# Why is there no nickname for "microwave"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2007, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497 "2007-11-07T01:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/61 "2007-11-07T17:45:41Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] Remotes used to click? Did they have dial selectors or something? [/QUOTE] The first remotes (Magnavox?) were accustic, and the remote unit was purely mechanical. (electronic would have meant tubes, and big batterys) They had different pitched chimes that the buttons caused hammers to strike. The actual tones were above human hearing (so the TV program sound didn’t cause the channel to change itself) thus you only heard the click of the hammer blow. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/62 "2007-11-07T18:55:06Z")
You know, I think I’m going to go with steve as well. Just steve it. Hey, steve me one of those iceburgers. Tris ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/63 "2007-11-07T19:24:57Z")
It’s been referred to as a ‘mike’ for all of my 34 years. And we nuke food in the mike. Microphone is also a mike. Mike is just a natural abreviaton of micro. I live in SE Michigan, and find it amazing others haven’t heard these nicknames either. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/64 "2007-11-07T20:23:45Z")
I say “nuke-rowave.” I’ve said it for years, long enough that I don’t remember if I picked it up somewhere or made it up in a moment of random absurdity. Nobody else I know says it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/65 "2007-11-07T20:30:37Z")
Vinnie Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/66 "2007-11-07T20:36:45Z")
[QUOTE=robardin] How about “nukebox”? We could probably get Foreigner to do a cover/reprise of their old hit for a GE commercial or something, “Nukebox Hero”. [/QUOTE] Or Mark Chestnutt could reprise one of his country hits: “Bubba Shot the Nukebox.” Or The Who could sing: “Mama’s got a nukebox she wear on her chest…” Lots of possibilities here! ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/67 "2007-11-07T21:02:10Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] You would seriously have no clue, based on context? Wow. [/QUOTE] I know what a “mike” is. It is not for heating food. It is for sound amplification. Pardon me if I don’t immediately immediately grok your regionalisms. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/68 "2007-11-07T21:12:48Z")
New Yorker here. We use: noun: mike, microwave, miker verb: mike, nuke, microwave I haven’t noticed anyone using “nuker” in the noun sense but I would know what it means if I heard it. I have never in my life heard anyone use “zap” or “zapper” nor would I have understood what it outside of context. We also use “mike” for “microphone” but it’s easy enough to tell which mike by context. And really the microwave usage is much more common unless you are a musician or stage manager or something like that. I find usage of the microwave to come up in conversation much more often than usage of the microphone. And I would probably only use the casual “mike” instead of microphone only in the limited conext of a big stage or studio mike. I would use the lonfer formal word for things like the microphone on my computer. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/69 "2007-11-07T21:36:43Z")
[QUOTE=wolfstu] I’ve adopted the Dutch word: “Magnetron” [/QUOTE] “Magnetron” is actually the English name for the electronic component that generates the microwaves. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/70 "2007-11-08T04:22:26Z")
I think we can all figure out from this thread why nicknames for microwaves are not very commonly used. Because they sound very very silly 😛 We do nuke our food, though. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/71 "2007-11-08T06:51:33Z")
I’ve never heard anyone use any kind of nickname for the microwave. It’s always just been “Put it in the microwave” or “microwave it.” ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/72 "2007-11-08T08:41:30Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] “Magnetron” is actually the English name for the electronic component that generates the microwaves. [/QUOTE] True, but in Dutch they also use it to describe the whole device. Microwaveable plastic wrap is “magnetronfolie”, etc. Perhaps instead of saying ‘pop my food in the magnetron’, I can say ‘expose my food to the magnetron’, to be extra-correct. “Dude, these sausages are all cold and tasteless. Show them a little magnetron, will ya?” “Hey, I fixed you some soup. It’s in the radiation station.” ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/73 "2007-11-08T09:24:19Z")
I sometimes refer to the “miniature undulation”, but that’s because I’m a smartass. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/74 "2007-11-08T09:50:08Z")
[QUOTE=twickster] Or Pat Benatar – “Put another burrito in the nukebox, baby!” [/QUOTE] Wasn’t that Joan Jett? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/75 "2007-11-08T10:58:35Z")
We usually just call it a microwave here. I’ve heard people call it a mike but it’s not common. I can’t recall anyone around here calling it a “nuker” or a “nuke box”. I remember people calling them “radar ranges” back in the 70’s, but then that’s when Amana still advertised them as such. I still remember those commercials on TV. The last time I heard someone call it a radar range was back in the 80’s. We almost never use microwave as a verb, though. It’s always “nuke” or maybe “zap”. The TV remote control in our house is called the “clicker”. When I was young, our neighbors had a true “clicker” remote. Shaking keys would drive the thing nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/76 "2007-11-08T11:29:11Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] It’s been referred to as a ‘mike’ for all of my 34 years. And we nuke food in the mike. Microphone is also a mike. Mike is just a natural abreviaton of micro. I live in SE Michigan, and find it amazing others haven’t heard these nicknames either. [/QUOTE] I live in the same area and I’ve never heard anyone tell anyone else to put something in the “mike”. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/77 "2007-11-08T11:46:07Z")
[QUOTE=GuanoLad] Wasn’t that Joan Jett? [/QUOTE] :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/78 "2007-11-08T12:48:55Z")
Another vote for 'wave. As in “I’ll reheat this in the wave” or “wave this for me, please.” I probably use microwave more than wave, though. I have never heard mike or micro. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2007, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/79 "2007-11-08T14:01:07Z")
[QUOTE=jackdavinci] New Yorker here. We use: noun: mike, microwave, miker verb: mike, nuke, microwave [/QUOTE] Huh. As another (lifelong) New Yorker within 100 miles of you over in Port Jeff, I have to say I have NEVER heard “mike” or “miker” in reference to a microwave or the act of using one. Very rarely, I have heard “Micro”. Come to think of it, I guess it’s possible I have mentally “corrected” any use of “miker” to “micro” in my head, as one of the common Long Island accents will pronounce terminal “-a” sounds as “-er” (e.g., “No idear”, “Mineoler” – if you listen closely to native Long Islander Billy Joel’s song _Scenes From An Italian Restaurant_, more than once he refers to _Brender and Eddie_). Or maybe you have done the opposite “correction” 🙂 In everyday talk, while I pretty much never hear anyone shorten the noun “microwave”, the verb form is almost always a slang/short form: “nuke” is the most common, also “zap” and “bomb”. ---
**Author:** ![DfrntBreign](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f6c823/32.png) [@DfrntBreign](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DfrntBreign)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497/80 "2007-11-12T21:00:22Z")
Maybe we’re not in that big a hurry here, but I can’t remember hearing anyone try to use a shortened form of the word. But what I really came here to say is this: Microphones are not “mikes” (although it _is_ pronounced that way). Microphones are “mics”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-there-no-nickname-for-microwave/425497.md?page=5)