Kleen-Gons

[Ssosmcin]

"Do you doubt my word, clingin?" I love that! Kras Clingin the Klingon.

This is a lot like how in a lot of SF shows from the 60's and prior, the word robot is pronounced "ro-but."

Then there's Nichelle Nichols in TUC saying "why would they fire on their own presiDent."

And, of course, the Shatner / Canadian pronunciation of "sabotage." I love that one. "In a deliberate act of sabo-taaage..." Or how he turns "telekensis" into two words: "tele kennasis" during Catspaw.

 

[Warped9]

You could simply chalk it up to differing pronunciations. I've run into numerous people over the years who pronounce words differently than I'm accustomed to. I'm sure my pronunciation may be just as strange to them.

A coworker used to pronounce gondola with an emphasis on the second "o" and long. I always found it weird. As a Canadian I'm a little bugged by hearing people on Canadian broadcasts and many others pronounce kilometer with a long "o." I just find it damned weird because I've always pronounced it the other way with a short "o."

Then it's a whole other game when people have different words for familiar things and when you first hear them used you can even wonder what they're talking about. Recently I transfered to a new location where I heard some new coworkers referring to a jigger. I was thinking WTF is he referring to? What he was referring to was what I've long known as a pump-truck, those manually operated whatchamacallits that you use to move wooden skids (pallets) of stuff around.

 

[Doug Otte]

My mother is from Southwestern Virginia, where they have a very interesting accent. She pronounces "generally" as "journally" and "Hawaii" as "Hawayuh." Her sister pronounced "house" as "howrse."

Doug

 

[Captain Robert April]

There's the matter of how to pronounce "Oregon", as a real life example.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

See? I knew it!!!

 

[Bad Atom]

I thought it had to do with the fact that the Klingons were named after a friend of Gene Roddenberry's, whose last name was Clingan. (Hence the original pronunciation.)

 

[Orcus]

Oh, well; that's a Southernism. DeForest was saying "thuh Enterprise" and slurring it to "Thenterprise." He's from Georgia; my family was from Tennessee. When we moved to California, I had to learn how to say "I" and "the" properly. There's a glottal stop inserted in there, with "Thuh Enterprise," which accounts for why we slur them -- to avoid it.

As an aside, I was always taught to pronouce "the" as: "thee" when preceding a word begining with a vowel and; "thuh" when preceding a word begining with a consonant. Some might say it's purely subjective but I think it sounds more pleasing to the ear.

As a result, for good or for ill, it still winds me up when someone mispronounces it, for example "thuh ocean"...

...for me, it's akin to someone saying (and writing!) "should of" instead of "should have" (or "should've").

 

[bbailey861]

As an aside, I was always taught to pronouce "the" as: "thee" when preceding a word begining with a vowel and; "thuh" when preceding a word begining with a consonant. Some might say it's purely subjective but I think it sounds more pleasing to the ear.

As a result, for good or for ill, it still winds me up when someone mispronounces it, for example "thuh ocean"...

I do this as well, although I can't consciously remember how it started. Must have been taught that as a child. In any case, it is more pleasing to the ear.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I thought it had to do with the fact that the Klingons were named after a friend of Gene Roddenberry's, whose last name was Clingan. (Hence the original pronunciation.)

Yup. Wilbur Clingan, a colleague of GR's on the LAPD, although it's debatable whether or not naming the Klingons after him was an homage or a slam. Clingan apparently took it as a compliment, as he always introduced himself as "the original Klingon."

That thing about the Wookies, on the other hand, is just plain weird, especially since Lucas has said, numerous times, on camera, that the inspiration for Chewbacca was when he saw his pet Malamute, Indiana, sitting up in the passenger seat of the car next to his wife while she was driving. Indiana was a very large dog.

 

[Nerys Myk]

So is it Kryp-ton or Kryp-tin?

 

[Orcus]

As an aside, I was always taught to pronouce "the" as: "thee" when preceding a word begining with a vowel and; "thuh" when preceding a word begining with a consonant. Some might say it's purely subjective but I think it sounds more pleasing to the ear.

As a result, for good or for ill, it still winds me up when someone mispronounces it, for example "thuh ocean"...

I do this as well, although I can't consciously remember how it started. Must have been taught that as a child. In any case, it is more pleasing to the ear.

Yes, it was my Nana (paternal) who corrected most of my English when I was growing up. She came from a very well-to-do family from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Her accent was, well - not quite "plummy", but she spoke very well...

...as such, I take hers to be a more "correct" pronunciation of English...

 

[Neumann]

Cyrano Jones also said "KLING-un". Maybe the Klingons have it wrong.

But then we wouldn't have had all those cool jokes back in junior high!

Q: What do the Enterprise and toilet paper have in common?

They're both good places to have sex with slutty girls?

I've never imagined having sex on toilet paper!

 

[Orcus]

Cyrano Jones also said "KLING-un". Maybe the Klingons have it wrong.

But then we wouldn't have had all those cool jokes back in junior high!

Q: What do the Enterprise and toilet paper have in common?

They're both good places to have sex with slutty girls?

I've never imagined having sex on toilet paper!

No...? You haven't lived...

 

[Chaos Descending]

The Klingon thing never bugged me all that much because I just assumed that the actor/actress own accent was changing it a little. My only problem (of this nature) is the use of "Let's get back to Enterprise" rather than "Let's get back to the Enterprise". I like the sound of "the Enterprise" much better. When I hear it not used, it's like hitting a pot hole in the road. You know something was supposed to be there but it's missing. Strange though, it bugs me the other way on Voyager. There was an early episode where Paris said something like, "It the Voyager" and it just sounded wrong to have the "the" in there.

Of course, Shatner was the king of saying things wrong. He did so on a few of the Animated shows too.

best wishes,
wayland

Well, to be honest it's more in line with traditional Navy parlance to refer to the ship without saying "the" rather than using it.

For example:
"combat action while embarked in BUNKER HILL"
"In 1970, while embarked in SHANGRI-LA, the air wing won a Meritorious Unit Commendation"
"In June 1976, CVW-8 embarked again in NIMITZ."

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/cvw8.htm