# The Empire Strikes Back (Pronunciation) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 9, 2000, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757 "2000-04-09T22:10:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/1 "2000-04-09T22:10:00Z")
A survey question on the pronunciation of the above. Amongst friends and family, this is universally pronounced as… Way #1: The **Empire** Strikesback (bold is accented) Whereas, it seems to me that it should be pronounced, Way #2: The **Empire** Strikes **Back** Two questions- 1. How do you pronounce it? 2. If it’s Way #1, any conjecture on how it got to be pronounced that way? * * * stoli Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b5e925/32.png) [@Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zion)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2000, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/2 "2000-04-09T22:24:00Z")
After repeating it a million times just now, I noticed I say it a third way, i.e. The Empire **Strikes Back**. It’s a very subtle accent, but I think it sounds best this way. * * * Not a newbie…formerly ARG220 ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/3 "2000-04-10T02:55:00Z")
It’s spelt “The Empire Strikes Back” but it’s pronounced “Throatwobbler Mangrove.” My first Python quote! Yes! ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/4 "2000-04-10T06:19:00Z")
We just call it **Empire**. * * * “His eyes are as green as a fresh-pickled toad, His hair is as dark as a blackboard, I wish he was mine, he’s really divine, The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.” ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/5 "2000-04-10T14:49:00Z")
I call it “That middle one, you know, not the first one, but the one that didn’t have the Ewoks in it.” * * * * * * I’m waiting for my Wally quote. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/6 "2000-04-10T18:41:00Z")
It works best if you pronounce it as one word: theempirestrikesback. As in: “Didja see ‘theempirestrikesback’?” “No, I saw ‘startrektwothewrathakahn’ instead.” ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/7 "2000-04-10T18:45:00Z")
When that film came out, I was working in a costume history collection in Baltimore. I saw the marquee and thought, “The ‘Ahm-peer’ Strikes Back?” I was picturing ladies in high-waisted Napoleonic gowns attacking earth . . . ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/8 "2000-04-10T20:04:00Z")
The Ampere Strikes Back? What, is that a movie about the electrical workers union walking out on the job and carrying picket signs? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/9 "2000-04-10T20:12:00Z")
So we’ll march day and night By the big cooling tower They have the plant But we have the power. * * * stoli Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo, as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![TheUnforgiven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TheUnforgiven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheUnforgiven)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2000, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-empire-strikes-back-pronunciation/15757/10 "2000-04-10T21:46:00Z")
Cool! Now play Classical Gas.