Wrapping up the * project- how do YOU say it?

In My Humble Opinion
1

A while ago on these boards, I expressed suprise that there were two s’s in “asterisk”, because as far as I knew it was only pronounced with one. I got the internet equivalent of a lot of strange looks. A few people opined to the effect that they would probably regard a person who said “asterick” as an illiterate hick. I said sorry, but everyone around here says it that way. It must be a dialect thing.

I’ve been sporadically putting the idea to the test (“Excuse me, but how do you say the name of the star symbol on the keyboard?”) and so far there’s been a clear pattern. People from outside of New Jersey say “asterisk”. People from New Jersey (our corner, at least) say “asterick.” People from everywhere have never really thought about it until I asked them, and have been surpised that it was said any other way.

So now I’d like to take a Doper survey. How do you say it, and where are you from?

2

For me, in casual speech I tend to drop the ‘er’ in the middle. Asstrisk.

3

I think you’ll find that a certain French comic-book hero has a lot to answer for in regards to the “Astericks” pronunciation. :wink:

Personally, I pronounce it “Asterisk”, except when I’m referring to old British military firearms, where it’s pronounced as “Star”- thus, a SMLE Mk III* rifle would be spoken as “Mark Three Star” and not “Mark Three Asterisk”.

And I’m not from the US, if that helps.

4

AsteriSk. Southern Ontario.

5

Asterisk, Nor Cal.

6

Being one of those northerners who leave out syllables when it suits us, I pronounce it as-trick.

…which is why I had to work with Dragon Natural Speaking to get it to understand what I was saying when I use the word.

7

“Star thingy”, Northern Idaho.

8

I hate to hop in and be “that person” but I grew up in Middlesex County so I believe in the existence of Central Jersey. That’s why I went with the last option. As far as asterisk goes, I pronounce the word -ick unless I am teaching. In the classroom, I try to force the -isk.

9

AsteriSk. Never even heard anyone miss the last S, unless they’re (incorrectly, of course) calling it an Asterix. I’m in the UK.

Actually, I call it a star more often than not, because that’s the common term for it in my field of work (IT)

10

I’m from Trenton, and chose the southern option. Obviously, central is correct, but northern is more incorrect than southern.

AsteriSk, and mispronouncing it is one of my many pet peeves.

Joe

11

Asterisk. N.E. Ohio, and everywhere else I’ve ever lived.

12

I grew up in northern NJ and never heard anything but asteriSk.

13

AsteriSk, grew up near Philadelphia, which is near New Jersey.

14

AsteriSk, western, NY/NE
’
ETA: Is the option AsterSk (elsewhere) supposed to be AteriSk (elsewhere)? 'cuase I didn’t know which one to choose.

15

I pronounce both the first and second s. Illinois.

16

I now say “asterisk” with the second S, but before I saw it spelled out (embarrassingly late), I said “asteriks”. That still sounds better to me. I wonder what the overlap is with ask/aks?

17

AsteriSk. OH-IN region. Many people in my area say it without the second S, and it drives me bonkers.

I’ve also noticed a tendency in others to say “Assessories” instead of “ACKsessories” (for accessories), but that’s another thread. Like “asterik,” it drives me crazy.

18

With apologies to wheresgeorge04, I used to say *asterix *(a.k.a. asteriks). I managed not to learn how to say OR spell this word well into my 30s. :o I know better now, I promise!

Formative word-pronunciation-learning years spent in central Ohio and eastern Washington (where the dialect is basically a mix of California and Midwest).

19

Asterisk. Central Ohio. The most common error I hear is people saying Astericks, not Asterick.

20

You must be one of those pop drinkers.

AsteriCk, also western NY, grew up in northern NY