# Why "primmer" vs "prymer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817 "2009-03-26T00:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/21 "2009-03-27T15:28:55Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Plural of "ox’ being “oxen” > Plural of “louse” being “lice” We inherited this sort of craziness from German, and thankfully have ditched most of it. In German, the plurals are still insanely variable. Sometimes you add -e, sometimes -en, sometimes -er, sometimes -s, sometimes you change the internal vowel (like “lice”), sometimes you don’t change anything. You just have to know the plural form for every noun. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/22 "2009-03-27T15:33:26Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The pronunciation of the book has officially been “primmer” for quite a long time. ‘Officially’? :dubious: > [@](#): > > I’d also be trying to wipe out the “PAT-ih-nuh” pronunciation of “patina” (which everyone says “puh-TEE-nuh”, but I’ve never actually heard anyone say it that way. PAT-in-uh is a normal British pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/23 "2009-03-27T15:35:10Z")
> [@](#): > > ‘Officially’? It’s what’s in the dictionaries I’ve looked in. That’ds what I 9somewhat tongue-i-cheekily) mean by “officially” And I’ve never heard “PAT-in-uh”, even from British folk or on British TV. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/24 "2009-03-27T16:14:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > It’s what’s in the dictionaries I’ve looked in. That’ds what I 9somewhat tongue-i-cheekily) mean by “officially” > And I’ve never heard “PAT-in-uh”, even from British folk or on British TV. Then I guess ‘prymer’ is officially OK for us [Brits](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&key=62856&ph=on), and you can offically accept [PAT-in-uh](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/patina) thanks to the American Heritage Dictionary 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/25 "2009-03-27T17:05:05Z")
Also, one of the funniest stories I ever heard on Public Radio was when Simon Pegg was on and told of the time he was in an American restaurant and asked for bah. Repeatedly he asked for it: bah Finally he had to say “bud-der”! To appreciate it you’d have to know the old Parkay commercial…😉 Quasi (who is LOVING this thread!) ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/26 "2009-03-27T17:19:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I do the same thing with "im-PIE-us pronunciation of “impious”, which is, according top my dictionary. supposed to be IM-pee-us. But that’s a word that hardly antbody uses. This is the one that got me because I read it many times before I heard it spoken. At first I thought it meant imp-like, so the IM-pee-us pronunciation would make sense. Then I found out it meant “not pious,” so I started pronouncing it im-PIE-us. Then I heard a few educated speakers pronounce it “correctly,” so I looked it up. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/27 "2009-03-27T17:20:36Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > We inherited this sort of craziness from German, and thankfully have ditched most of it. In German, the plurals are still insanely variable. Sometimes you add -e, sometimes -en, sometimes -er, sometimes -s, sometimes you change the internal vowel (like “lice”), sometimes you don’t change anything. You just have to know the plural form for every noun. Oh, it’s easy! All you have to know is the gender of the noun and how they were declined about 700 years ago. The plural and singular forms used to decline differently. Of course, you also have to know what the gender was 700 years ago as well. A good number of the nouns have changed gender since then. But once you’ve got that down, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817/28 "2009-03-27T17:37:42Z")
I’m another person who had never heard “primmer” until i came to the US. Also, many of my American friends say “prymer” and, like me, think that “primmer” sounds retarded. Interestingly enough, the first person i ever heard use the “primmer” pronunciation was the editor of [this book](http://www.amazon.com/Primers-Prudery-Sexual-Victorian-America/dp/0801863481). He was my wife’s dissertation adviser, and is a friend of ours. When i first heard him say “primmer,” i did a double-take, and it took me a while to work out what the hell he was talking about. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-primmer-vs-prymer/490817.md?page=1)