What about when Dan Quayle told the spelling B champ that potato was spelled with an E. I'm not going to knock someone for spelling though because mine sucks. You know, its funny that people defend Bush's intelligence with saying how well you speak doesn't have anything to do with your intelligence. When I was in College, I took an anthropology class. One of the things we learned was that people in general think in words. Meaning that without language, general knowledge wouldn't develop because you need something in your brain to represent your thoughts to quote "put two and two together". Thus we think in words, so the point I'm getting to is that, people who generally speak clearly, are quicker thinkers, because your words represent your thoughts.
Hmm... A Dem. disputing a Republican sotry. That's original As far as the topic goes. it is a regional thing. I know lots of people that say Nucular. It doesn't really bother me too much because I know what they are saying. One that does sometimes bother me though is people that say Vietmanese. And they even put a little pause in there like Viet---manese. I just wanna say what is a Vietmanese someone that comes from Vietman?
Actually, it wasn't a spelling bee champ, just a kid in a 6th grade class. But the thing that is lost in that story, is that the flash card that Quayle was using had the word spelled 'potatoe'. The flash card was prepared by a teacher (hmmm, I wonder what political affiliation the teacher had ).
Why Does Bush Go "Nucular"? By Kate Taylor When speaking about nuclear weapons, George W. Bush invariably pronounces the word "nucular." Is this an acceptable pronunciation? Not really. Changing "nu-clee-ar" into "nu-cu-lar" is an example of what linguists call metathesis, which is the switching of two adjacent sounds. (Think of it this way: "nook le yer" becomes "nook ye ler.") This switching is common in English pronunciation; you might pronounce "iron" as "eye yern" rather than "eye ron." Why do people do it? One reason, offered in a usage note in the American Heritage Dictionary, is that the "ular" ending is extremely common in English, and much more common than "lear." Consider particular, circular, spectacular, and many science-related words like molecular, ocular, muscular. Bush isn't the only American president to lose the "nucular" war. In his "On Language" column in the New York Times Magazine in May 2001, William Safire lamented that, besides Bush, at least three other presidents—Eisenhower, Carter, and Clinton—have mangled the word. In fact, Bush's usage is so common that it appears in at least one dictionary. Merriam-Webster's, by far the most liberal dictionary, includes the pronunciation, though with a note identifying it as "a pronunciation variant that occurs in educated speech but that is considered by some to be questionable or unacceptable." A 1961 Merriam-Webster's edition was the first to include "nucular"; the editors received so many indignant letters that they added a usage note in the 1983 version, pointing out its "widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, U.S. cabinet members, and at least one U.S. president and one vice president." They even noted its prominence among "British and Canadian speakers."
THANK YOU! I knew that I had seen it in a dictionary somewhere years ago, but could never relocate the reference. I was shocked to see it be considered even remotely acceptable.
I've heard him say it correctly before. He knows how it's pronounced, it's just a bad habit he can't get rid of. My grandmother pronounces "wash" like "wersh." I can't explain it.
To me, its a big deal, actually. It's a word referencing the potential destruction of civilization as we know it, and the leader of the free world can't pronounce it? It's not folksy colloquialism; it is an embarassing mistake. It makes him sound like an idiot. It makes Yale look fairly stupid for letting him through. It makes us all look like idiots for electing him president. It makes us Texans look like double idiots for electing him governor and president. He might as well come out in a poly-blend red T shirt with white puffy lettering that says "Moustache Rides 5 cents" holding a Lone Star Light when he says "nucular". It KILLS me when he says "nucular." He might as well launch a "nucular" attack, a bunch of positively charged atoms at Syria or something. Feel free to chime in with whatever "nucular" really means -- I knew the difference in fourth grade, but now I forget. Like a nuclear family, I guess? Nuclear Family Values? Tell you what, when I get elected freaking president I'll make sure someone on my staff sets me straight about the whole nucular vs. nuclear thing. That and how to eat a pretzel. Bush is the prototypical "be careful what you wish for" fruit of democracy. Elected (sorta) by the people by seducing the most unsophisticated instincts of the masses. He's like the Hootie and the Blowfish of the Presidency, just lame enough to be loved by enough people to hit the #1 spot. CBFC PS. Gore was horrible too, don't get me wrong...
I get the feeling that Texans' shame in their own heritage (and, generally the US' shame in the heritage of the South) tends to make them make a bigger deal of this pronunciation than it is. It is just a colloquial accent and not a big deal. But, that accent represents the South and it represents an agrarian history, so people are ashamed. The Bostonian accent it even more grievous in butchering the English language, but they're proud of it, just as there are a few Texans who proudly promote their own accent. The Bostonian accent doesn't have a mental association with the uneducated, the agrarian and the poor. People didn't shutter to hear JFK speak. Sounding Texan though does have that association so it is ridiculed. There was a study (I think there was a thread about it here) about how employers tend to discriminate on the basis of the regional accents of prospective employees. Sounding Southern lowered employers' opinions of you. My own theory is that Bush is well aware that he does not use the commonly accepted pronunciation of nuclear and just doesn't care. He at least isn't ashamed of being Texan.
Yeah? I've never heard anyone say they were ashamed to be a Texan. I know I don't pronounce the word right to hide the fact that I'm from this state.
I think we're just ashamed that as a Texan he continues to mispronounce and screw up very simple language that serves to reinforce stereotypes of Texans.
It's not a mispronunciation -- its the wrong word. And it is a heavy word, too, it's not like he's pronouncing something inconsequential to the survival of the human race like "Pecan." Clinton had an accent, Kennedy had an accent, but they could speak the language. If a Canadian referred to Hakeem Olajuwon as "Akim Muresean," it would make him an uninformed Canadian, not just a proud Canadian. Accents are fine. Crap like "misunderestimating" and "nucular" is a reflection of having a third-grade grasp of the language, which is the fingernails-on-a-chalkboard part of his public speaking. And I am just a little irritated that we could not find someone who knows English -- or someone who could learn English -- to be president of the country. I am surprised that his staff, invariably smarter than he, let's him get away with it. CBFC
Nucular is a word? Oh, and Bill Clinton, by all accounts an extremely intelligent guy, made the same mistake often, as did Jimmy Carter, of who's intelligence I know nothing about. Maybe it's a Southern thing...
True, now that I think about it. But I expected it from a Democrat. (and, if you want to see whether it's a word, go to the liberry and look it up. )
Can't believe someone started a thread about this, but it's always bugged the S*** out of me. OK students, let's get phonetic: 1) Nuke - we all know what that means 2) Lee - like the General, or maybe Spike 3) Are - a pretty common word seen several times each day Now class, let's say it together.............. No, no, no George, not NUKULUR Guess we'll all have to start over again. Great weekend to all, Dallas Rocket
"It's asSESS the window. You put the wrong emPHAAsis on the wrong syLAAble." -Mike Myers making me laugh and coming to a theater near you in that new Gwen Paltrow flick.
I know this is corny and it annoys my wife when I do it: Whenever President Bush says "war on tara," I turn to my wife an say, "What did Tara Lapinski ever do to him!! Why can't these Michelle Kwan fanatics just let it go!! She lost, OK!! Get over it!! Damn!!"
