aPOPtosis or aPOHtosis?

[softmed]

I had a professor in undergrad who swore by the latter pronunciation, but everyone else I've ever heard say the word pronounces it like the former.

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[RogueUnicorn]

I had a professor in undergrad who swore by the latter pronunciation, but everyone I've ever heard say the word pronounces it like the former.

there's a P there dude.

 

[Contrarian]

I believe apoetosis is technically correct, though both have become acceptable.

 

[Sluggie]

I had a professor in undergrad who swore by the latter pronunciation, but everyone else I've ever heard say the word pronounces it like the former.

Would you rather eat a POP-tart or a POH-tart?

 

[mmmcdowe]

lisp maybe?

 

[greatnt249]

there's a P there dude.

So? You don't pronounce the "p" in ptosis or pterygoid, and that's the correct way to pronounce them.

Anyway, I purposely pronounce the "p" in apoptosis, but either is acceptable according to the dictionaries.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

So? You don't pronounce the "p" in ptosis or pterygoid, and that's the correct way to pronounce them.

Anyway, I purposely pronounce the "p" in apoptosis, but either is acceptable according to the dictionaries.

don't know of a case where you don't pronounce a p in the middle of a word. can you illuminate?

 

[softmed]

lisp maybe?

Nah, I've heard others pronounce it that way as well. He claims that since apoptosis has discovered to be very important newbies to the field pronounce it wrong.

 

[jla314]

i think a simple trip to the dictionary is in order here:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apoptosis

merriam will even pronounce it for you!

 

[Depakote]

say ptosis

then think about how you should say apoptosis

Then again, I still say it the other way... force of habit.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

i've heard ptosis pronounced with the p too

 

[Contrarian]

i've heard ptosis pronounced with the p too

so you're saying you've heard people mispronounce it? interesting.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

so you're saying you've heard people mispronounce it? interesting.

hahaha i guess.

 

[Nafis64]

u can say either, but its the latter, APOHtosis. It comes from greek, and so therefore greeks read it like aaapootosis. I learned this also from a professor that swore by it too and someone who spoke greek.

 

[PopuriofHM]

On a similar subject... I have a professor that insists that the pronunciation of nucleolus is "new-CLAY-oh-lus" while all my life I've heard it "new-clay-OH-lus" ... which is it?

 

[Tatastrophy]

I had a professor who pronounced "fluctuations" as if it began with a well known four letter word.....
professors can make mistakes too.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

u can say either, but its the latter, APOHtosis. It comes from greek, and so therefore greeks read it like aaapootosis. I learned this also from a professor that swore by it too and someone who spoke greek.

the original language sometimes has no bearing on the anglicization though.. for example, cro magnon man is often (universally by my own experience) read with the g pronounced.

 

[greatnt249]

i've heard ptosis pronounced with the p too

Wow...just sounds silly to even try it. What I really don't get is the people who pronounce centimeter as "sontameter."

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Wow...just sounds silly to even try it. What I really don't get is the people who pronounce centimeter as "sontameter."

OMFG I FCKING CAN'T STAND THAT!!! aalllllllll the old school nurses in boston say it that way and i just CRINGE.

 

[LizzyM]

OMFG I FCKING CAN'T STAND THAT!!! aalllllllll the old school nurses in boston say it that way and i just CRINGE.

LOL, my momma always pronounces it that way and it kills me.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

LOL, my momma always pronounces it that way and it kills me.

oh MAN... i KNEW being on SDN too much was no good for me... i just insulted an AdCom's mom. great... i've referred profusely to my avatar.

 

[Tatastrophy]

I have a hard-ish time pronouncing "kilogram" the english way...the russian and english seem to fight on that one and English wins on the kilo but more often than not the russian wins on the gram and I look ridiculous
boo

 

[LizzyM]

oh MAN... i KNEW being on SDN too much was no good for me... i just insulted an AdCom's mom. great... i've referred profusely to my avatar.

I thought I was insulting my mother myself.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

I thought I was insulting my mother myself.

um.... well she carried you around for 9 months so i think she deserves better! also, she told me you don't call often enough, did you hear aunt sallie's kid is now adcom director at HARVARD?

 

[mbdenver]

My biochem professor stopped me in the middle of a presentation to correct me - aPOHtosis he said. I have a great deal of respect for him and have been saying it that way ever since, even though many people have tried to correct me back to aPOPtosis since then . I really don't think you can win on this one. Someone will always tell you you're saying it wrong.

 

[greatnt249]

OMFG I FCKING CAN'T STAND THAT!!! aalllllllll the old school nurses in boston say it that way and i just CRINGE.

Another curious one I've heard from some of my professors is the pronunciation of "tryptophan" as "tryptophane."

