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After enduring it these past eight years and with my tolerance finally running out during tonight's debate, I just have to say it: Governor Palin, President Bush, various yes-men commentators on FOX News, Republicans far and wide, the word is "nuclear" not "nukulur."

Thank you.

Republicans aren't well known for their intelligence.

Give Up The Bashing (http://www.slate.com/id/2071155/)

Governor Palin's pronunciation went back and forth . . . half the time she pronounced it properly, the rest of the time, she did it "W" style.  I think it's a Western thing, personally, but it doesn't really bother me.  Something odd though - my wife is a music teacher and a vocal expert, but when I explained the brouhaha over Bush's pronunciation of the word and said it both ways, she was unable to distinguish the difference . . . . weird.

The only thing I find odd about how Palin talks is that she favors the right side of her mouth.  Watch her talk.  All of her words come from the right side....odd.

I'm a republican, do you think I'm an idiot Menard?

Good morning, everyone!  :smile:

Couple comments---

Just to be clear, since I started the thread, I wouldn't say anyone is stupid for being a Republican.

As for "nukulur" or whatever spelling of it you go with being in the dictionary, "ain't" "end result" and "irregardless" are also in many dictionaries and aren't sanctified into propriety because of their inclusion.

While there are more important qualities in a leader than proper pronunciation, I just can't make myself think it's asking too much of a potential President or Vice President to expect they know how to say the word "nuclear."

And, yes, indy, you're right, it sounded to me, too, as if Governor Palin said it both ways. Or at least at first she seemed to be saying "nuclear" but later she said "nukulur" several cringe-inducing times in a row. Her accent's a trip!

So, just my original observation. I hope it didn't sound mean-spirited or stir anything unpleasant up.

Hope today's a wonderful day for everybody!
'

FWIW, Jimmy Carter also pronounced it "nucular".

The way I see it is that it makes anyone who pronounces nuclear incorrectly look stupid.
Even though they may in fact be very smart people, when I hear someone say nukular, I make an instant snap judgement about their intelligence.  Not just their intelligence, but their ability to know and remember the "correct" pronunciation.  They know how it's supposed to be pronounced, yet they do not pronounce it correctly.
That speaks volumes to me.  At the very least, it screams "pure laziness".

As for me, I know its correct pronunciation and it would be absolutely unthinkable to me to pronounce it "nukular".  To do so would be inherently wrong and I would think of myself as stupid.

Raj, President Carter was a nuclear engineer who graduated from Annapolis. Are you absolutely sure he didn't say "nuclear" as it's supposed to be said?

Yes, he pronounced it "nucular."  I actually remember his saying it that way, and his usage is very well documented.  So did Eisenhower and (gasp) Bill Clinton.

For decades, that pronunciation has been viewed as acceptable by many, many people, including scientists.  Nucular has been included in dictionaries since the 1960's for crying out loud.

This whole thing is a straw man..a non-issue.  Mispronunciations like this are actually not uncommon when new technologies come into the mainstream.  Linguistically, "nukular" is more natural, and this phenomenon HAS been studied by language experts.   Steven Pinker and Arnold Zwicky are two respected scientists that have proposed rational explanations for "nucular."

One such proposal (Zwicky's) is that it derives from the slang term "nuke" followed by the ending-word sequence "ular" such as "particular," "ocular" or "molecular."  This ending sound is more common (or simply more natural?) than the "clear" ending in words of this type.

So, it has NOTHING to do with intelligence.  There are real etymological reasons for this pronunciation...just like how just about every other word in our language is pronounced differently now than when they first came into being.  Ever heard someone speak Old-English or even Middle-English?

Many people, even those IN the nuclear industries, pronounce the word "nucular" because it "fits" better than the "proper" pronunciation.

Do you think that being a Republican makes you an idiot?


You will notice that nobody else on this board took my overly obvious bait, save for you.

Of course, that doesn't mean anything; several are probably used to it enough to not go for it that easily.

