Look At This Picture Of Uranus

[arwalden]

What's the correct way to pronounce its name?

[Richardo]

1. I was EXTREMELY reluctant to open this thread...

...because no matter HOW you pronounce it, it could have been a BAD BAD picture. x(

I say 'ur-AIN-us', btw, and then giggle like Beavis for 10 minutes. :D

[GOPisEvil]

2. I always say Ur-ANUS, too...it was Dan Rather who started URINE-us.

When Rather talked about the pictures of URINE-us, my first reaction was :wtf:

[arwalden]

6. PBS Narrator: "Astronomers Have Been Curious About Ur-Anus For Decades"

"We know Uranus is a gas giant and we know that Uranus cannot support life as we know it."

It's no wonder some professional announcers and newscasters prefer to say Urine-us. Despite their sophisticated and educated demeanor... deep inside they still think butt-jokes and fart-jokes are funny. They wouldn't be able to keep a straight face during an interview (and there would be many out-takes while recording narration for a science video.)

-- Allen (who is never afraid to take yet another stab at sophomoric humor and fart-jokes)

[GOPisEvil]

Yeah, this is true.

But URINE-us just sounds wrong.

OOR-anus would be better, slightly.

[Richardo]

11. Let's agree to refer to it as "Planet Clair"

Thank you, B-52s...

[GOPisEvil]

13. LMAO!!!! Perfect!

Planet Claire has pink air
All the trees are red
No one ever dies there
No one has a head

[Radical__Moderate]

23. Are you living in your own private idaho or something

[Bertha Venation]

30. with a dog dyed dark green?

'bout two inches tall with a strawberry blonde fall
sunglasses and a bonnet and designer jeans with appliques on it

Quiche Lorraine!

Ah.... high school.... what twisted memories.

[arwalden]

14. There's A Moon In The Sky It's Called "The Moon", But It Needs A Real Name

Wouldn't it be interesting if it had its own name as well. Something from Greek or Roman mythology would be fun. Jupiter's moons have names... why shouldn't our moon have a name as well?

I smell a contest.

-- Allen

[GOPisEvil]

15. I thought our moon was Luna.

Isn't it? :shrug:

[Richardo]

18. ...and our sun is "Sol". Both are just Latin words for "moon" and "sun".

How self-referential can you get? :crazy:

I'm with Allen - we need a contest to name both. :thumbsup:

[GOPisEvil]

19. Heehee...the universe revolves around us here on Earth!

Didn't you get the memo? ;-)

I think we should call the moon Monty. That way, every 28 days, we get the full Monty. :D

[arwalden]

24. You're Nuttier Than A Fruitcake

... and funnier too.

-- Allen

[Richardo]

25. Pffffffffft!! Man it's hard to see through all the coffee on my monitor..

Good one, David :D :thumbsup:

[pmbryant]

21. Selene

Wasn't that the Greek goddess of the Moon?

Or is that just the ancient Greek word for 'Moon'?

Or both?

:shrug:

http://www.in2greece.com/english/historymyth/mythology/names/selene.htm

--Peter

[GOPisEvil]

22. Being Greek, that sounds good to me.

:7

[goobergunch]

17. My 8th grade science teacher forced us to call it

"The Planet U".

[UrbScotty]

27. LOL!

That is perhaps the funniest thing on this thread!

[XNASA]

31. "Asstronomers Have Been Curious About Uranus for Decades"

If somebody hasn't already used the word "Asstronomers" in the title of a porno flick, they should.

:crazy:

[goobergunch]

3. URINE-us

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Uranus

[greyl]

5. That gives both pronunciations though. :)

Some linguists believe the first pronunciation (Urine-us) evolved because of prudish attitudes.

The very first greek pronunciation was probably with a soft U sound, as in udder, not universe. "oo-RAY-nus"

[TreasonousBastard]

4. How is it pronounced...

in Klingon?

[alwynsw]

7. UR-an-us (short a as in an)

according to my wife the retired science teacher. (But maybe that's because she taught 8th grade science. 13 and 14-year olds tend to take anything that sounds even remotely similar to a body part and giggle themselves to death.)

[terrya]

8. URINE-us. That's the correct way to pronounce it. eom

[BlueEyedSon]

9. Look! There are RINGS around Uranus.... nt

[Philostopher]

32. I was twelve or so when the report came back on that.

We used to call people who had late night shifts -- local telephone operators, DJs, or people at local newspapers, I mean; not cops or EMS or hospitals -- and ask them if they'd seen the exciting news yet that 'Uranus has rings!' If they said, 'yeah, so I hear,' we'd say, 'how did you determine that? Did you use two mirrors, or what?' and we'd hang up giggling.

Well, it was better than calling private citizens and asking them if their refrigerators were running, or calling grocery stores (back before the age of 7-11) to ask if they had Prince Albert in a can, and if they did, could they let him out before he suffocated.

Ah, youth. I'm sure I made enough of a nuisance of myself with the telephone, before I was even a teenager, to have had at least a dozen people who'd never met me who'd gladly have burned me at the stake.

[the_boxer_]

10. Ur-Anus

Just because I'm an incorrigible juvenile.

[LynneSin]

12. Is this a sex thread buried in a NASA poll???

:shrug:

:D

[goobergunch]

16. Yes (n/t)

[Rowdyboy]

20. Ya'lls anus

down south

[dolo amber]

26. BwAhaaHAahaAHahHAhahahAaaaa

Stop that! :D:D:D

[Cheswick2.0]

28. ROFL

You get the blue ribbon for this thread.

[BurtWorm]

29. Ooooooorrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaanooooooosssssssss.

Ostentatiously pretentious pronunciation, striving to sound like ancient Greek. You will confuse the hell out of everyone but will avoid the dilemma as you present it.

PS: Be sure to rrrrrrrrrrrrrroll the Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[beawr]

33. My 3 yr old Daughter

Named one of her dolls Uranus after I was telling her about the planets in the Solar System. So now we get such exclamations as:

I forgot Uranus
Where's Uranus
I love Uranus
Uranus is pretty

in public. All from a cute 3 year old.

We think it's funny

Her older brother is 5 and he thinks the whole Anus thing is a riot.

[mlawson]

34. Hmm. It isn't MY anus...

Sorry, couldn't resist.