Idiots!!!!

[Landlubber]

Please, please, please help me prove that the people I work with are morons.

All but one of the people I work with are adamant that the pronunciation of Halley's comet is Hailies. :mad2:
Even after downloading & printing a web page that gave the pronunciation as Hal-lee to take to work they could not be convinced, arguing that the pronunciation differs from country to country.:screwy:
I need someone with some credentials ( or at least 100 people without ;) ) to be able to give me concrete proof that it is pronounced Halley ( Hal-lee ) the world over.
Although, I fear even if I get a qualified answer from the leading aussie astrophysicist these deadbeats will argue that the entire astronomy community in Australia is wrong.:(
Please help me before I kill these wankers.

[[1ponders]]

Hear ;) ya go Landlibba :D

:gday: and :welcome:

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0028800.html

Click on "hear It"

[styleman333]

As far as i know its Halleys....
But kill the wankers anyway
lol

[Dujon]

Regardless of Paul's reference, Landlubber, where I was growing up it was always pronounced HAILies. That doesn't mean that it's right, just that that's the way it was said.

[Adrian-H]

im sure they dont even know the difference between a meteor and meteorite.

and they claim they saw a meteorite in the sky, and found a meteor?

[erick]

Never trust pronunciation in Australia - it's often quite weird! I should know, I grew up in Queensland. :poke: Indeed it should be "HAL-EE" and I should know, I have a Ph.D. (in chemistry:whistle:). Even further, it should be "Comet 1P/Halley", shouldn't it? :)

The problem, of course, is Bill Haley and his Comets! (pronounced "HAIL-EE").

[Starkler]

You shouldn't think so harshly of your work mates. It only takes one lazy inept misinformed journalist to turn ill-researched material into common belief.

[sheeny]

I think you might be on the mark here Erick. Halley has a double L following the A so by the basic English I learned in primary school the A sound will be soft. In Haley there is only a single consonant (L) between the A and the E so the E hardens the A sound.

Of course there are always exceptions, especially in names, but if I was to attempt to say the name/word without prior knowledge of the pronunciation, that's the way I'd do it.

In my opinion there is only one correct way to pronounce Halley, and that's the way Sir Edmund did. If he pronounced it Hal-lee (which seems to be the officially recognised pronunciation as far as I can tell) then that's the way it should be.

Al.

[xelasnave]

Welcome landlubber:welcome: don,t let it upset you:) be happy that you are working with folk that at least know about it:) . Maybe the pressure of work should be addressed it seems there could be too much or too little;) .
alex:) :) :)

[Landlubber]

Well, thanks everyone.
I was really just venting my spleen. Please don't think of me as some kind of disgruntled psycho on the verge of a workplace shooting spree.;)

What frustrates me is that they won't even entertain the possibility that it is pronounced the way it is spelt !

The way I look at it Halley is a persons name & names ( unlike certain words ie; castle & mall ) should be pronounced the way the owner likes to hear it or how they pronounces it themselves, regardless of geographical location or regional dialect. I've never heard of Elvis Preezly or John Leenon.:rolleyes:

[TidaLpHasE]

:shrug:Yeah just "kill those wankers".................or even "shoot those pricks"

Have they any political affiliation we can debate?

[okiscopey]

I do recall from my pre-observing life (when I read everything I could get my hand on for 46 years) that it's unknown how Hally pronounced his own name. However, I read in one of those 800 books that there's a poem or similar from his day in which a rhyming word implied his name was then pronounced "Hawley".

You can never be too sure with English surnames, there often a bit weird.

Also, I do beleive the commonly-heard 'Hailey' comes from an association with the early rock-and-roll group 'Bill Hailey and the Comets'.

[ariane]

Just to confuse things, Halley never called himself this - and this name seems to appear only on his death certificate. He used the older English name which is pronounced as "Haw-ley."

You can read this in the second footnote of the American scientific writer Norman Thrower. This can be read from the JSTOR article front page at;

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-5608%28196912%2959%3A4%3C652%3AEHAA TG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-K&size=LARGE

As need for the earlier validation statement; "Indeed it should be "HAL-EE" and I should know, I have a Ph.D." is just appallingly insipid - the least said the better...

