November 08, 2002

Nookyooler: the King's new lisp?

This morning I hear on Fox News yet another otherwise ostensibly well-educated politician, this time California congressman (D) Robert T. Matsui, pronounce the word "nuclear" thus: "NOO-kyoo-ler".

Is this a new political fad, similar to the now-apocryphal story of the lisp of the Spanish Court? Are Democrat and Republicans (I heard an example of the latter also commit the same annoyance on Fox News, yesterday) both looking to the Throne for their linguistic cues?

I should note that yesterday I heard Bush clearly pronounce the word properly - meaning the way I expect an educated anglophone to pronounce it - in its first mention in a speech, followed in very quick succession by four resounding Nookyoolers. As a birth-Texan myself, I do wish he'd stick with the voice coaching. There's evidence that guys like Churchill at least tried.

Back to my coffee now.

Posted by Russell Whitaker at November 8, 2002 08:41 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Didn't Jimmy Carter also say `nucular'?
It's common enough that I for one see no point in looking for sinister explanations.

Posted by: Anton Sherwood on November 11, 2002 11:05 PM

I guess I didn't sound the Irony Klaxons loud enough; I don't see anything sinister at all, myself. I was simply being dyspeptic.

Carter's another interesting case, by the way: he was an officer in Hyman Rickover's nuclear Navy... a submariner. Much was made of his intelligence as a nuclear engineer - all of it true - but he was still a terrible president.

Posted by: Russell Whitaker on November 12, 2002 01:28 AM
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