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Pronunciation of aviation


DonMuncy

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Last night a friend asked me why I pronounced aviation with a short "a" sound (like we use for Avgas) rather than the long "a" like the sound in eight. I had never thought about it, but admitted I pronounced it that way. I looked on several places on Google and each one said the correct sound was the long a. 

Have I just been wrong all these years and never knew it; do others use the short sound; or what? It pains me to use improper English, especially if I don't know I am doing it.

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Don, I've always used the long A for aviation, just like in "plane."

And Parker, anchovies aren't fish or vegetable, they are a salty, crystalline mineral. Or at least that's how they are in pizza, which turned me into an EBA fan (Everything But Anchovies). But packed in a tin with mustard sauce, they are surprisingly tasty little fish! But I think it's a generic term, not a particular small fishy.

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That was what I was afraid of. Everybody but me uses the long a.

All of you do say Avgas with a short a don't you?

And I don't remember when or where I picked it up. It is probably not regional. I think it is just me. 

I will change my pronunciation, and quit sounding like a dork (at least in this case). Thanks much.

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1 minute ago, DonMuncy said:

That was what I was afraid of. Everybody but me uses the long a.

All of you do say Avgas with a short a don't you?

And I don't remember when or where I picked it up. It is probably not regional. I think it is just me. 

I will change my pronunciation, and quit sounding like a dork (at least in this case). Thanks much.

Don’t be too hard on yourself, it sounds kind of smart, if you stick to it  you might create a movement. Put it on you tube and it may even go viral.

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6 hours ago, DonMuncy said:

Last night a friend asked me why I pronounced aviation with a short "a" sound (like we use for Avgas) rather than the long "a" like the sound in eight. I had never thought about it, but admitted I pronounced it that way. I looked on several places on Google and each one said the correct sound was the long a. 

Have I just been wrong all these years and never knew it; do others use the short sound; or what? It pains me to use improper English, especially if I don't know I am doing it.

Don't worry, some people say pronounciation instead of pronunciation. Where would you even start with them?

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I liked President George W Bush Please do not start a political debate or this thread will be shut down immediately, I'm sure).  But one of my pet peeves of his was his pronunciation of Nuclear.  He would pronounce it Nucular.  Where in the word NUCLEAR do you see the extra U that would cause one to pronounce it Nucular? Used to bug the crap out of me.  Then I found out that particular pronunciation is listed in Merriam Webster as a variation in pronunciation of the word.  I still can't stand it.  Not sure of they had it in there all the time or added it because the President used it...

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On 1/17/2020 at 1:06 PM, Ah-1 Cobra Pilot said:

At least you do not say "aluminium", do you?

A very good friend I grew up with had a speech impediment and always pronounced "aluminum" as "aluminium".  I thought it was particularly funny because he was right in just about every other country!

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6 minutes ago, skydvrboy said:

A very good friend I grew up with had a speech impediment and always pronounced "aluminum" as "aluminium".  I thought it was particularly funny because he was right in just about every other country!

It's on the internet, so it must be true . . . Looks like "aluminium" is the Chiefly British work for "aluminum" instead of being the other way around . . . .

aluminum.thumb.png.eb60ba0ac0d9bb5d076804b68b7d6df4.png

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Oops! Got my threads confused and made a reply above thinking I was here instead . . . Here comes a repeat post that actually applies here.

*************************************

We've been having discussions here at work with some recently-arrived coworkers from facilities outside the US, revolving around textbook vs. Southern English, and what the words mean [when they can figure out what the words are]. Fun times. Cue Lewis Grizzard:  https://youtu.be/imZjCbRuZ3c 

Edited by Hank
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@Hank  Aluminium is Latin, therefore that pronunciation has been spread throughout the world.  It is pronounced the same in Arabic, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Hindi, Korean, etc., etc. etc... even Zulu.  I am unaware of any other language that pronounces it aluminum, but perhaps it's out there.  I know in Spanish (and probably a few languages similar to Spanish) it is aluminio.

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