Why you shouldn't pronounce 'omicron' with a Greek accent
Plus: Yuletide mice, drone claws, surveillance toys and more!
The omicron variant of covid, which emerged in November, raised questions.
Like: “Is omicron more contagious or deadly?” And: “Will omicron create more lockdowns or extend the pandemic?” But mostly: “How do you say ‘omicron’?”
The consensus on Twitter seems to be that, because "omicron" is a Greek word, we should all pronounce it like Greek speakers do.
Some news articles arrived at the same bad place. For example, when Mother Jones Deputy Editor James West seeks out the "correct pronunciation" by surveying scholars of the Ancient Greek language, he’s confusing readers.
And news outlets like The Wall Street Journal and Bustle are leading readers astray with headlines that say "you're probably saying omicron wrong," then go on to talk about how it should be pronounced like the ancient Greeks did.
The confusion reveals a larger misunderstanding about how pronunciation works.
While I can't do much to protect you from the covid variant, I can protect you from trepidation about saying "omicron" and, in fact, any other word — especially those originating in languages other than English.
Why we're all suddenly using the word "omicron"
Omicron is a funny word. It sounds portentous. Like the branding of an Irish microchip company. Or a "Transformers" villain.
In fact, the word literally translates as "little o." It's just the name of a letter in the Greek alphabet — like "alpha," "beta" or "delta." There are two "O" letters in the Classical Greek alphabet — a short one and a long one. The short one is "omicron." The long one is "omega."
This variant is called "omicron" because the World Health Organization started in May naming covid-19 variants after letters of the Greek alphabet to avoid the previous stigmatizing naming practice based on the country where it was first reported — a.k.a. "the UK variant," etc.
"Delta," for example, is another letter in the Greek alphabet. (There are 24 letters in that alphabet, and when they run out of letters they're going to regroup and come up with a new naming system.)
How to pronounce ‘omicron’
If you speak American English, pronounce “omicron” as AH-muh-kron or OH-muh-kron. The stress is always on the first syllable, pronounced like "ah" or "oh.” The second syllable sounds like the "mu" in "mustard" and the last syllable sounds like the "chron" in "chronic."
There are other correct ways for English speakers to say it. And English politicians. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson adds to the uncertainty whenever he says "omicron," because he pronounces the second syllable like the word "me." Others pronounced the second syllable as "my."
Oh me. Oh my. Oh muh. Ah me. Ah my. Ah muh. These are the six "correct" ways to start the word “omicron” for speakers of the English language.
What's not correct is to say it the way a native Greek speaker would say it.
And this is true in general of any word in English that originated in a foreign language, which is most commonly from Latin, Greek, French or Spanish. But it's especially true for the word "omicron," because we don't derive it from modern Greek, but ancient Greek. And we're not exactly sure how they pronounced it in Ancient Greek.
Besides, according to the misleading logic of pronouncing "omicron" with a Greek accent, we should be pronouncing all covid variants with the same accent. For example, we're pronouncing "Delta" wrong, too. And “alpha.” And “beta.”
Here's how they would have us speaking covid variants.
This is not only madness, but also technically and literally incorrect.
Nobody challenged the pronunciation of “delta” when that covid variant emerged because “delta” is a far more commonly used English word of Greek extraction. We use it for all kinds of things, including math, geography, airlines, sororities and now pandemic viruses.
The English-language word “delta” has a long list of meanings that don’t exist for the Greek word “delta.” And it has an English-language pronunciation.
All this is equally true of the word “omicron.” The only difference between “delta” and “omicron” is that we use “delta” more.
When we are speaking English, the word “omicron” is an English-language word, just like “apple,” “sunset” or “boondoggle.” Or “delta.”
Yes, the Greeks have their own “omicron.” But the “omicron” we use is a different word than the one the Greeks use. Just as we wouldn’t spell “omicron” like the Greeks do — όμικρον — we wouldn’t say “omicron” like the Greeks do.
