{{Short description|Common, prescribed-against pronunciation of "nuclear"}} {{italic title}} {{wiktionary}} '''''Nucular''''' is a common, proscribed pronunciation of the word "nuclear". It is a rough phonetic spelling of {{IPAc-en|ˈ|nj|uː|k|j|ə|l|ər}}. The ''Oxford English Dictionary''{{'}}s entry dates the word's first published appearance to 1943.<ref>"[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/258266 nucular, adj.2]". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. Accessed 10 September 2013.</ref>
==Dictionary notes==
This is one of two contentious pronunciations that receive particular mention in the FAQ of the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'':
<blockquote>Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in \-kyə-lər\ have been found in widespread use among educated speakers, including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, United States cabinet members, and at least two United States presidents and one vice president. While most common in the United States, these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/nuclear |title=nuclear - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |publisher=M-w.com |date=2012-08-31 |access-date=2013-12-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.m-w.com/help/faq/pronounce.htm | title = Your pronunciations of "often" and "nuclear" are wrong! How can you say they are correct? | publisher = Merriam-Webster online | access-date = 2006-10-23 }}</ref></blockquote>
The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' notes: <blockquote>The pronunciation (noo'kyə-lər), which is generally considered incorrect, is an example of how a familiar phonological pattern can influence an unfamiliar one ... [since] much more common is the similar sequence (-kyə-lər), which occurs in words like ''particular'', ''circular'', ''spectacular'', and in many scientific words like ''molecular'', ''ocular'', and ''vascular''.<ref name="ahdictionary.com">{{cite web|url=http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=nuclear |title=Nuclear - Definition from the American Heritage Online Dictionary |publisher=Ahdictionary.com |date=2013-01-09 |access-date=2013-12-06}}</ref></blockquote>
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' notes: <blockquote>The colloquial pronunciation British /ˈnjuːkjʊlə/, U.S. /ˈn(j)ukjələr/ (frequently rendered in written form as ''nucular''[...]) has been criticized in usage guides since at least the mid 20th century [...] although it is now commonly given as a variant in modern dictionaries.<ref>"[http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/128926 nuclear, adj. (and adv.) and n.]". OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. Accessed 10 September 2013.</ref></blockquote>
In his 1999 book ''The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations'', logophile Charles Harrington Elster wrote that the vast majority of those he spoke to while writing his book as well as 99% of the 1985 usage panel of Morris & Morris's ''Harper Dictionary of Contemporary Usage'' specifically condemned the use of the word and characterized it as a mispronunciation. Elster's own view on the matter derives from the root of the word: "''nucleus''". Arguing by analogy, Elster suggests that "''Molecular'' comes from ''molecule'', and ''particular'' comes from ''particle'', but there is no ''nucule'' to support ''nucular''."<ref name="elster">Elster, Charles Harrington. ''The Big Book Of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide for the Careful Speaker''. Houghton Mifflin. Pp.347-350. {{ISBN|978-0-618-42315-6}}. 2006.</ref><ref>''[https://www.pbs.org/speak/speech/beastly/#Nuclear Do you Speak American?]'' PBS. 2005.</ref>
==Notable users== The U.S. presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2002/09/why_does_bush_go_nucular.html|newspaper=Slate|title=Why Does Bush Go "Nucular"?|author=Kate Taylor|date=18 September 2002}}</ref> and vice president Walter Mondale used this pronunciation.<ref name="languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu">Pinker, Steven. ''Pinker contra Nunberg re nuclear/nucular''. LanguageLog. http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=730</ref> In his 2005 book ''Going Nucular'', linguist Geoffrey Nunberg suggested that the presidents' reasons for their differing pronunciations may be distinct. Whereas Eisenhower's pronunciation most likely arose from lack of familiarity (he first learned the word in midlife), Bush's usage may represent a calculated effort to appeal to populist sentiment,<ref>Nunberg, Geoffrey. ''Going Nucular: Language, Politics. and Culture in Confrontational Times''. PublicAffairs. Pp.297-298. {{ISBN|1586483455}}. 2009.</ref> though Nunberg's theory here is rejected by linguist Steven Pinker.<ref name="languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu"/> This analysis is repeated in the second edition of Elster's ''Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations''.<ref name=elster/>
Oxford professor Marcus du Sautoy used this pronunciation in a BBC documentary.<ref>BBC documentary, "Faster Than the Speed of Light"</ref>
The nuclear physicist Edward Teller, "father" of the American hydrogen bomb, supposedly used "nucular", and it does have some currency in the American nuclear research establishment.<ref name=Muller>{{cite book|last=Muller|first=Richard A|title=Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines|year=2008|publisher=W.W. Norton & Co.|isbn=9780393066272|page=153|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ynStlj6R1lIC&q=teller%2C+nucular&pg=PA153}}</ref> But in a 1965 interview on Project Plowshare, Teller used the standard pronunciation.<ref name=ProjectPlowshare>{{cite video|last=Teller|first=Edward |title=Project Plowshare|year=1965|publisher=Ohio State University|time=00:36|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa-IqOHDr_k |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Oa-IqOHDr_k |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
The 17th U.S. Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, said "nucular" several times in his welcome remarks on February 5, 2025.<ref name=chriswelcome>{{Cite web |url=https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-chris-wright-delivers-welcome-remarks-doe-staff |title=Secretary Chris Wright Delivers Welcome Remarks to DOE Staff |publisher=DOE |date=February 5, 2025|access-date=February 18, 2025}}</ref>
==Motivation== Pinker has proposed<ref>{{cite web |last=Pinker |first=Steven |url=http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/articles/media/2008_Palin_language.html |title=Everything You Heard Is Wrong |date=Oct 4, 2008 |access-date=2013-11-15}}{{dead link|date=January 2025}}</ref> a phonotactic explanation for the conversion of ''nuclear'' to ''nucular'': the unusual and disfavored sequence {{IPA|[kli.ər]}} is gradually transformed to a more acceptable configuration via metathesis.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} But Arnold Zwicky notes that {{IPA|[kli.ər]}} presents no difficulty for English speakers in words such as ''pricklier'' and deems the postulation of metathesis unnecessary. He suggests a morphological origin, combining the slang ''nuke'' with the common sequence ''-cular'' (''molecular'', ''particular'', etc.).<ref>{{cite web |last=Zwicky |first=Arnold |url=http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001999.html |title=Axe a stupid question |date=March 21, 2005 |access-date=2008-09-14}}</ref> Supporting Zwicky's hypothesis, Geoffrey Nunberg quotes a government weapons specialist:{{which|date=January 2025}} "Oh, I only say 'nucular' when I'm talking about nukes."<ref>{{cite web |last=Nunberg |first=Geoffrey |url=http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~nunberg/nucular.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308140207/http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~nunberg/nucular.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-03-08 |title=Going Nucular |date=October 2, 2002 |access-date=2025-03-18}}</ref> Nunberg argues that this pronunciation by weapons specialists and by politicians such as Bush may be a deliberate choice. He suggests that the reasons for this choice are to assert authority or to sound folksy.
==See also== * Bushism * Political gaffe
==References== {{Spoken Wikipedia|Nucular.ogg|date=2006-01-20}} {{reflist}}
Category:English words and phrases Category:Nuclear energy