# To whoever coined the word "aural"... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 13, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004 "2004-02-13T06:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/41 "2004-02-15T00:26:15Z")
> [@Mr2001](#): > > I’m from the west coast and I pronounce aural/oral the same (rhyming with coral and choral, but not corral), as well as Aaron/Erin, Don/Dawn, and mary/marry/merry… and also fairy/ferry and Harry/hairy, while we’re at it. Wow, I understood completely up until the ellipsis… So you pronounce “hair” like “harr”… Does that mean you pronounce “harr” with a long “a,” or do you pronounce “hair” without the long “a”? ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/42 "2004-02-15T01:51:10Z")
Many people have problems hearing or voicing distinct unaccented short vowels, most often converting the sound to the ‘schwa e’ sound (i.e., ‘uh’). E.g., we all know that ‘him’ and ‘hem’ are pronounced differently. But wind up pronouncing ‘compliment’ and ‘complement’ the same, as if they were ‘compluhment.’ It takes awareness and effort to pronounce them correctly (if one considers how a word is written as being important to pronunciation, rather than saying “well, that’s how I and everyone I know pronounce it.”). So called ‘r controlled’ vowels are also difficult to differentiate. BTW, I pronounce ‘aural’ as ‘AWE - dee - al.’ 😉 Peace. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/43 "2004-02-15T02:16:41Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Wow, I understood completely up until the ellipsis… > > So you pronounce “hair” like “harr”… Does that mean you pronounce “harr” with a long “a,” or do you pronounce “hair” without the long “a”? It’s sort of a cross between short ‘e’ and long ‘a’… as in “air” (which, BTW, I pronounce the same as the verb “err”). Regarding the OP, my Random House dictionary only lists one pronunciation for “aural”, which is the same as their main pronunciation for “oral” - the first vowel is O as in “order” (which is how I pronounce it). It lists an alternate pronunciation for “oral” which uses O as in “over”. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/44 "2004-02-15T14:46:27Z")
Does this mean you think the title of the song “Aura Lee” is actually “Orally”? ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2004, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/45 "2004-02-15T17:41:18Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Does this mean you think the title of the song “Aura Lee” is actually “Orally”? Every time you take vaccine, take it orally. As you know, the other way is more painfully. (Apologies to Allan Sherman) ---
**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:** [February 16, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/46 "2004-02-16T21:52:54Z")
Hell, where I live, we have trouble distinguishig “iron” from “I earn”. \ ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/47 "2004-02-16T22:45:01Z")
“To whoever coined the term ‘aural’ …” _Captain Jack Sparrow_ That would be the French. [/Captain Jack Sparrow] ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/48 "2004-02-16T22:48:27Z")
Aural and Oral are different in my neck of the woods, but Aaron and Erin are the same. It is often harder to get whether it’s an Aaron or an Erin from context as in: My friend Erin and I are going to the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/49 "2004-02-16T22:50:22Z")
My earlier post would have been funny if I hadn’t screwed up the coding. And if it had been funny in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![manx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@manx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/50 "2004-02-17T05:14:18Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > This thread reminds me of my little sister, who couldn’t tell the difference between the names “Aaron” and “Erin.” They sounded exactly the same to her ears. (I’m from NZ) A bunch of us were watching _Bring it On_, as y’do. One the the guy’s is named Aaron, and every single one of us thought that he was called Erin. Dunno if that’s a ‘mer’kin accent or our noo zill’d one making it sound like that tho’ ---
**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004/51 "2004-02-17T20:39:21Z")
I have often wondered about the ‘aural’ thing … and then realized that I had never, ever heard it spoken. Now, I can see why we might say “Erin” or “Aaron” or “hairy” or “merry” … but how often do people say “aural”? I know I’m not going to say it again … I don’t know how to pronounce it any more! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whoever-coined-the-word-aural/229004.md?page=2)