The Case for “Nookyoolar”
I have long been irritated by what I considered to be Bush’s mispronunciation of the word “nuclear.” My motto has been: “If he can’t pronounce the word, perhaps he shouldn’t be allowed to launch the weapons.”
But here comes a post by Beldar with several cites (in the updates) to posts defending the pronunciation. [UPDATE: The posts collected by Beldar are from the Curmudgeonly Clerk and Prof. Volokh.]
I will still teach my children to pronounce it “noo-klee-ur,” but having read these posts, I will not be so quick to conclude that the other pronunciation is objectively “wrong.”
Credit, please, the Curmudgeonly Clerk and Prof. Volokh; I did no more than link their stuff. And although I found their defenses of the nonstandard pronunciation to be persuasive, like you I’ll still avoid it, and probably still wince when Dubya says it — but then I’ll smile a small smile and nod for no apparent reason.
Comment by Beldar (42a7aa) — 1/21/2004 @ 9:46 pm
The links are indeed to the Curmudgeonly Clerk and Prof. Volokh, as anyone who reads the posts will see — but Beldar collected the links in one convenient place, and deserves credit for that.
Comment by Patterico (f7b3e5) — 1/21/2004 @ 10:16 pm
Must be a GOP thing: Ike also said nookyoolar, oftentimes just before he climbed aboard his heliocopter.
Comment by bear, the (one each) (adb0d9) — 1/22/2004 @ 7:17 am
According to the links cited in Beldar’s post, Carter and Clinton also pronounced it the funny-sounding way.
Comment by Patterico (a41e69) — 1/22/2004 @ 8:48 am
Maybe it’s a subliminal message to our enemies, as in “[I'm going to] NUKE YOU-ler.”
Comment by Steve M. (4f399a) — 1/22/2004 @ 2:10 pm
IIRC, the other Prez Bush said “nucular,” too.
Comment by Xrlq (6d213c) — 1/22/2004 @ 11:06 pm
Jimmy Carter pronounced it that way, too. And he was a nucular engineer.
Comment by James Joyner (5b20ec) — 2/2/2004 @ 7:46 pm