Teacher to 4-Year-Olds: 'You Are All Just Stupid Kids'

[Adrian Laguna]

Don't worry, I know how you feel. I feel the same way I hear a commonwealth scientist add an extra syllable to 'Aluminum' to make it 'Aluminium'.

Thing is, the vast majority of the planet says it in a manner that is closer to "Aluminium" than "Aluminum". It seems to be a case of the Americans dropping a letter, not others adding it.

[Molyneux]

Don't worry, I know how you feel. I feel the same way I hear a commonwealth scientist add an extra syllable to 'Aluminum' to make it 'Aluminium'.

Thing is, the vast majority of the planet says it in a manner that is closer to "Aluminium" than "Aluminum". It seems to be a case of the Americans dropping a letter, not others adding it.

It's actually spelled differently outside of the United States. Even American chemists can't agree with those from other nations.

[Adrian Laguna]

It's actually spelled differently outside of the United States. Even American chemists can't agree with those from other nations.

How's that different from what I just said?

[Molyneux]

It's actually spelled differently outside of the United States. Even American chemists can't agree with those from other nations.

How's that different from what I just said?

I thought that you were talking about a tendency towards regional pronunciation as slang - aluminum/aluminium seems to be an actual official difference in the spelling of the word.

[Adrian Laguna]

I thought that you were talking about a tendency towards regional pronunciation as slang - aluminum/aluminium seems to be an actual official difference in the spelling of the word.

That vast majority of the languages in the world seem to favour "aluminium" or something that is similar to "aluminium", with "aluminum" being an American only thing.

[Twoyboy]

Since we're a mile off topic anyway...

"Aluminium" is the IUPAC approved spelling. I've rarely heard it pronounced "aluminum" other than on TV (watching American shows of course). I was once told that the original spelling was "aluminum" but I've never bothered to verify that.

Oh, and in Australia I predominately hear nuclear pronounced as "new-clear", and sometimes "new-cue-lar". The only time I've ever heard something like "new-clee-ar" was when Homer "corrected" his army sergeant on the Simpsons.

[Darth Wong]

I don't know who all these people are who make a distinct two-syllable sound with the "clear" part of "nuclear"; I don't recall ever meeting one in person, and I don't hear too many of them on TV either. When someone decides to drag out "nuclear" to add more sounds to it, he usually does a George W. Bush.

As for "aluminium", I tend to think it sounds kind of quaint because I'm used to the shorter form, but to be fair to our Old World friends, it seems that element names usually use the "ium" suffix. Just look at other material names: helium, lithium, beryllium, sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, gallium, germanium, selenium, rubidium, strontium, yttrium, zirconium, niobium, technetium, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, cadmium, indium, tellurium, cesium, barium, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium, hafnium, rhenium, osmium, iridium, thallium, polonium, francium, radium, actinium, thorium, protactinium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, einsteinium, fermium, mendelevium, nobelium, lawrencium, and rutherfordium.

But to be fair, there are a few other elements which end in "um": molybdenum, tantalum, lanthanum, and platinum.

[CaptainChewbacca]

The Aluminum-Aluminium difference seems to come from the American who made the production cheap/easy. Though he'd been using 'aluminium' in his patents, he used 'aluminum' in his promotional materials, probably because it was easier for the public to say or pronounce. America WAS using 'aluminium' up until that point, but then it caught on and the rest is history.

[Spin Echo]

I don't know who all these people are who make a distinct two-syllable sound with the "clear" part of "nuclear"; I don't recall ever meeting one in person, and I don't hear too many of them on TV either. When someone decides to drag out "nuclear" to add more sounds to it, he usually does a George W. Bush.

Out of curiosity, do you think they are saying nuclear with two or three syllables?

[Darth Wong]

I don't know who all these people are who make a distinct two-syllable sound with the "clear" part of "nuclear"; I don't recall ever meeting one in person, and I don't hear too many of them on TV either. When someone decides to drag out "nuclear" to add more sounds to it, he usually does a George W. Bush.

Out of curiosity, do you think they are saying nuclear with two or three syllables?

I suppose it depends on whether you think "clear" (or for that matter, "ear") is a two-syllable word. They are pronouncing it "new"-"clear".

[Spin Echo]

I suppose it depends on whether you think "clear" (or for that matter, "ear") is a two-syllable word. They are pronouncing it "new"-"clear".

Listen carefully. It's definitely being pronounced with three syllables.

[Terralthra]

It's mostly due to the r-colored vowel tendency in American English. The vowel 'ea' in 'nuclear' becomes a diphthong, moving from /i/ to /a/. Since the a assimilates the r (or vice-versa, depending on which linguist you ask), but /i/ can't similarly assimilate, that articulatory shift makes it sound like two syllables.