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Nucular is a metathesis of the word nuclear which represents the commonplace (in IPA) pronunciation of that word instead of or .
This pronunciation is especially common in the U.S. Southern states, and the pronunciation is a revealing cultural shibboleth.
Lexical notes
It is disapproved of by some who consider it a mispronunciation, although most influential dictionaries recognize it to some extent.
Merriam-Webster dictionary:
- "Though disapproved of by many, pronunciations ending in have been found in widespread use among educated speakers including scientists, lawyers, professors, congressmen, U.S. cabinet members, and at least one U.S. president and one vice president. While most common in the U.S., these pronunciations have also been heard from British and Canadian speakers."
Oxford English Dictionary:
- "The colloquial pronunciation .. has been criticized in usage guides since at least the mid 20th century, although it is now commonly given as a variant in modern dictionaries."
American Heritage Dictionary:
- "The pronunciation , which is generally considered incorrect, is an example of how a familiar phonological pattern can influence an unfamiliar one."
Merriam-Webster receives enough questions about their inclusion of this pronunciation in the dictionary that it is one of two pronunciations which receive particular mention in their FAQ (along with "February"). *
Usage by politicians
US Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush (but not his father, George H. W. Bush) have all used this pronunciation. Jimmy Carter in particular had served as an officer on the United States Navy's first experimental nuclear submarine, and would have been well exposed to both pronunciations.
It has also been used by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Phonotactical motivation
The reason why nuclear becomes nucular is founded in the phonotactics of the English language.
- By assimilation, the sequence of the word becomes in natural speech.
- The consonant cluster is strongly disfavoured in English: English stops are followed by one approximant at most.
- The disfavoured cluster is reduced. That reduction is achieved through metathesis ( and are swapped so that becomes ).
This is probably influenced by other adjectives in the science technical terminology that end in -cular (molecular, particular etc.).
Usage in popular entertainment
"Nucular" is also the pronunciation preferred by Homer Simpson, and his confident use of it in The Simpsons exemplifies a level of cultural information that is largely overheard at some distance, second-hand, rather than read.
The entire argument was parodied on one episode of Family Guy, in which Peter says to his wife, "Haha! You said nuclear, it's nucular dummy, the 's' is silent".
On an episode of The Daily Show a Super Hero cartoon is shown with the main character having an incredible similarity with George W. Bush (Junior, not Senior). When the announcer states that the hero, The Decider, is 'without fear of correctness', it shows the main character in front of a white board with the words 'Nuclear' and 'Nucular' circling 'Nucular'.
In Angel, Fred (played by Amy Acker) is a highly intelligent (former) student of physics who uses the "nucular" pronunciation. Both the character and the actress were born in Dallas, Texas.
References
- Geoffrey Nunberg, Going Nucular, http://www-csli.stanford.edu/~nunberg/nucular.html
- Arnold Zwicky, "The thin line between error and mere variation" http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/%7Emyl/languagelog/archives/001133.html
"Nucular"