Borowitz: Obama's Obscure Pronunciation of "Nuclear" Breaks with Tradition

Little Heard Since Carter Presidency, Historians Say

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) - In what some are calling the boldest move of his Presidency, Barack Obama broke with a time-honored tradition observed by several U.S. Presidents including George W. Bush by pronouncing the word "nuclear" as it appears in the dictionary.

Announcing the new weapons pact with Russia today, Mr. Obama repeatedly pronounced the word "nuclear" in a way that has rarely been used by a U.S. President since Jimmy Carter was in the White House.

But according to Davis Logsdon, a professor of international relations at the University of Minnesota, Mr. Obama's pronunciation of "nuclear" may have been key to the diplomatic breakthrough: "The Russians have heard Presidents pronounce it "nucular" for so long, they may have thought he was offering something new."

Mr. Obama's obscure pronunciation of "nuclear" drew harsh reactions from members of the Tea Party movement, who see the President's obsession with correct English usage as an attempt to make the nation more European.

A sign at a recent Teabagger rally read, "Obama Wants to Disconnect Your Granma (sic) and Correct Your Gramar (sic)."

Elsewhere, Sarah Palin campaigned for John McCain today in a bid to shore up his support among morons.

and it came out as some sort of mangled hybrid!

he graduated from Anapolis and was an engineer on a nuclear submarine....
I guess no one ever bothered to correct any of these people, who obviously have problems with English as a first language.


mark

Almost right, but not nuclear. Hearing well has never been a strong point with me, though...

President Carter resigned his commission in the Navy in 1953. Americas first nuclear powered submarine was not commissioned until 1955.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnFvxyM9EAQ

Bush is a northerner and probably mentally challenged.

I actually catch myself doing it a lot.

Sort of...someone correct me if I'm wrong, but there aren't that many commonly used words in the English language which end in -clear (yes, I realize the suffix is actually "lear"). The next most commonly used words which include c, l, r and some vowels include particular, molecular, spectacular, perpendicular, reticular, testicular, etc.

Mispronunciation of nuclear annoys the hell out of me, but I think it's more a consequence of a verbal dyslexia, incurable once entrenched within the victim's mind.

:hi:

about the only one (apart from ones derived from nuclear, like thermonuclear) that I recognise is 'cochlear'.

http://www.onelook.com/?w=%2Alear&loc=scworef&scwo=1&sswo=1&ls=a

He has always been completely snooty about people who mispronounce words like nuclear. However, he has aged and now says klor-esterol. He can not pronounce cholesterol. I slap my knee and hoot when he mispronounces it.

.... I really don't understand why it's so often mispronounced.

LOL ... Oh, God that line killed me.

just as the ditzy preschool teacher taught her class to say lye-berry instead of library. My neighbors kids also had to do some un-learning

Obviously just another example of elitist showoff behavior. "Talking educated."

his one-liners are hilarious.