# Why is the "P" in corp silent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 6, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884 "2010-02-06T02:49:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/1 "2010-02-06T02:49:32Z")
Poor Obama mispronounced “corp” 3 times in his speech. Don’t they prep him? Why is the _P_ in “corp” silent? Are there any other words that have a silent _P_ at the end? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/2 "2010-02-06T02:51:46Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Poor Obama mispronounced “corp” 3 times in his speech. Don’t they prep him? > > Why is the _P_ in “corp” silent? Are there any other words that have a silent _P_ at the end? As in Army Corps? 😕 Or an in corporation? ---
**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:** [February 6, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/3 "2010-02-06T02:54:36Z")
The “p” is pronounced if it’s short for corporation . . . as in “Citicorp.” ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/4 "2010-02-06T03:03:38Z")
Many military members prefer to spell it without the _s_ for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/5 "2010-02-06T03:06:03Z")
The p in corp is not silent. The p in corps is silent. I blame the [French](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corps). ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/6 "2010-02-06T03:06:20Z")
The P in “corps” is silent, as is the S. It’s “Mah-reen Core” or “Army Core of Engineers” as far as what’s heard goes. The “P” in “Corp.” is pronounced, along with the “-oration” that the period stands for. (In other words, you may write “3M Corp.” but what you’ll say is “Three-Em Corporation”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/7 "2010-02-06T03:19:38Z")
I was referring to _corps_ like in the Marine Corps or the Army Corps of Engineers, not a corporation. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/8 "2010-02-06T03:24:00Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Poor Obama mispronounced “corp” 3 times in his speech. Don’t they prep him? > > Why is the _P_ in “corp” silent? Are there any other words that have a silent _P_ at the end? Which speech, when? Link? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/9 "2010-02-06T03:50:12Z")
> [@kittenblue](#): > > Which speech, when? Link? Sorry, I don’t have a link to the speech, but Obama was giving a speech just the other day to what might have been a military crowd and he pronounced the “ps” in _corpsman_ (or similar) 3 times. They played a clip of it on the news. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/10 "2010-02-06T04:23:38Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > I was referring to _corps_ like in the Marine Corps or the Army Corps of Engineers, not a corporation. Then why did you misspell “corps” three times in your OP? ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/11 "2010-02-06T05:16:58Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Then why did you misspell “corps” three times in your OP? Carelessness. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/12 "2010-02-06T05:42:41Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > The p in corp is not silent. The p in corps is silent. I blame the [French](http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/corps). OK, so I guess the question becomes _what is it with the French that they can’t be bothered to pronounce the last few consonants of most of their words_? ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/13 "2010-02-06T05:54:47Z")
Perhaps it’s “What is it with the French that they can’t be bothered to bring the spelling of most of their words closer in line with their actual pronunciations?” instead… ---
**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:** [February 6, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/14 "2010-02-06T07:26:45Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > OK, so I guess the question becomes _what is it with the French that they can’t be bothered to pronounce the last few consonants of most of their words_? And what is it with us, that we can’t be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/15 "2010-02-06T07:43:05Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And what is it with us, that we can’t be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages? So, why do you use a foreign word like “languages”? And might I suggest that you request a change in your handle, to something a bit more Anglo-Saxon. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/16 "2010-02-06T07:56:45Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And what is it with us, that we can’t be bothered making up our own words, rather than stealing them from other languages? Soothly, thou ought’st read [Uncleftish Beholding](http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:vsifHbpQMfIJ:gaelstat.web.officelive.com/Documents/Uncleftish%2520Beholding.doc+Uncleftish+Beholding&cd=9&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) (what the Grecian and Romish wights term “atomic theory”). ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/17 "2010-02-06T08:48:33Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Many military members prefer to spell it without the _s_ for some reason. Ignorance. Like why they say “cah-shay” for cache. Or why they think there is an iron ore deposit in Hudson Bay that throws off all their compasses. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/18 "2010-02-06T11:57:18Z")
The word “corps” is written and pronounced in French manner because the concept was first conceived and implemented by Napoleon. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2010, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/19 "2010-02-06T12:03:19Z")
Kinda highlights the pressure Obama is living with that he could make such a mistake. ---
**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:** [February 6, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884/20 "2010-02-06T12:41:00Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > So, why do you use a foreign word like “languages”? And might I suggest that you request a change in your handle, to something a bit more Anglo-Saxon. My post was a response to **njtt** , nothing more. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-the-p-in-corp-silent/527884.md?page=2)