English words derived from other languages are just… English words
English speakers often get confused about whether or not the words they are speaking are foreign and, if so, if they should be pronounced the way speakers of those foreign languages do.
Some years back, College Humor did a hilarious sendup on what it would be like if someone actually pronounced English words of foreign origin in the pronunciation of their origination.
Nobody does this. But some do cherry-pick words of foreign origin for special pronunciation. They ignore the words they don’t know (or care) are of foreign origin.
The reason for this usually has something to do with identity assertion. It’s often a signal to others that “I’m educated.”
Some American Latinos pronounce words and names of Spanish origination with a Mexican or other accent as an assertion of Latino identity.
A few words are often selected, seemingly at random, for the application of a foreign accent. “Croissant,” for example, sends some American English speakers into fits of mouth gymnastics in a futile attempt to say it with a French accent. (Sorry, folks. “Kwassant” isn’t how the French say it.)
Says who?
Says the majority.
For some reason, the lay public often believes that language spelling, meaning and pronunciation are decided by a committee of experts, who then hand down their rulings for the rest of us to follow.
In fact, all aspects of words are determined entirely by how people actually use them in real life. A kind consensus emerges over time based on everyday interactions between speakers of the language. When a perfect consensus fails to appear, words end up with multiple correct spellings, meanings and pronunciations.
Dictionary editors and word experts don't decide how words *should* be pronounced. Their task is to figure out how they in fact *are* pronounced by most people.
And that's why these are exciting times for the English word "omicron."
Now that omicron has become part of our pandemic vocabulary, and will be suddenly spoken by hundreds of millions of English speakers, its pronunciation will be likely more firmly settled. People will hear this word spoken in real life and in the media hundreds of times, and many will change how they say it to conform to whatever consensus emerges. If we’re lucky, a single pronunciation will rise to rule them all.
And it will get a new definition added to the old one. (“Variant of the Covid-19 virus.”)
How to tell if a word is English
Look it up. If a word is present in a dictionary of the English language, it’s an English language word — and should be pronounced as such.
It’s also correct to pronounce proper nouns in the accent of your own language. There’s no need to pronounce “Los Angeles” in a Spanish accent.
In fact, there is no good reason to ever affect a foreign accent while speaking English.
Even during a pandemic.
Mike’s List of Brilliantly Bad Ideas
1. Christmas tree mouse is a ho, ho, horrible idea!
Designer Q Seo came up with a Christmas mouse that looks like a Christmas tree, for some reason. To use his TREE Mouse, you grip the tree like you’re a giant in the forest ready to rip it up by the roots. Then you bend the “tree” to control the movement and position of the mouse pointer — more like a joystick than a mouse.
2. Finally: Claws for your drone!
Stanford University eggheads Mark Cutkosky and David Lentink invented these 3D printed legs and feet that work like the claws of a falcon. Called the “stereotyped nature-inspired aerial grasper,” or SNAG system, the legs enable a drone to land on a tree branch. When the inside of the claws touch a branch or pole, they grip it regardless of size or unevenness, and a balancing process is initiated where the drone leans forward to balance. Best of all, it can grab objects off the ground or snatch them out of the air and carry them back to the user — objects like a bag containing a to-go order of burger and fries, rodents or even other drones. All I want for Christmas is: drone claws!
3. What every child wants to find under the Christmas tree: A surveillance camera!
You can buy the My Very Own Secret Fairy fake surveillance camera for kids on the Amazon UK website. Just mount it on the ceiling of your child’s bedroom, and they can bask in the warm glow of its blinking light and the joy that comes from pretending that Big Brother is always watching! One review says it all: “If you buy this, you are a bad parent.” Batteries not included.
Mike’s List of Shameless Self Promotions
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How to bring digital retail experiences to your brick-and-mortar store
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This Week in Tech, with host Leo Laporte!
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