SSC: automaton

[muckefuck]

I don't care how often in my life I hear "aw-TOM-a-tohn". Every time I think of this word, I will always have to overcome my urge to pronounce it "auto-MATE-on".

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

I don't know what fool things those limeys say (that's richardthinks' department), but on this side of the pond it's definitely "MY-duss".

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Hey, I checked here:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/midas

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

Then I hope you're not reading their pronunciation symbols as IPA, because they're not. If you open the popup window on that page you'll find "\ī\ as i in ice". If it were meant to be "MI-das", it would be "\'mi-dəs\.

(I think Webster might've pioneered these symbols. In any case, I've been seeing them in American dictionaries my whole life. The OED, on the other hand, uses proper IPA.)

[gorkabear.livejournal.com]

Go figure... I did so. I'm totally biased by my almost "one letter = one sound" rule from Spanish.
Thanks for the correction (one more!). I'm saying the name of the Greek king in a perfect pronunciation during my next meeting.

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

As for the fool limeys, the OED has: "Brit. /'mʌɪdəs/, U.S. /'maɪdəs/". (To me, with my weak form of Canadian raising, this makes the prescribed British pronunciation sound more like "might us".)