[Landlubber]

Does this now mean that I'm going to have to swallow my pride & admit that I am also wrong ?!:doh:
I think I'll just refer to it as Eddies comet from now on.:shrug:

[ariane]

Ah! dear Grasshopper... You sure seem to have got yourself caught in a pickle...

Perhaps the best option is to just agree, learning the hard lesson that it is best to get all the facts right "before putting both feet" in it!

Alternatively, just stand you ground. You might end-up look a bit of a wanker, but at least you never admit you were wrong!

As with anything is life - nothing's black and white - all is grey...

[Landlubber]

You are wise & knowledgeable. I might just forget about the whole thing altogether.

Now I just need to try & convince my colleagues that Shoemaker-Levy 9 wasn't named after a F-1 racer & that guy from the American Pie movie.:D

[Starkler]

Indeed. I composed and circulated an email complete with photo at work to alert my colleagues to the spectacular event that was comet McNaught.

Apart from one semi interested person who took a look it was treated with total indifference. :rolleyes:

I guess such things get overshadowed by the really important things in life like Big Brother.

[xelasnave]

Big brother hasnt started again, has it? when where why wasnt I told, I hope I have not missed anything, one can get so sidetracked from the good shows particualrly when they run "The biggest loser"... now there is an insite into the life of real people doing real things ... still somehow one must not be too critical its what the people want ...maybe.
How do I know they are on TV anyways well the only place I "hear" TV unfortunately only gets C 10... no its not hell but it gives you an idea of what it may be like.
alex

[astro_nutt]

More than one persaon can have a diffrent way of pronouncing the same thing as long as you both agree that's it is the same thing!!..that way no-one is demeened!...

[DobDobDob]

Listen, don't get caught up in pronunciation, I have found that only one in every hundred people know how to correctly pronounce Australia :whistle:

[okiscopey]

Sounds familiar. How to turn a rare, heavenly spectacle into a lead balloon in one easy lesson. But keep trying, you only need to turn one or two heads in a hundred for it to be worthwhile.

[RB]

A quick reminder about the IceInSpace Forum - Terms of Service. (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7856)

"1. Please avoid profanity, we're trying to encourage a family atmosphere....." (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showthread.php?t=7856)

We do encourage a certain level of self moderation on the forum and would like to see our standard remain high.

[mickoking]

Who cares how its pronounced. Its a painfully trivial problem IMHO.

[GrahamL]

A co -worker , who actually knows quite:P a bit tells me the jet stream can't possiblly effect viewing through a telescope ... he hasn't actually looked through one yet ..but thats beside the point !!!

The mars e mail of a few years back is another .. lets just blame the internet
and be done with it:D

[ving]

potato...

does it matter?

[MortonH]

According to Patrick Moore in 1986, the correct pronunciation in Halley's own time would have been Haul-ee (i.e. the 'Hall' is pronounced as in Town Hall). However, no-one would use that any more as it just sounds wrong these days.

To follow more general language 'rules', a single 'L' (as in Bill Haley) will soften the 'a' to give Hail-ee. A double 'L' keeps the 'a' sharp, therefore Ha-Lee.

I wouldn't say the people at your work are idiots. They just don't read enough!

Morton

[Geoff45]

Sounds more like Hullies here---maybe that's what it should be:screwy:

[Ambermile]

:shrug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Halley

Personally I've always read it as Halley (as in alley) but then what do I know - I'm only a BSc(Hons):lol:

Arthur

[silwat]

I've always just called it Tom...

[Astroman]

Thats an easy one "Strailia" or "Strayla"

:D

[ving]

i stand by this comment. :)

[PeteMo]

I've always pronounced it Hail Lee's but notice that a lot cal it Hal-Lee's.

It's a bit like pronouncing Uranus. Most folk I heard pronounced it 'Your-anus' until the joke about the gay space man, Beavis & Buthead, Wayne's World etc, then I heard the pronunciation 'urine-us'.