Interesting attempt, though, at putting someone on the defensive by pointedly asking a question that suggests something they did not say, but not actually saying it.

If you want to consider yourself an idiot, feel free; but don't go signing my name to it if I didn't say it.


BTW...(http://5g8.net/smileys/tongue-047.gif) (http://5g8.net) (Cheezy loves that too :teddyr:)

This discussion has gotten a little silly, so I'll close by citing from the definitive word on the English language, namely:

From the unbridged Oxford English Dictionary:

Nuclear: "nu·cle·ar"


Ignorance is one thing. Stubbornness quite another. Clearly the word is "nuclear."

Yes, stubbornness can be quite frustrating.

From the Oxford English Dictionary you take as the definitive authority on the English Language,



Face it.  The pronunciation "nucular" is not going away.  Like it or lump it, your choice.

Ha, yes, ulthar, as you've ably demonstrated in at least two recent topics I can think of * mispronunciations, ignorance, stubborn ignorance, willful ignorance, militant ignorance, arrogant ignorance, and the proverbial dangers of "a little knowledge" will, along with those who love to argue, always be with us, whether I like it or lump it.  :tongueout:

*As I recall, after all, weren't you the person who (sorry for laughing) said the (laughing again!) IRA had never (more laughter!!!!) murdered a civilian?

Anyway, the weekend awaits!

Night, all!

I don't bother because I've accepted you as simply a person that is inclined to be as insulting as they can without being direct in any way. I'm not surprised you never re-registered, else you'd actually have to DEAL with the negative karma that comes your way, which you seem to be incapable of doing.

ooo....ouch

Did you practice that for long?

"Nucular" actually bugged the hell out of me (they aren't splitting the nuculus of the atom) until I realized that Bob Newhart says it. Somehow, that makes it OK. I'm pretty sure that Clinton is the only President to pronounce it "nuclear". It's the semi-official Presidential pronunciation since Truman, I think, maybe because it sounds folksy or something.

You know who's REALLY stupid? People who rise to obvious bait. Sometimes I consider not even baiting people, so annoyed am I by those who rise to it. Also, people who think that capital gains tax cuts would stimulate the economy, duh, how stupid.

I rise to obvious bait all the time: are you calling me stupid???!!!  :hatred: 

Of course not; he didn't think you would understand the word.(http://5g8.net/smileys/snicker.gif) (http://5g8.net)


 :teddyr:

The acceptability or non-acceptability of "knew-kyoo-ler" doesn't change the fact, fact, fact that many people who don't say it that way make the snap judgement, as Ash put so well.

Including me.  When I hear that variation of how it's pronounced, I think, "stoooo-pid."

You can argue usage as correct or not all you want.  Look where that gets the French, after all!  I think the Academie Francaise has done a grrrr-eat job of keeping "le t-shirt" and other Anglicisms out of the French language, don't you?  But you can't argue someone's opinion.  And my opinion:  when I hear "knew-kyoo-ler," I think, "stupid."

What really annoyed the p**s out of me for that debate, though, was the full bring out the Gimp, pommel horse and red rubber ball treatment that the word "maverick" was given.   I think that debate needed a Marine armed and ready to execute the first VP candidate to use the word "Maverick" more than twice in the debate.   We'd then be searching for two new candidates.  =)  Because everyone knows that neither of those candidates is the real Maverick:

(http://www.solarnavigator.net/films_movies_actors/actors_films_images/top_gun_kelly_mcgillis_tom_cruise.jpg)

ER, as has been already pointed out Jimmy did say Nucular -- I remember it, despide years of self-medication to forget the 70s (gah, disco and polyester leisure suits, s**t I need another beer now, thanks).

There are regional pronunciations that do grate on me, one being "vehicle" pronounced veHICle.  But it is a Southernism (I think that's the region that says it that way the most).  William Safire did some columns on this whole pronunciation thing for the NYTimes (back when it was good) Sunday magazine in the 1970s.  (Yeah, I'm a geek/nerd, so what).  Basically he said these were just regional pronunciations and not to get worked up over it.

