NOOK-you-lar TIMES 3 FOR CYING OUT LOUD in ONE SPEECH!

[Tyler Durden]

NOOK-you-lar weapons.
NOOK-you-lar fuel.
NOOK-you-lar ambitions.

3 different times in one speech, in front of the fucking UN General Assembly.

IT'S NOO-klee-er YOU FUCKING IDIOT. On top of that, it's not "makin'", IT'S "MAKING," WITH A FUCKING "G" ON THE END, YOU GOD DAMNED MORON.

He has STAFF. Can't SOMEONE tell this fool how to pronounce words in the ENGLISH LANGUAGE???

[spanone]

1. That Ivy League ejikashun aint all it's cracked up to be.

[Mandate My Ass]

4. He's living proof that legacy admissions need to be abolished

Yale must be so proud to claim him as one of her own. :eyes:

[Tyler Durden]

5. I lived in Houston when he became Governor.

If anyone had told me I was looking at the future President, I'd have laughed so hard I'd have puked.

[immoderate]

6. Lots of words in English are pronounced differently than they are spelled.

Right? Or should write "rite?" Or should I rite "shude?"

One of the ironies of English is how people pronounce iron as "eye-yurn."

The dictionary is a journal of how words are used and pronounced, not a set of proscriptive rules. A lot of people say "nookyuler." It's no big deal.

--IMM :)

[rock]

7. Close

A lot of uneducated people say "nookyuler."

[immoderate]

8. So what?

Do you say "to-may-to" or "to-mah-to?" And a lot of uneducated people say nu-kle-ar. It is indicative of nothing.

My ROTC instructor, way back when, a West Pointer, said "nookyuler." He was very well educated, and a total asshole.

FYI, my dictionary gives both pronunciations.

--IMM

[Tyler Durden]

13. You might as well say "psghetti"

It's not spelled in a way that could beg that mispronounciation. It JUST DOESN'T WORK.

And I'd LOVE to see your dictionary. I have NEVER seen it phonetically pronounce that way.

[immoderate]

23. Here are some references.

My Miriam-Webster Collegiate online (shrink wrapped) just lists both pronunciations, I take the first one, the one we use, to be the preferred.

The Mirriam-Webster Online website does the same:

nuclear
Main Entry: nu·cle·ar
Pronunciation: 'nü-klE-&r, 'nyü-, ÷-ky&-l&r

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/nuclear

Dictionary.com parses it out a bit more and explains the common error: (but they don't call it an error!)

nuclear (noo-klee-er, nyoo- or, by metathesis, -kyuh-ler)
— Pronunciation note In pronouncing nuclear, the second and third syllables are most commonly said as ...<-klee-er> a sequence of sounds that directly reflects the spelled sequence ‑cle-ar. In recent years, a somewhat controversial pronunciation has come to public attention, with these two final syllables said as (kyuh-ler)...
The resulting pronunciation is reinforced by analogy with such words as molecular, particular, and muscular, and although it occurs with some frequency among highly educated speakers, including scientists, professors, and government officials, it is disapproved of by many.

(Heavily edited by me to get rid of phonetic symbols that don't translate.)
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=nuclear

OK, I am not recommending the second pronunciation and I would not teach it to my students. I am saying it's not a big issue. So kwitherbellyachin and fuhgeddaboutit. :)

--IMM

[Tyler Durden]

27. I will take that not as a concession....

But as acceptance of the proper use of English as opposed to the "accepted usage" such as the word "ain't."

He should know better, and should speak as the leader of the free world should.

NOW I'll fugeddaboutit.

[immoderate]

30. Hey, you wouldn't catch me saying "nukuler"

I'll admit I get a little worked up when people say "hay-nee-us" for heinous.

I just wanted to put the issue in its place. I've known some good people who pronounce some words differently than me.

--IMM

[NRaleighLiberal]

9. But....nuclear, from nucleus. Different situation here.

Or is it a Nukulus in your book? Sorry, I am a scientist - for technical words such as this, there is utterly no excuse, except for ignorance or stubbornness, for getting it wrong.

[immoderate]

15. Some people say nukulus, I've heard it.

Maybe it's against the official rules for scientists. Nucleus comes from the Latin word for "nut." Wasn't invented by scientists.

How do you pronounce iodine? :eyes:

--IMM

[Tyler Durden]

20. You are still arguing for inserting a non-existent syllable.

The point is NOT the mispronounciation itself; the point is THAT BUSH SHOULD KNOW BETTER, and even if what he said in the election was true, that he would HIRE smart people, then THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

Dictionaries are cheap.

[immoderate]

24. Dictionaries are free! (At least online.)

There is no official authority for how words are pronounced. (Unlike the French!) It is all very subjective.

Both pronunciations have exactly three syllables. I'm not saying it's right. I'm saying it's not an issue, or indicative of anything. Yes, Bush is a moran, but this is not why.

--IMM

[Hosnon]

33. Makes no difference. Words are simply what we say they are. It's a

valid pronunciation...get over it.

