Commonly mispronounced words

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Deuce

noo-klee-er, not noo-kyu-lar. That drives me crazy.

PLEASE tell the president. You know someone has had to have told him he is misprouncing it and he doesn't care
"I don't care what congress wants, or what the American people want. We WILL stay the course in Iraq, and keep pronouncing 'nuclear' incorrectly. I said so, because I'm the pres, I'm the decider!"

[Happy Monkey]

I heard he pronounced it correctly in his "surge" speech.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Look: that's him, about one third of both the House and the Senate, and at least a fourth of the general population, and that fourth not necessarily in the lowest quartile, either.

Not that it's the right way to pronounce nuclear, but his bad pronunciation should not be thought of as unique.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Look: that's him, about one third of both the House and the Senate, and at least a fourth of the general population, and that fourth not necessarily in the lowest quartile, either.

Not that it's the right way to pronounce nuclear, but his bad pronunciation should not be thought of as unique.

Oh, I don't think of it as unique...I just expect the leader of the free world to know better. At the very least, take heed of the hundreds of people who have told him of his error over the years. My point? He doesn't give a flying rat's ass what anyone thinks. His egocentricity is alarming; NOOOO CUE LERRRRR is just a small example of that trait.

[Sundae]

New-klee-ar. I thank you.

[monster]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

New-klee-ar. I thank you.

Nyew-clear. two syllables with the Nu as in Menu

[monster]

(well maybe 2.5 syllables )

[Urbane Guerrilla]

I agree; 2.5 to 3, depending on one's hurry.

[monster]

Definitely not 3.

And today's pet peeve is brought to you by the words

bought and brought

-they are not interchangeable, people!

[Perry Winkle]

Nuclear is 3 syllables. You can't have a half syllable, AFAIK.

The number of syllables in a word is usually equal to the number of real vowels in the word.

[monster]

Yeeeees. OK then, to spell it out it has one short and one long syllable which one could describe as 1.5 if one were being silly. And pronounciations vary with accent, particularly when those accents cross oceans.

What do you mean by real vowels? If you mean that two vowels together count as one, then I'd agree it's a good indicator. Which would give "nuclear" two syllables. And "clear" one....... Those in favor of "Squirrel" having one vowel should take note

Originally Posted by Deuce

noo-klee-er, not noo-kyu-lar. That drives me crazy.

I like it... right up there with proactive for the intelligence litmus test.

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by monster

Yeeeees. OK then, to spell it out it has one short and one long syllable which one could describe as 1.5 if one were being silly. And pronounciations vary with accent, particularly when those accents cross oceans.

What do you mean by real vowels? If you mean that two vowels together count as one, then I'd agree it's a good indicator. Which would give "nuclear" two syllables. And "clear" one....... Those in favor of "Squirrel" having one vowel should take note

The length of syllables is independent from the number of syllables.

Yes, pronunciations vary by accent, even by individual (cf. this).

By real vowel I mean a vowel that is in the RP English phonemic inventory (what else would make sense since we can't hear each-other on the intarwebs?). Two vowels together count as one if they're a dipthong, tripthong, or denote vowel length. I can see why you might think the [ea] in "nuclear" is the dipthong /ea/ and thus a single vowel, but it isn't. The [ea] in "nuclear" isn't the same as the [ea] in near, and clear. In words like near and clear the [ea] is the dipthong /ea/. However, in the case of "nuclear" the [ea] is two separate phonemes.

I've never heard the "clear" part of "nuclear" pronounced the same as the word "clear". So, if you have the means, post some samples of your pronunciation of some words with [ea] in similar environments. (Make sure to pronounce them as you would in conversation. Also, try to them in a sentence. Don't try to pronounce things slower/faster, extra clearly, or with special diction. That distorts what is produced and heard.)

Squirrel is really tricky. I'm not touching it with a ten-foot pole.

I am not a phonologist, I just play one on TV.

[monster]

Ah well, when you go making exceptions......

No way, no how am I recording my voice saying anything, I sound like a transatlantic munchkin wearing a too-tight corset. But I say Nyew-clear. Or I used to. I tend to use the American "n" sound these days for words like news and tuna and nuclear. And my speech is slower, hence the 1.5 syllables joke. Half the time I can't remember how I say things any more. It's a tough life being an expat with a wandering diction!

But I do know what syllables are, and I do know that their length has nothing to do with it ,and I do know that I used to say nuclear with two syllables, and so did everyone I knew, and I still read it with two syllables. So it has two freaking syllables. :p

I do not play a phonologist on TV, but I have spoken with many accents, most of them British

As for dipthongs -isn't that what strippers wear?

Is that overkill on the smileys?

[Perry Winkle]

Originally Posted by monster

Ah well, when you go making exceptions......


:p



Is that overkill on the smileys?

Rules wouldn't be rules without exceptions.

Yes, altogether too many smileys.