"The Polish officer had to polish his boots!" Same spelling different pronunciation.

Is Scone pronounced skon or skown?

English is the weirdest language, afterall.

[xelasnave]

anyone remember the TV "would be if she could be" Mrs Bucket? :lol: :lol: :lol:
If not just ask;)
alex

[taminga16]

I find it interesting that people can suggest that the wankers be killed and the pricks be shot but I cannot enter the word P.E.N.I.S without being censored.
Blessed are the ignorant, for that is what they will always be. (Anon)

[xelasnave]

Without getting into why you may be censcored in what context do you wish to use this word is it really that important to you ?:)
alex

[taminga16]

Alex, please see Eyepieces,barlows and filters. Greg.

[xelasnave]

Thank Greg I can now see the context which without would have left me in the dark. And I must say appropriate to illustrate the point. I dont know that the moderators take care of this however it may be "software" perhaps. I mentioned d.i.c.k. smith the well known retailer and it was altered and given the innocence of that reference I suspected it may well be software.
Unfortunately references to killing people are not seen as literal no doubt but if you think about it perhaps not a very nice way to handle a difference of opinion really.
Thanks again I hate being in a position where I feel as though I have missed what is going on and that is why I ask otherwise my mind continues to offer every possible alternative that the facts it is offerred can present.
I do appreciate your concern and can see it is not unreasonable but maybe it is mindless software other than ignorance.
Have a great evening
alex

[Starkler]

It was explained by Perry Vlahos (President of ASV) that since Uranus is from Ancient Greek, the correct pronunciation would be like "Oo-ran-oss"

[DobDobDob]

Hmmmmmmnnnnnnnnn :P okay, I didn't want to have to sink to the low level I am about too, but you all forced me to :whistle:

Mispronunciation is one thing and you can take it or leave it, but there is something worse, it's LAZY speech. What is lazy speech I hear you say??? Well according to me, here are my number 1 and 2 most hated lazy speech sins.

[1] Anythink

I simply cringe when I hear people say this, it has irked me for more than 30 years, it is my greatest lazy speech sin.

[2] 9867 9071 <----- Typical phone number, when spoken, it's Nine, Eight, Six, Seven, Nine, Oh, Seven, One. Of course, there is no such number as Oh, the number is zero, but lots of people substitute the number with the 15th letter of our alphabet (Upper case O, lower case o).

I have many more unfortunately, but these two reign supreme for me :thumbsup:

[Ambermile]

Besides, it doesn't matter that it's pronounced differently in other countries - as long as it's pronounced correctly in his own country. Which it is. Hal - Lee...:P

Arthur

[Popeye]

Some months ago I read a book about the formation of the Royal Society. I cannot recall the name of the book but it took us through the tough passage that history's giants like Newton et al had to overcome the philosophers. Halley is mentioned in quotes by his peers who pronounce his name 'Hawley.' The logic is that we pronounce 'hall' as 'hawl' and that's how his contemporaries pronounced it.
However if you tried to convince your workmates of this you would be laughed at :lol: . Try saying that you saw a UFo instead - the reaction might be different. :screwy:
Hope that helps! :shrug:
Cheers!
Popeye.

[Ambermile]

Ah - know this one. When you get one, it's a s(cone) and then, once you've eaten it, it's s(gone)

Arthur :D

[[1ponders]]

:lol:

[Shawn]

Intersesting thread, but I think somebody needs to start a new one in this catagory, because right there on the menu of the forum, it says

Beginners Start here Idiots!!!

:shrug:

[DobDobDob]

Well picked up, very observant :thumbsup:

[Shawn]

There is Irony somewhere here Ron....:lol:

Speaking for myself of course...

[DobDobDob]

Have you noticed that ron is centred between I & y in Irony and also takes a prominent position in astronomy :P is there a conspiracy theory brewing here :whistle:

[Shawn]

:lol:, I think so ,,,

[Popeye]

Why do I get the impression that this thread has reached its end? er... nadir? :doh:
Popeye