# Why is this word so hard to pronounce correctly? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267 "2003-03-18T14:47:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/61 "2003-03-19T06:10:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hobie the One \* > \*\*I pronounce the (missing) “R” February. Don’t most people? \*\* No. Irregardless of what’s correct, most people are also too laxadaisical (or is that “lacksadaisical”?) to pronounce the first “c” in “Arctic”. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/62 "2003-03-19T06:23:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by antechinus \* > \*\*triangular --\> tran-u-gular > Christian --\> Chris-u-tan > \*\* You mean: tuh-ran-u-gular Cuh-ris-u-tan ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/63 "2003-03-19T06:24:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wendell Wagner \* > **"Ye" was not a dialectal variant of “you”. “You” was the object form of “ye” (which was used as the subject form)** As seen in John 8:32 – “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” > [@](#): > > **"Thou" was the object form of "thee."** Actually, “thee” serves as an object, as in “How do I love thee?” “Thou” is the subject form (“Thou art”, “Thou sayest”). ---
**Author:** ![Monopoly\_Money](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Monopoly\_Money](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monopoly_Money)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/64 "2003-03-19T08:52:41Z")
Another thing that bugs me is when people say “kyommyunity” instead of “kommyunity” (community) or “kyoupon” instead of “koopon” (coupon). ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/65 "2003-03-19T10:40:15Z")
I’m Australian… for nuclear I say NYOO-klee-ar for february - FEB-byr-ree or FEB-byoor-AIR-ree for community I say ker-MYOO-nit-tee ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/66 "2003-03-19T10:45:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sternvogel \* > **Irregardless of what’s correct, most people are also too laxadaisical (or is that “lacksadaisical”?) to pronounce the first “c” in “Arctic”.** Do they say “art-tic” or “ar-tic”? I say “arc-tic”, but I’m Australian. ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/67 "2003-03-19T13:32:48Z")
I’m in the upper midwest, USA. I say FEB-u-ary, AR-tic, kuh-MYOON-ity, and while I _almost_ always say NOO-clee-ur, I _hear_ NOO-cu-lar so often that I have actually caught myself saying it wrong. Regarding asterix and asterisk… I believe the problem comes from the inadvertent mental swapping of the “k” and the “s”. I have heard people say dex (for desk) and ax (for ask). These last two examples sound quite illiterate to my ears. How about “strength”? I think this is a regionalism, but I sometimes hear people pronounce it “strenth”. ---
**Author:** ![racekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6bbea6/32.png) [@racekarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racekarl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/68 "2003-03-19T14:18:15Z")
> [@](#): > > Irregardless of what’s correct, most people are also too laxadaisical Hah, I think this might have flowed a bit better if you’d said: _Irregardless_ most people are also too _unorganized_ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hobie\_the\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@Hobie\_the\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hobie_the_One)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/69 "2003-03-19T14:31:52Z")
Since I’m from Picksburgh, if yunz need to know how to pronounce something, all yunz gotta do is axe. But not right now cuz I gotta go warsh my car. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/70 "2003-03-19T14:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Skogcat \* > > re: “asterisk” > > **Yeah, and pronounced that way too where I come from.** Strangely enough, I’ve always pronounced it “asterik” when speaking conversationally. The second “s” gets dropped. **Algernon** , regarding “strength”, I’ve got another regional variant for you. I’ve always pronounced it “straynth”. In New Orleans, you’ll either hear that or “strent”. Pronouncing the “g” in “strength”, “length” sounds to me either hyper-correct British or Frasier-esquely stilted. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/71 "2003-03-19T15:00:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by racekarl \* > \*\*Listen up Mr. Smarty-pants, I’m gonna drop a little dope on you: > > Language is spoken, not written. Writing is just a bunch of symbols meant to represent spoken laguage. \*\* That may have been true several thousand years ago, but if it were true today then spelling wouldn’t matter, we’d be spelling phonetically. Of course language is written. The correct pronunciation of “nuclear” isn’t just because of the way it’s spelled. It’s also the etymology and evolution of the word. It seems to be accepted in English to say “or derv” for the French “hors d’oeuvre”, which reverses the correct order of the R and the V. Of course, it’s more difficult for an English speaker to pronounce the correct French way. But please–“nuclear” is an English word with conventional English sounds in it. Certainly there are different regional pronunciations of a word, but when the variation goes so far as to change the order of the letters, or introduce letters that aren’t there, it’s just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/72 "2003-03-19T15:29:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CookingWithGas \* > **But please–“nuclear” is an English word with conventional English sounds in it.