posted
The title needs to be more rings, because I seriously thought I was losting my mind when I read this, knowing there were already rings.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
I've cut back on broccoli and beans... but seriously, you haven't met me... have you? It's not that gaseous!
Posts: 494 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
*Considers the possibility that the rhyme Ring Around the Rosie didn't really refer the the Black Plague*
Posts: 2022 | Registered: Mar 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
*marvels that anyone still finds that abominable Uranus pun funny*
This is why I follow the astronomers and pronounce it "YOO-rin-us". Of course, that's still a rather scatological pronunciation, but it's less obvious. . . .
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Which one is the "one ring to rule them all"?
Pluto should be renamed Golem. It is currently inside the orbit of Neptune, because it is searching for the ring.
Posts: 3742 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Its no longer inside the orbit I think, but seriously, this whole Uranus thing was just a disaster in English from day one, what were they thinking? Ps. Yoo-rinus is no better, and awkward, and it only calls attention to the scatalogical joke about the first pronunciation.
Let's call it Bob and have done with it.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
It is better because the scatological aspects are less obvious. They are still there, but it takes a second's thought to find them, whereas if you pronounce it "yer-AY-nus", even a child will hear it immediately and pounce on it.
It's also better becuase it would kill that awful "probing Uranus" joke forever.
(Insert obligatory reference to Futurama and the "Urectum" joke here.)
Of course, there are even better solutions than pronouncing it "urinous", two of which are glaringly obvious to me:
1) Change the pronunciation to "yoo-RAN-us", middle syllable pronounced like "ran", to rhyme with "span" or "scan". Nothing scatological there.
2) Change the spelling to the Greek "Ouranos" and pronounce it "oo-RAN-ose", or "OO-ruh-nos", or, well, anything really. A less palatable option than 1, admittedly. First of all, the other extraterrestrial planets all have Roman names, not Greek ones. Having only one in Greek would seem incongruous. But then, having only one weekday named for Latin while the rest are Anglo-Saxon never seemed to hurt us. The second reason is that it seems a bit much to actually have to use a new spelling in all new printed material, replace existing reference books, etc., simply to put an end to a bad-but-ubiquitous joke. It would work, eventually, but it would be a hassle.
So I vote for number one, myself. Just change the pronunciation to one that still fits the spelling, but is not scatological.
In the meantime, most astronomers do pronounce it "urinous" rather than "your anus", and I follow their usage in this. It is not the neatest solution, but it is the neatest immediate solution.
Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Verily the Younger: In the meantime, most astronomers do pronounce it "urinous" rather than "your anus", and I follow their usage in this. It is not the neatest solution, but it is the neatest immediate solution.
Oh, go ruin all our fun, why don't you!
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Sunday - Sunna, that is, "Sun" (Anglo-Saxon) Monday - Mona, that is, "Moon" (Anglo-Saxon) Tuesday - Tiw (Anglo-Saxon) Wednesday - Woden (Anglo-Saxon) Thursday - Thunor (Anglo-Saxon) Friday - Frige (Anglo-Saxon) Saturday - Saturn (Roman)
Thunor is the Anglo-Saxon name of Thor (not "Thore"), just as Tiw, Woden, and Frige are the Anglo-Saxon names of Tyr, Odin, and Freya. Saturday was named for the Roman god Saturn (nothing to do with Sabbath), and is the one weekday in Latin I referred to.
In other words, I do have my "obscure useless weekday trivia" right, so you can just stick that tongue right back where it belongs, bub. Posts: 1814 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Monkeys]](graemlins/monkeys.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