 

[dingyibvs]

I have a hard-ish time pronouncing "kilogram" the english way...the russian and english seem to fight on that one and English wins on the kilo but more often than not the russian wins on the gram and I look ridiculous
boo

I had no problem with kilogram, but I had a world of trouble pronouncing "thousand". I corrected my pronunciation of "onion" a few years ago, and just a couple weeks ago I managed to learn the proper way of pronouncing "heroin".

 

[Charles English]

Another curious one I've heard from some of my professors is the pronunciation of "tryptophan" as "tryptophane."

my biochem professor does this. it sounds weird to me, but he was born in 1939 and has been around the amino acid block a lot longer than i have.

 

[Depakote]

I thought I was insulting my mother myself.

You'll never get in now... have you considered Law School?

 

[orthomyxo]

Would you rather eat a POP-tart or a POH-tart?

hahahaha

As for weird pronunciations, my chem prof calls potassium "potazzium."

 

[Lokhtar]

I always use aPOHtosis. I've never heard a professor pronounce it with a 'p', but students often do.

 

[Bacchus]

OP, my cell bio professor did the same thing. That'd be funny if we went to the same undergrad. Answer me this:

Does the professor have a son that teaches at the same school? Does the pronunciating professor do the flagella dance?

 

[sizillyd]

My Genetics professor pronounced it Apatosis. I trust this guy over the pronunciation. Very intelligent man.

 

[Dr Wake N Bake]

I got this exact question during a med school interview. Apparently I got it wrong because my interviewer just looked really angry and said: "get out"

 

[GregoryMD]

I had an EMT instructor who pronounced pharynx (Fair-incks) as fair-in-icks

 

[KTD]

I work at the National Cancer Institute and all the PIs here say Apohtosis, for what thats worth

 

[lkorovin]

Ah, but the real question is is it a macrophAYge or a macrophAHzh?

 

[randombetch]

Ah, but the real question is is it a macrophAYge or a macrophAHzh?

Macrophahzh? Wha?

 

[orthomyxo]

Macrophahzh? Wha?

I think he meant MacrophAHge

 

[red10]

I have a prof who says gen-ohm instead of gee-nome (genome) which makes everyone crazy. He also says phage like he's saying AAHHH so it's phaahhge. (maybe he's right? but it sounds weird to someone who has learned it differently)

Also I've heard the TATA box called tat-uh box and tah-tah box. I can't help but thing of boobs whenever someone says tah-tah box even if that is the correct way to say it

 

[lkorovin]

"I can't help but thing of boobs whenever someone says tah-tah box even if that is the correct way to say it "

That's a tell-tale sign that it is in fact the correct pronunciation.

 

[7starmantis]

don't know of a case where you don't pronounce a p in the middle of a word. can you illuminate?

Yeah, like in apoptosis.

 

[Myuu]

I think he meant MacrophAHge

I think I'll wait until it migrates into tissue and then call it a histiocyte (or insert-tissue-specific-name-here).

 

[Vulcan]

My favorites are:

My Genes to Cells Prof says vee-sicles (vesicles), bee-tah (beta), and ca-PILL-aries (capillaries)

and my EMT instructor said oxynejate instead of oxygenate...

 

[sassilysweet]

I think I'll wait until it migrates into tissue and then call it a monocyte (or histiocyte (or insert-tissue-specific-name-here)).

It's a monocyte BEFORE it migrates to the tissue...macros come from monos not vice versa


I had a professor explain that the "phAYge/phAHj" thing was regional...depends on where you were trained, but neither were wrong

 

[lkorovin]

I think I'll wait until it migrates into tissue and then call it a monocyte

Yes, they're monocytes BEFORE they migrate into tissue! You'll make a terrible doctor! )))

 

[Myuu]

Yes, they're monocytes BEFORE they migrate into tissue!

True! I am half asleep. Remind me not to post in my sleep...

 

[c4e]

According to a histo prof here, if you're from the South, it's a-pop-tosis...

/patpats myuu you'll eventually get there. At least for step 1s..

What me go was a few weeks ago, for a cardiology lecture on auscultation sounds of the heart, the lecturer referred to the jugular veins as jyuu-gyuu-lar as opposed to jug-u-lar (cardiologist). I suppose it's a German thing, as she did start enunciating medical terms in German that sounded genuinely German (at least to my ear)

 

[Myuu]

According to a histo prof here, if you're from the South, it's a-pop-tosis...

/patpats myuu you'll eventually get there. At least for step 1s..

What me go was a few weeks ago, for a cardiology lecture on auscultation sounds of the heart, the lecturer referred to the jugular veins as jyuu-gyuu-lar as opposed to jug-u-lar (cardiologist). I suppose it's a German thing, as she did start enunciating medical terms in German that sounded genuinely German (at least to my ear)

Sad thing is, I know the immunology stuff cold... Just not while half asleep.

 

[c4e]

Sad thing is, I know the immunology stuff cold... Just not while half asleep.

^^;