Word Police on NPR!!! Too Funny!

[unionworks]

On "Morning Edition", an interesting science article about how Uranus was knocked off its axis presumably by space debris. So what's funny?
Uranus was pronounced "U-rah-nus" the whole way through the article.

Am I losing it? Do I not remember correctly remembering it pronounced "Ur-ay-nus" through my entire life?

Congradulations to NPR for not risking the giggle quake that might have resulted from using the correct pronunciation. It might have knocked the earth off its axis.

[hlthe2b]

1. Not a current accepted pronunciation as far as I can tell

Every entry I see is the "favored" Urine-is
or Your-Anus which is obviously favored by grammar school aged-boys everywhere.

[unionworks]

3. Take it from me...

... it hurts like hell when Uranus gets knocked sideways off its axis, especially after being hit by a great big ass-teroid! ... er, "Aceteroid"... scuse me....

[drm604]

4. It's been "Ur-ay-nus" my whole life.

"U-rah-nus" is relatively recent usage and is just a silly reaction by squeamish people.

At least in the US. I can't speak for other countries.

[unionworks]

5. hearing them

... intentionally mispronounce it to avoid offending the more sensitive listeners made it sound even funnier

[Fla Dem]

6. I always thought it was U-rain-us, but have heard it

pronounced Ur-anus, usually by someone looking for a laugh.

[rucky]

2. They should probably rename the planet

to "Not Your Asshole"

[pokerfan]

10. In Futurama, it was renamed in 2620

Fry: "Hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus!" (laughs)
Leela: "I don't get it."
Professor: "I'm sorry, Fry, but astronomers renamed Uranus in 2620 to end that stupid joke once and for all."
Fry: "Oh. What's it called now?"
Professor: "Urectum."

[frogmarch]

7. It's named for the Greek god of the sky,

Ouranos, which my Greek friends pronounce OOranos (OO as in book). I say Ooranos instead of Uranus because regardless of whether people pronounce Uranus as "yoor anus" or as "Urine us" it's funny, and I don't want to anger the Greek sky god.

[kentauros]

23. For more information on Ouranos:

???????

[frogmarch]

24. Efharisto polí :-)

Thank you!

Fascinating article!

[kentauros]

25. I skimmed it,

because I'm a slower reader. But, I do love that site! And I don't know any Greek, despite my nick

[frogmarch]

35. It's a good 'un. I

bookmarked it.

Thanks again!

[rug]

28. I've gotten quite enough information on it, thank you.

[kentauros]

29. !!

But, what is the wrath of a pissed-off Uranus like, anyway?

[unionworks]

32. Stop!

Oh God make it stop!!!

[GoneOffShore]

8. And the difference between a proctologist and a bartender?

Proctologist only has to look at one at a time.

[pscot]

9. There was a big public debate about this

a few years back. All sorts of reasons were offered for changing the way we pronounced it, including lying about the fact it had always been pronounced with a long "a". It's just PC run amok. I think we're a society that has a really hard time looking honestly at things.

[pokerfan]

11. From the Planetary Society

By Emily Lakdawalla

In a past life I taught science to fifth grade students (10-year-olds), and the course included a segment on the solar system. I planned to have the kids deliver oral presentations on different planets. The problem suddenly became one that I was going to give to some hapless 10-year old who was going to have to get up at the front of his or her class and talk for five minutes about Your Anus. Clearly I couldn't do that to the kid without addressing it directly first. So here's the solution I came up with: at the beginning of the solar system unit, I asked the kids to name planets and other things in the solar system, and (inevitably) the class clown shouted out "your anus!!" to the amusement of all. I also smiled and laughed, and pointed out that there was another pronunciation that was almost as bad, and then I got up and wrote the following in big letters on the board:

You're a nuss!

Then I instructed the class full of kids to turn to their neighbors, point, and accuse one other of being a "nuss," which they enjoyed.

A cop-out? Yes. But at least it got every kid in the room to say the name of the planet out loud, and to do it while thinking about a word that, if nonsensical, was at least not scatological. And we were all able to move on and have a good time exploring the solar system without too much embarrassment over the pronunciation of the name of one of its largest members.

http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001806/

[unionworks]

13. Future Uranus

&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL19C37E2558BAC892

[pokerfan]

14. Space Patrol!

[unionworks]

15. for space cadets

like me it just doesn't get any better! What a great piece of nostalgia!!!

[msu2ba]

12. A riddle

What do toilet paper and the Starship Enterprise have in common?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

They both circle Uranus searching for Klingons.

[MADem]

16. That was the whole FUN of it....

The proper pronunciation was the way to go. It was an open invitation to immaturity!
That way, one could make Star Trek/Charmin jokes about circling Uranus/Your Anus searching for Klingons/Cling-ons...

[unionworks]

17. And yet somehow

... in spite of the lack of a proper word police force to protect our young minds from being corrupted, the boomers were able to study Uranus, the rest of the solar system, and put a man on the moon. Just amazing.

[MADem]

18. I think it was BECAUSE of the potential for solar system jokes that encouraged some people to learn!

I always enjoyed a good double entendre! I guess the No Fun Brigade doesn't like 'em here, though.

[Noodleboy13]

19. If we continue to deplete our natural resources,

we may have to send a probe to Uranus.

If we find anything, we would probably start a massive drilling project on Uranus.

ok I'll stop.

peace,
Noodleboy

[unionworks]

20. We are studying

...soil samples from Uranus.

[Orrex]

21. Interplanet Janet endorses the pronuciation "yoo-RAH-nus"

[unionworks]

26. Awesome

Interplanet Janet rocks!

[Orrex]

22. Incidentally, here's a book worth considering in this debate:

Probing Uranus

[unionworks]

27. Gaseous clouds

... have been spotted around Uranus!

[Ron Obvious]

30. Dilbert

I always like this Dilbert cartoon:

[unionworks]

31. Love Dilbert

Dilbert, Doonsbury, Get fuzzy and Non Sequitor! (Sp?)

[Ron Obvious]

33. Robotman too?

I think Robotman (called 'Monty' today because of the departure of the much-missed titular character) doesn't get nearly the love it deserves.

[unionworks]

36. awesome

...wedon't get this in the local paper. Thaanks!

[Lasher]

34. Have you ever heard them mention a Shih Tzu?

Just curious.

[kentauros]

37. Gesundheit!

[unionworks]

38. this thread

... is about Uranus!