From: atalanta	Date: January 15th, 2007 04:46 am (UTC)		(Link)

I only said "eye-run" as a kid but was corrected to "eye-earn" as the only possible correct pronunciation, at some point.

	From: marnanel	Date: January 15th, 2007 05:58 am (UTC)		(Link)

My Y3 teacher told us all that we were wrong to say "eye-earn" and that it should be "eye-run". She was Scottish.

	From: forthright	Date: January 15th, 2007 05:34 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Apparently in the Scottish educational system, hypercorrection of 'errors' was fairly commonplace. In a context where learning standard British English was almost an exercise in bilingualism for Scots-speakers, it is unsurprising that some vestiges of this hypercorrection would continue. I wouldn't be surprised at all if 'eye-run' were common in Scots to this day.

	From: irene_adler	Date: January 15th, 2007 05:12 am (UTC)		(Link)

It doesn't quite reflect my native pronunciation, "ahrun-y." In North and Central Mississippi, we tend to swallow vowels and diphthongs preceding a strong consonant.

I was sorry I missed your last poll. This is fun!

	From: sciolistla	Date: January 15th, 2007 06:59 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Years ago, a friend dictated information from the “R & I (Records and Identification) Division” to a steno in Kansas City, Missouri. When typed, the source was indicated as the “Iron Eye Division.” It seems that your native pronunciation extends into Missouri, at least.

	From: wytetygryss	Date: January 15th, 2007 05:27 am (UTC)		(Link)

I chose the eye-earn varieties... it's closest but I don't think it's quite right... hm.

	From: owlfish	Date: January 15th, 2007 09:32 am (UTC)		(Link)

My parents have long been baffled as to how I ended up saing eye-run instead of the apparently correct eye-earn. When I'm thinking about it, I'll carefully pronounce it the "correct" way, but if I'm not thinking about it, I default to eye-run.

	From: andrewwyld	Date: January 15th, 2007 10:11 am (UTC)		(Link)

Specifically, I pronounce iron as eye-earn and I pronounce irony the other way, except when talking about something containing, resembling or possessing the properties of iron (see post on definitions of irony).

	From: chickenfeet2003	Date: January 15th, 2007 11:04 am (UTC)		(Link)

I ticked the best fit but I'd say, for me, the vowel in the second sylaable is a schwah rather than the longer err that 'earn' suggests to me.

	From: sorceror	Date: January 15th, 2007 01:21 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Heh. I say eye-run-ee, but also eye-earn.

What eye-run-ee!

	From: sorceror	Date: January 15th, 2007 01:23 pm (UTC)		(Link)

And what about alternatives for eye-RONN-ick?

	From: forthright	Date: January 15th, 2007 01:25 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I very strongly suspect that there are none!

	From: word_herder	Date: January 15th, 2007 02:20 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Iron is one of those words that I hate to say (and do). I feel rather insecure about it (and ruin), thinking I never pronounce it properly.

	From: mktgurl	Date: January 15th, 2007 06:18 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Hey.. do Canadians speak with an accent? (is that even possible [excluding people from Quebec])

	From: forthright	Date: January 15th, 2007 07:21 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Well, of course! Doesn't everyone? :)

	From: urban_homestead	Date: January 16th, 2007 03:19 am (UTC)		(Link)

While I'm talking about my ironing, should I be pronouncing the T in "fabric softener" and "softness"? I seem to be the only one in my family who does it, and now that I am going around listening, it doesn't seem that anyone else does either.

	From: former_pirate	Date: January 16th, 2007 03:20 am (UTC)		(Link)

I put the 'eye-ron' pronunciation answer for 'irony' but, thinking about it, the way I say the letter R in 'irony' is not as distinct as it is when I say 'ironic'. It's sort of halfway between the two options. Not sure why.

	From: dandydand	Date: November 20th, 2007 04:30 pm (UTC)		(Link)
	Iron and...

There surveys are fun... is there one out there for "aluminum"? :-)

I still don't understand how one gets "al-yew-min-ie-um" out of that.

	From: forthright	Date: November 26th, 2007 04:42 am (UTC)		(Link)
	Re: Iron and...

I'm not planning one, but only because I more or less know what the answers will be, based on dialect.

Actually, the pronunciation you mention makes a lot of sense once you know two things:

- The standard UK spelling of the word is 'aluminium'
- In UK and some other English dialects, l followed by u is pronounced with a y in between, just as all English dialects do for pu in words like 'computer' and hu in words like 'human'. In fact due to the phenomenon of 'yod-dropping', the versions with the y are older than North American dialects that generally lack them.