[napi21]

19. I disagree with you on the nukelear pronunciation!

Yes, there are lots of different word pronunciations that are accepted as correct, but NOT NUKELEAR! As for "a lot of people pronouncing it wrong...that doesn't make it correct", now does it?

I expect the Presidenet of the US to be able to speak, at leastfairly common words, correctly! After all, he does represent all of us to the World!

[uppityperson]

21. Yeah, some people pronounce him "president bush" even

and that is a major mispronounciation in my opinion.

[Hosnon]

34. Amen...repeat after me: The English language is only that which its

speakers use.

Pronunciations are not Platonic forms. If enough people pronounce it one way...guess what?!?!?! IT IS A VALID PRONUNCIATION...Read the front few pages of a dictionary for cryin' out loud people.

[upi402]

2. The Bushtard didn't wear his helmet while doing his bicycle hardwork

:dunce:

[Der Blaue Engel]

3. Only elitists insist on intelligence in a leader

Only elitists know them word-spellin', knowledgeatin' things. Stop oppressing the stupid!

[glarius]

10. His staff is scared of the little dictator & want to keep their jobs!

If it wasn't so damaging to America's relations with the rest of the world, it would be really hilarious to watch him. He's a strutting, stammering, cartoon character...posing as a world leader. Really, he looks and sounds like a character actor from central casting, cast as the leader of a third rate dictatorship!

[Initech]

11. New rule: I dont think you should be allowed to be against something until

you can pronounce it!

[Maven]

12. Aww. That's just his downhome, cornpone, all-American charm, friend!

What's that you say? The world is a-comin' to an end?

Why, have some good, old-fashioned Apple pah!

[ProdigalJunkMail]

14. well...Carter said nukular...and he studied nukular stuff in the Navy

just sayin'...

[Tyler Durden]

16. It doesn't make it RIGHT.

And Carter didn't SAY IT every other MINUTE.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. but people here (and elsewhere) say it proves yer stoopid

and that there is no excuse...well, apparently THAT doesn't make you stupid and there apparently IS an excuse...

And no, it isn't right, but it is hardly something to get worked up over...as is nothing else superficial. Shouldn't DU be keeping its collective 'eye on the ball?'

sP

[Tyler Durden]

18. It proves that you're UNEDUCATED.

No offense to Carter, but I've SEEN the results of West Point and Annapolis. They are not what you would call "literature" or "English" heavy.

Bush on the other hand supposedly has an Ivy League education. He has no excuse for mispronouncing a 3 syllable word.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

22. wow...that was rough

slamming West Point and Annapolis...nice. My father went through West Point. And the fact that Carter graduated in the top 10% of his class means he was uneducated...nice.

sP

[Tyler Durden]

25. I did 6 in the regulars (USN) and 7 in the reserves (USNR)

And the Officers were no better or worse than any other snotty college kids who thought they were better than the "help," (enlisted personnel) WITH some exceptions. I will assume your Dad was one, as I will assume Carter was one.

That said, Einstein could barely spell. Nash was crazy. You can be a GENIUS and get it wrong, or you can be CLUELESS and not care.

Stop PERSONALIZING this. Do you make a habit of PURPOSEFULLY mispronouncing English in front of very large, HIGHLY EDUCATED, international audiences? Like BUSH does?

I didn't think so. Your Dad probably wouldn't have either.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. all I am saying is that people hang the stupid label

on Bush for shit like this and it proves nothing...hell it probably proves that he is manipulative more than anything. I think people should be focusing on his policies, not his pronunciation...

And by the way, Dad said "big f'ing bomb" ... not nuclear ;-)

sP

[Tyler Durden]

29. Stupid and Clueless are not necessarily congruent...

...or mutually exclusive.

Personally, I think he says to himself "I'll pronounce it any way I God Damned Well Please."

[immoderate]

31. Good point.

I'll bet that along the way, someone pointed it out to him. Maybe he thinks it plays better with his base. We all know he's obstinate and stubborn.

Hmm, I can't recall how Poppy Bush says it.

--IMM

[Tesha]

28. What do you want? He's a "moran"! (NT)

[NRaleighLiberal]

32. Here is a blast from the past....2002 article in Slate.

http://www.slate.com/id/2071155/

[magellan]

35. Okay, I'll jump into the fray and say it's not stupid, it's Southern

That isn't a bash of Southerners. I live in and love the South. One of my favorite actors was a man from Georgia, particularly when he let his slow drawl shine through. {sigh...} But, the mispronouncing of 'nuclear' is prevalent in the South.

What's moronic is that the person abusing the word is the President of the US. If it were his ONLY slip-up it would be forgiveable. But the son of a bitch has no sense of decorum or manners whatsoever.

Just look again (if you can stomach it) at the clip of him chawing open-mouthed on a dinner roll while talking to Blair. That's after addressing him with a low-rent, "Yo, Blair." Or of Bush** rudely pulling at the Chinese PM(?)'s sleeve on the open-air podium at the WH last year to get him to go in the right direction.

Bush** behaving like a head of state is the rare exception, not the rule. Anyone who considers his behavior "comfortingly down to earth" is the moron. That he doesn't bother to carry himself with the dignity of the Office is a bright red warning flag about his character.