** [Not really.](http://www.bartleby.com/61/49/N0184900.html) The sounds, taken individually, are common in English, but the stress pattern of the word on those particular sounds is quite unusual. > [@](#): > > \*\* > USAGE NOTE: > The pronunciation (nky-lr), which is generally considered incorrect, is an example of how a familiar phonological pattern can influence an unfamiliar one. The usual pronunciation of the final two syllables of this word is (-kl-r), but this sequence of sounds is rare in English. Much more common is the similar sequence (-ky-lr), which occurs in words like particular, circular, spectacular, and in many scientific words like molecular, ocular, and vascular.\*\* As Bush’s pronunciation does not lead to a degradation of his message (i.e. listeners understand that his pronunciation means the word **nuclear** ), I’m disinclined to declare “new-kyu-lar” flat out wrong linguistically. ---
**Author:** ![racekarl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6bbea6/32.png) [@racekarl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racekarl)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/73 "2003-03-19T15:42:57Z")
> [@](#): > > That may have been true several thousand years ago, but if it were true today then spelling wouldn’t matter, we’d be spelling phonetically. Uh sorry, but spelling standardization is much newer than “several thousand years ago” and IS still in progress today. Look at historical documents written in the early twentieth century and you’ll see what I mean. New words are basically always invented spoken, not written. This is a tenous example but the best I could come up with off the top of my head: Take shizzle for example: it’s generally always said the same way, but is spelled both shizzle and shizzo. It’s a new word that exists as a spoken phrase, but all spelling is phonetic for now. If this word really takes hold and enters popular culture, at some point the spelling will become standardized, but as throughout history, spoken words come first, then phonetic spellings, and finally, standardized spelling. How many different spellings of Khadaffi did you see in the '80s? Language is always a work in progress… ---
**Author:** ![malaka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@malaka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malaka)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/74 "2003-03-19T16:03:01Z")
I can’t stand how Dubya says “horror”. He sounds like Col. Kurtz. “The hawrah!” ---
**Author:** ![Hobie\_the\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@Hobie\_the\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hobie_the_One)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/75 "2003-03-19T16:48:38Z")
**racekarl** > [@](#): > > Uh sorry, but spelling standardization is much newer than “several thousand years ago” and IS still in progress today. Okay, spelling standardization is still in progress but haven’t we gotten to the point where we are all agreeing that the word is spelled nuclear? My point is that since we have a standardized spelling for the word, we should be pronouncing it the way it is spelled. Language is fluid and that is a (mostly) good thing but sometimes it is difficult. Anybody else remember the phrase “ain’t ain’t a word” from one of their parents? BTW, and showing my age, what is shizzle (however you spell it)? ---
**Author:** ![Hobie\_the\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e99b99/32.png) [@Hobie\_the\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hobie_the_One)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/76 "2003-03-19T16:56:31Z")
**racekarl** > [@](#): > > Uh sorry, but spelling standardization is much newer than “several thousand years ago” and IS still in progress today. Okay, spelling standardization is still in progress but haven’t we gotten to the point where we are all agreeing that the word is spelled nuclear? My point is that since we have a standardized spelling for the word, we should be pronouncing it the way it is spelled. Language is fluid and that is a (mostly) good thing but sometimes it is difficult. Anybody else remember the phrase “ain’t ain’t a word” from one of their parents? BTW, and showing my age, what is shizzle (however you spell it)? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/77 "2003-03-19T17:33:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Since I’m from Picksburgh, if yunz need to know how to pronounce something, all yunz gotta do is axe. But not right now cuz I gotta go warsh my car. Man, your grammar needs fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/78 "2003-03-19T18:29:31Z")
From the OED: **nuclear** (first cite 1846) from English _nucleus_ (1704) from Latin _nucleus_/_nuculeus_ from _nucula_ from _nux_. BTW, first cite for _nuke_ is 1959. I find it very interesting that Latin had similar issues with the “extra” syllable. Also, _ye_ was originally second person nomative plural. It later came to be used as objective plural and nomative singular. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/79 "2003-03-19T18:47:09Z")
Nor is “Cuba” normally pronounced “Kuber”, nor “car”= “kah”, but that’s they way JFK did it. Perfectly reasonable regional dialect. However, “waRshington” drives me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267/80 "2003-03-19T20:07:20Z")
I can’t say “rural” without wincing. It just sounds wrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-word-so-hard-to-pronounce-correctly/162267.md?page=5)