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Kilometer
Guest
1
2009/05/19 - 6:29am

Please help me win a few bets. I believe the word "kilometer" is pronounced like centimeter or millimeter, not thermometer. TV and radio like to pronounce it with the second syllable accented, like thermometer. Who is correct?

Guest
2
2009/05/19 - 7:02am

To the best of my knowledge, both pronunciations are in wide use. I associate the one with initial stress (like centimeter) with non-US speakers, while the one one with stress on the second syllable (like thermometer) with US speakers.

The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition states:

USAGE NOTE: Although the pronunciation of kilometer with stress on the second syllable, ... is often censured because it does not conform to the stress pattern in millimeter and centimeter (it originally came about by false analogy with barometer and thermometer), it continues to thrive in American English. In a recent survey, 69 percent of the Usage Panel preferred this pronunciation, while 29 percent preferred the pronunciation ... /on the first syllable/ .

The special characters didn't transfer well, so I added the editorial note.

Guest
3
2009/05/19 - 10:57am

It's not easy to win bets on pronunciation of words, because there are so many acceptable regional variances. For example, nuclear pronounced as nucular, and jewelry pronounced as jewlery. Not all dictionaries include all the variants, making the settling of a bet that much harder. I'm surprised, though. Didn't any of your friends bet that it is correct to pronounce kilometer either way, not just one way or the other?

Guest
4
2009/05/19 - 11:10am

No, they think the way Hollywood pronounces it is the only way. I usually pronounce it like centimeter, but I'm weakening as I hear it on TV, radio, and on the street pronounced what I consider the wrong way. Thanks for you input.

Guest
5
2009/05/19 - 11:17am

miketune said:

I usually pronounce it like centimeter...


Do you pronounce the first syllable of centimeter "CENT" or "SONT"? wink

Guest
6
2009/05/19 - 11:47am

Even with initial stress, I've heard it sometimes like “KEEL” and sometimes like “KILL”

Guest
7
2009/05/19 - 10:51pm

they think the way Hollywood pronounces it is the only way.

At best, Hollywood movies may offer only some acceptable variants, but why on earth would anyone think it would be the only way? After all, the pronunciations of words vary not only in different movies, but even within the same movie with different actors/characters. For example, actors portraying George Bush will pronounce nuclear nucular. And sometimes Hollywood actors pronounce words incorrectly, such as when Sylvester Stallone said "wreck havoc."

So, Mike, you didn't say what standard reference you relied on to make you think that "your" way of pronouncing kilometer was the only correct way? Do you rely on Bollywood movies? wink

Guest
8
2009/05/21 - 6:27am

I relied on what I learned in grade school 40 years ago and an old Websters dictionary, circa 1900. The rule stated in the dictionary is units of measure are pronounced the same way. Gauges (tools) are pronounced the other way. Easy to remember for me.

Guest
9
2009/05/22 - 11:39am

Being in the US, I just say "miles". But seriously, I say kilometer like I say barometer. Neither way bothers me, and I could get used to saying it the other way as well.

Don't get me started on nuke-ya-lur. That really sets me off!

Guest
10
2009/05/28 - 7:34am

I know what your mean: idiot President Geo Bush said nuke-ya-lur or something damn close to it. It bugged me. Why didn't his staff educate him - too late I guess to learn new tricks.

Guest
11
2009/05/28 - 9:51am

Back to the pronunciation thing, while living on the other side of the big lake I heard it pronounced as "kill-ometer," "killo-meter," "keel-ometer," and "keelo-meter." Clearly them yurpeens are confused. Can't agree on anything it seems. smile

Guest
12
2009/05/28 - 4:20pm

All this confusion could easily be avoided if instead of pronouncing kilometer one way or another they would instead say 0.621371192 mile.

Guest
13
2009/06/01 - 12:38pm

Yes, I like 0.621371192 mile.

stevenz
Auckland
30 Posts
(Offline)
14
2009/06/18 - 4:25am

Living in a metric country, I can report that it's most commonly pronounced "K-M."

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