# Why is it called the PREE-vent defense (football) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 21, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931 "2009-09-21T11:51:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/1 "2009-09-21T11:51:41Z")
Why doesn’t everyone just call it the Pruh-VENT defense? Is there any other situation where that pronunciation is used for the word ‘prevent’? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/2 "2009-09-21T12:19:11Z")
Because the second word is “DE-fense,” not “de-FENSE.” “PRE-vent DE-fense” flows more smoothly than “pre-VENT DE-fense,” because the stresses alterante that way, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/3 "2009-09-21T15:31:02Z")
> [@Pashnish\_Ewing](#): > > Why doesn’t everyone just call it the Pruh-VENT defense? Is there any other situation where that pronunciation is used for the word ‘prevent’? I think it’s a bit of a southern thing. But Pruh-VENT? Is that really how you pronounce that word in New York? We’d say “pri-VENT” or “pre-VENT” here. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/4 "2009-09-21T16:09:46Z")
It’s actually “pre-vent.” It allows fans to start venting about the come-from-ahead loss they will suffer at the hands of such a strategy before it actually happens. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/5 "2009-09-21T17:13:52Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Because the second word is “DE-fense,” not “de-FENSE.” Only in footballese. In normal English, the accent is on the second syllable in both words. But then, in normal English, “Defense” is not used as a verb as well as a noun. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/6 "2009-09-21T17:20:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Only in footballese. In normal English, the accent is on the second syllable in both words. True. But football’s the topic, and football’s got plenty of odd words and terms. Where else do you hear words like “defensed” instead of “defended,” or “incompletions?” ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/7 "2009-09-21T17:24:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Only in footballese. In normal English, the accent is on the second syllable in both words. > > But then, in normal English, “Defense” is not used as a verb as well as a noun. Uh… I’m not quite certain where you’re from, but you’re basically whining pitifully about other people’s accents. I’ve heard it spoken that way many a time. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/8 "2009-09-21T18:33:10Z")
It’s not about accents when the _same_ people pronounce words differently depending on subject matter. I am sick to death of “Pick Six” in footballese instead of just lottery games, too. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/9 "2009-09-21T18:39:03Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I am sick to death of “Pick Six” in footballese instead of just lottery games, too. I’ve started using “TAINT” Touchdown And INTerception for this. I think the Sports Guy used that last year, I’m not taking credit or blame. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/10 "2009-09-21T18:45:04Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Because the second word is “DE-fense,” not “de-FENSE.” “PRE-vent DE-fense” flows more smoothly than “pre-VENT DE-fense,” because the stresses alterante that way, that’s all. Thinking about it this way, the PRE-vent DE-fense sounds more like a description of the way the defense is to be played. If you say pre-VENT de-FENCE, then it really sounds like the team with the lead has little interest in winning (perhaps that’s more apt, afterall). ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/11 "2009-09-21T19:13:37Z")
I can’t think of any other examples in which _prevent_ is used as a noun, but in this case it seems to be – at least I’ve occasionally heard it referred to as “the prevent.” Lots of 2-syllable words are nouns with the accent on the first syllable and verbs with the accent on the second: _contest_, _protest_, _convert_, _pervert_… This may have something to do with the football pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/12 "2009-09-23T04:22:17Z")
When “defense” is discussed hand-in-hand with “offense”, stressing the syllable that differs makes for much greater clarity. Also, what other people have said. In chess, it is Sicilian de-FENSE, French de-FENSE, etc. But the stuff White does is called an Opening or an Attack, not an Offense. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-it-called-the-pree-vent-defense-football/510931/13 "2009-09-23T05:42:43Z")
> [@Paintcharge](#): > > I’ve started using “TAINT” Touchdown And INTerception for this. I think the Sports Guy used that last year, I’m not taking credit or blame. Why do people dislike pick-six? TAINT sounds terrible. (I mean, I see the humor in comparing a terrible QB play to a term used to refer to a body part, but… it’s not really a term I want to use in everyday conversation).