronunciation was probably the original intention. She still gets mad and thinks I’m full of shit. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/33 "2017-12-08T04:48:34Z")
Normally I just say “that red Christmas flower thingy” but of the options given I went with the second. ---
**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:** [December 8, 2017, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/34 "2017-12-08T05:18:58Z")
[This should settle it once and for all (at 0:52):](http://looneytunes.wikia.com/wiki/File:Dog_Tales) ---
**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 8, 2017, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/35 "2017-12-08T06:21:35Z")
P.S. I also sometimes say FOIL-age. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/36 "2017-12-08T13:34:49Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Normally I just say “that red Christmas flower thingy” but of the options given I went with the second. Three years ago my gf texted me to buy a couple of those xmas plants. We still have the two christmas cactuses I brought home and she hasn’t tasked me with any horticultural chores since. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/37 "2017-12-08T14:26:23Z")
I’m with my stepfather on this one. He called everything a “posey”. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/38 "2017-12-08T14:37:45Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > That;'s a ger-a-ni-um you’re pointing at. Most likely IME, it is a pelargonium. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/39 "2017-12-08T14:44:23Z")
Julestjerne - yool-eh-styearn-eh ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809/40 "2017-12-08T16:21:36Z")
> [@JPrescott](#): > > When I moved here, I pronounced the nearby town Lovilia as it looks: lo-vil-E-ah. She laughed at me and told me it’s pronounced lo-vil-ah. I tried to explain it was likely a local bastardization and that my pronunciation was probably the original intention. She still gets mad and thinks I’m full of shit. 😃 Well, you shouldn’t have called her a local bastard. Around here it’s a poyn-SET-uh. And it has FOAL-edge. And it’ll kill your DAWG. Dammit. ETA: And it’s puh-CAHN. The PEE-can is located in the BATH-room. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/settle-this-contentious-and-divisive-christmas-question/803809.md?page=3)