Goin' Nucular

Hi-De-Ho Rene,

Let me direct your attention to an interesting discussion going on over at Reason's Hit and Run regarding the pronunciation of "nuclear." Jimmy Carter has long pronounced it "nucular," just as George W. Bush does, but the former president, peanut farmer and nuclear engineer is not derided for his lack of intelligence in so doing.

It's easy enough to pick on other people's pronunciation, but hard to keep yourself to the same standard. In my experience, "nucular" is the preferred pronunciation of many folks who pronounce "coupon" as "kew-pon," and it's not entirely or even mostly a function of their level of education. I interchange "coo-pon" and "kew-pon," but manage to say "nuclear" mostly because of one junior high teacher who fixated on it.

Assailing pronunciation that does not impair communication is lazy elitism. That the chattering class engages in it is unsurprising, as its members possess an inflated regard for a particular brand of book-learnin' (call it "showy but shallow," as personified by Al Gore through most of the 2000 presidential campaign; John Kerry is trying to avoid it).

Besides, if Ted Kennedy can call Castro's island "Cuber," then what's the fuss?

Later,
Kari