Multimeter / Multi-meter
Mab
Just how do _you_ pronounce "multimeter"???
Bear in mind that when the word ends in metER it has no emphasis
placed on the last two syllables (think therMOmeter), whereas in
METre words the emphasis is on the second last (think CENtiMEtre).
So how do you pronounce multimeter???
Mab.
ps. I pronounce it muTImeter. Just to piss people off with the above argument.
Gabe M Wiener
>Just how do _you_ pronounce "multimeter"???
MUL-tee-mee-tur.
>Bear in mind that when the word ends in metER it has no emphasis
>placed on the last two syllables (think therMOmeter),
Well, not always in this country. We say therMOmeter and speDOmeter
and all those. But we also say CENtimeter. Generally (not always), the
stress goes on "meter" for SI units and on the syllable before if it's
an instrument. There are notable exceptions to the rule. Multimeter
is one, since it comes out of "voltmeter" and "ohmmeter."
Another that annoys me no end is "kilometer." I say it as "KILometer" though
most car ads say it as "kilOmeter" is if it's a measuring instrument.
--
Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings
gm...@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of
N2GPZ in ham radio circles communication. The device is inherently of
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David Csseres
Well, just to piss you off I will say that the above argument is utterly
bogus, the pronunciation of words in both -meter and -metre is determined
by usage, not by spelling, and the accepted pronunciation of multimeter is
multiMEter.
Except among M.D.'s, that is. They say "sonti-MEter" and "sonti-grade," so
dog only knows what they do with multimeter.
--
David Casseres
Exclaimer: Wow!
John G Dobnick
>
> Just how do _you_ pronounce "multimeter"???
>
Well, that *should* "piss people off" because it's wrong, wrong, wrong. (I
would guess that your scheme is working well. It annoyed me. :-) )
MUL-ti-ME-ter, as in multiple use meter.
[Aside: Isn't this a trademark?]
$0.02
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Adrian Godwin
; Well, just to piss you off I will say that the above argument is utterly
; bogus, the pronunciation of words in both -meter and -metre is determined
; by usage, not by spelling, and the accepted pronunciation of multimeter is
; multiMEter.
I'd say it was MULtimeter around here. Or, more usually, dee-vee-emm :-)
-adrian
--
Adrian Godwin : ago...@acorn.co.uk : adr...@fangorn.demon.co.uk : g7hwn@gb7khw
ObDisclaimer : I believe this rubbish .. don't imagine that anyone else does.
Gabe M Wiener
>bogus, the pronunciation of words in both -meter and -metre is determined
>by usage, not by spelling, and the accepted pronunciation of multimeter is
>multiMEter.
While I agree that the argument about -meter vs. -metre (a specious one
in the US anyway) doesn't hold water, I must quibble on the 'accepted'
pronunciation. Most people around here say MULtiMEter, with a little more
stress on the "multi" than on the "meter."
>Except among M.D.'s, that is. They say "sonti-MEter" and "sonti-grade," so
>dog only knows what they do with multimeter.
Anyone know the origin of this? What is the proper pronunciation of
"centimeter" in European countries?
C. Thomas Eyford III
MUL-ti-ME-ter.
I prefer mul-TI-me-ter, accent on the second syllable, like as in
speedometer, altimeter, odometer, chronometer, tachometer, thermometer,
and about every other single-word meter I can think of. Of course,
consistency is not the English language's greatest asset, so I'm
probably wrong.
Oh well.
-Tom
Geoff Miller
My grandfather, who was an aviator back in the scarf-and-goggles days,
once told me that inhis day, "altimeter" was pronounced with the accent
on the first syllable: AL-ti-mee-ter.
Geoff
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Geoff Miller + + + + + + + + Sun Microsystems
geo...@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM + + + + + + + + Menlo Park, California
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David Casseres
Actually, it is just because of consistency that you are wrong. All the
examples you give above derive the first part of the word (speedo-, alti-,
etc.) from the name of the thing measured. But multimeter doesn't; it
isn't an instrument that measures multi's, it's a combination of multiple
kinds of instruments.
Gabe M Wiener
>I prefer mul-TI-me-ter, accent on the second syllable, like as in
>speedometer, altimeter, odometer, chronometer, tachometer, thermometer,
>and about every other single-word meter I can think of. Of course,
>consistency is not the English language's greatest asset, so I'm
>probably wrong.
That seems a bit of a reach, since it is obviously just a contraction of
multifunctonal meter. "It isn't just a voltmeter, ohmmeter, or microameter.
It's a multi-meter." I wouldn't want to be you when you ask the salescritter
at the electronics dealership for a mulTImeter :-)
Nick Leverton
>My grandfather, who was an aviator back in the scarf-and-goggles days,
>once told me that inhis day, "altimeter" was pronounced with the accent
>on the first syllable: AL-ti-mee-ter.
A pilot of my acquaintance assures me that it still is ...
Nick Leverton {{{Jo}}}