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Friday, November 30, 2007

How To Say "Zoology"

I am kind of a closet word-nerd, but I'm not very good at it. I strive to use the correct word - or form thereof - for the situation and punctuate it all correctly, but, maybe because I only took one English Composition class in college, I sometimes just don't know the rules. So when I learn something new, I get a little bit nerdly-excited. (Just because I like words doesn't mean that I am above making up new ones.)

I recently learned the correct way to pronounce "zoology." I had always assumed that it was said "zoo"-"ology"... I had never really thought about it, because that is how nearly everyone says it. But if you think about it, it would take a triple "o" to make that "oo"-"o" sound. Since there are only two "o"s [now, what is the proper way of doing that?], the word must be said "zo"-"ology."

"Zo-ology." That'll take a little bit of getting used to.

Just in case you think I'm full of it, Dictionary.com's pronunciation says "zoh-ol-uh-jee" and the American Heritage Dictionary says "zō-ŏl'ə-jē, zōō-." So there ya go.

5 comments:

Pookie said...

nice.

Anonymous said...

i always thought it was 'zoo-ology' and 'zo-ology'
dependingg on how you spell it, the first would be zooology, the second zoology. But now this sounds wrong...

Monkey Mom said...

Thank you!!! Yes! It is Zo-ology!
Keep up being a word-nerd and share your knowledge!

mnthomp said...

Glad to do it! But I haven't been very active at it lately... but I'll do what I can. :)

salliezoo said...

The pronunciation depends on where you are from. In Britain it is pronounced with the emphasis on "Zoo" (rather than "Zo") eg. Zoo-ology. In the USA, it is pronounced: Zo-ology. I am a primatologist and have worked in several zoos in the USA (as well as in Britain). What I have found is that both pronunciations are used in the USA. In Britain, the "zoo-ology pronunciation is generally always used. Many zoologists who now live/work in the USA have trained in Britain and/or worked with British zoologists, so they tend to adhere to the British pronunciation. I'd also guess, those who work in "zoos" might tend to be biased toward the British "zoo-ology" pronunciation, but that is just a personal observation.