Besides, we can't agree with the Brits over how to pronounce "aluminum". . .

I think you need to check your reading comprehension skills.  I NEVER said the IRA never murdered a civilian.  Go ahead...reread my posts on the subject.

What I said was...are you ready?  The IRA was DIFFERENT from ISLAMIC TERRORISTS.

Thanks for playing, though.

You really are funny. It’s 100% incorrect to say “nukulur” and as for the IRA…

September 23, 2008, 05:10:31 PM
Ulthar: “…the main line IRA attacked political, military and police targets exclusively.  There was ‘collateral damage,’ but the innocent bystanders were not the targets of the attacks.”

So if you say they "attacked political, military and police targets exclusively" you're more or less saying they never murdered a civilian, right? All killings of civilians were “accidental” in your fairy tale version of history. When I showed actual murders in the coldest blood were planned and carried out against civilians, you put your foot in your mouth big time by challenging me to:

September 23, 2008, 10:55:27 PM
Ulthar: “Can you cite any FIVE attacks PROVEN to have been IRA and for which civilian, non-politicals were the intended targets?”

And if it wasn't made clear enough by your post cited above, when you challenged me to cite examples of murders of civilians, implying they never murdered civilians, and I did, showing to the nth degree that the IRA did murder civilians, you wiggled out of your earlier statement, when you came off looking like an uninformed ass, by using the line in the final quote of:

Ulthar: “As I said, that's not to say that they did not indeed end up killing civilians, but they were most certainly not the primary target of most attacks.”

So pulling people off a bus and shooting them based on ethnicity isn’t directly targeting civilians and isn’t murder, huh? You so clearly don’t know what you’re talking about, and you clearly tried to get off by indirectly saying the IRA never murdered civilians.

Dude, be a man. Own up to what you said and implied and THOUGHT. Being wrong isn't fatal, and your online buds here won't think the worse of you because you really didn't know as much about the IRA and its campaign of murder as you tried to make it sound you did, namely because I don’t think anyone else but you thinks you’re an infallible genius to start with.

I'm done with this.  Believe what you want.  It's pointless to try to explain myself to you.

Retaliatory karma, real mature. Oh well, I can take it, and obviously you can't take criticism. Not exactly in line with "Be a man", but I didn't expect any better.

...but...but...I thought snookums was infallible. :bluesad:

Wait...
How did this thread go from talking about the mispronunciation of the word "nuclear" to IRA terrorism?

And I was under the impression that ER was a girl.  Are you a girl ER?

ASH!  Are you a girl??

A$$hole...  :bouncegiggle:  :bouncegiggle:  :bouncegiggle:
I disown my own bad nature.  Negative virtual karma to that Menard-thingy. 

I'm tired of all this arguing, if anyone needs me I'll be at the halloween costumes thread.

That reminds me of our recent elections when the term 'Working Families' got thrown around a heap.  Still do really, and it bugs the hell out of me...


As for the Nukular/Nuclear debate, I don't really care: it doesn't make or break a leadership, even if it does bug me everynow and then.  Pronounciation around the world is different for so many words, I just figure it's an American thing.

 :teddyr: :teddyr: Here we go,  :drink:

Regarding "aluminum", raj: I think the way my American friends pronounce it (Ah loo min num) is better than saying it the other way.

Poking around old threads, I just couldn't let this one go.  GHOUCK, what you'd accused ER of you're guilty of yourself.  You did that to me. 

Wipe the sand off your mangina and deal with it. . .

And not that I expect you to be honest enough to care, but it was a totally different situation. I really don't expect you to bother understanding that though. .

BTW, there's a few good posts back in 2001 you should cry about while you're at it. . .

Ghouck and Allhallowsday:

You two do not get along, which is not a problem with me.  However, this forum is not the place to do it.  If you want to debate a point, then do so.  Dragging up old threads out of the blue is uncalled for, and personal insults are not acceptable.  

If you cannot act like grown men, then I suggest you ignore each other.