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[jiggles]

How do you pronounce "lines," "clones," "zones," "bones," "canes," "ones?"

There's no vowel before the N in NES.

 

[Mr. Nice_Guy]

N-E-S. But that I had idea about the nez thing in the U.K. That's cool.
Cultural stuff like is always really interesting to me.

 

[Vipershark]

Just like L-A-S-E-R and a million other acronyms.

Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>_>
<_<

I can understand why there are people that call it the Ness or Sness (even though they're wrong) but Nez is unequivocally incorrect.

 

[SteHitch]

I am from the UK and I have always pronounced it as Nez. Enn-eee-ess and Ness are both valid though, no right or wrong.

 

[Bootador83]

Actually we sometimes called it Super NEZ rather than SNEZ

 

[OneEightZero]

Just wanted to post the Google Form link one more time:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1WzwTG3XyaA1qMBXVcy5uH3u_vZhGXK1-T2LD28ydZcs/viewform

We're getting a ton of great responses in the thread. If you folks could take ten more seconds and add those responses to the form too, that'd be amazing. It makes it easier to parse the responses for the collocation. ^_^

 

[Special C]

My grandma always called it "the Nintendo", then when we got an SNES she called that "the Nintendo" She also called the playstation "the Nintendo" even though that one didn't have Super "Mare-E-O" Brothers.

 

[Joey Ravn]

It's an acronym. The only correct way to pronounce it is N-E-S.

I'm willing to accept that people are ignorant and terrible and pronounce it "Ness", but "Nez"? Seriously?

(if you call it a Ness or a Sness I'm not your friend)

Pssst. You. Dude. Yes, you: acronyms are pronounced as one word (NASA, NATO, WASP, AIDS, laser, scuba, etc.). The word you're looking for is "initialism"

Don't take my word for it, though. It's not like I'm your friend or anything...

 

[NumberThree]

How do you pronounce "lines," "clones," "zones," "bones," "canes," "ones?"

So you use the same sound at the start and end of the word "zones"?

Besides, if you pronounced NES the same way you pronounce the ends of those words it would be more like "ns"

 

[NoblesseOblige]

So you pronounce a Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation L-A-S-E-R ?
Sorry, but you're talking absolute bullshit.

No, but what's a L-A-S-E-R? It's been spelled laser (or Laser at the beginning of a sentence) in literature for decades. Not as the initialism - LASER. When you start spelling NES as nes, then you may have a point.

 

[dose]

How do you "nez" people pronounce yes?

How do you pronounce 'res' when talking about resolution? eg.,"What res screen is that?". I imagine with a z?

Also, calling it a Nintendo has always sounded so wrong to me. If you said."I bought a Nintendo today", I think most people would reply,"A Nintendo what?".

 

[City 17]

En. E. Es.

En. 64

 

[0.1.1.2.3.5.8.13.21.34.55]

N-E-S

Nintendo Entertainment System
not
Nintendoentertainmentsystem

 

[schick85]

As kids we called it N-E-S or Nintendo. It wasn't until many years after the Internet became widespread that I had ever heard someone call it "ness".

You'd be made fun of if you went around calling it "ness" in my neighborhood. No one called it that.

 

[decoyplatypus]

N-E-S. Is there some reason we're assuming the system's name is an acronym rather than an initialism? It seems like every "you wouldn't call a 'laser,' 'l-a-s-e-r'" could be met with a "you wouldn't pronounce CIA as 'see-uh.'"

 

[gelf]

N-E-S

Nintendo Entertainment System
not
Nintendoentertainmentsystem

Nationalaeronauticsandspaceadministration

Really I think its fine either way, its amusing though how important this is to some people(assuming its not all sarcasm).

 

[dose]

No, but what's a L-A-S-E-R? It's been spelled laser (or Laser at the beginning of a sentence) in literature for decades. Not as the initialism - LASER. When you start spelling NES as nes, then you may have a point.

That's true, but when we talk about lasers today that's what it is short for. If you're going to be pedantic, see Joey's post for more.....

acronyms are pronounced as one word (NASA, NATO, WASP, AIDS, laser, scuba, etc.).

Do you say N-A-S-A or A-I-D-S?

 

[mocoworm]

Bizarrely, I pronounce NES as N-E-S , but SNES as SNEZ

 

[Ysarus]

I've never heard anything other than "En-ee-ess" from native English speakers, so I thought it was the only way. That said, I'm French, and I call it the "Ness". Most people would just say "Nintendo" back in the day though.

As for the SNES, "Super Ness" or Super Nintendo.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

That's true, but when we talk about lasers today that's what it is short for. If you're going to be pedantic, see Joey's post for more.....

Do you say N-A-S-A or A-I-D-S?

Nope, and those would have been better examples than 'laser'. However my theory for why I think those are said as a singular word is because a lot of people don't know what they stand for. So saying them as initialisms feels weird. Like, if they're talking and say "A-I-D-S" then someone can ask them "What's that stand for?" then they go "uuuhhhh". So they say "Aids" as a word, so then that question doesn't arise.

 

[espher]

N-E-S, though I oddly do use Sness for SNES.

 

[DarkTom]

French Gaffer here.

As a kid, me and other french kids was just calling it "The Nintendo".

Now me and most other french guys say "Ness".

The SNES is mostly called Super Nintendo especially back then, sometimes "Super Ness" nowadays.

 

[mdtauk]

UK here...

NES = Nez
SNES = Snez or Super Nez

Anything else just doesn't fit with my childhood experiences.

While we are at it.

Hyrule - High Rule
Hylia - High Leea
Hylian - High Lee-an

 

[Gucci Messiah]

N-E-S and S-N-E-S are the correct answers

 

[Bootador83]

Nope, and those would have been better examples than 'laser'. However my theory for why I think those are said as a singular word is because a lot of people don't know what they stand for. So saying them as initialisms feels weird. Like, if they're talking and say "A-I-D-S" then someone can ask them "What's that stand for?" then they go "uuuhhhh". But if they say "Aids" as a word, so then that question doesn't arise.

Interesting, pretty sure I never knew what the e or s meant as a child (I didn't own one) so could hold some weight.

 

[Chittagong]

I play NES games. They were a leading NES publisher.

I love my N-E-S. Analogue NT is a $500 HDMI N-E-S.


That's what I do.

 

[EdwardTeach]

Nez.

Supernez was called Supernez so Nez must be Nez.

Brittania

 

[sixteen-bit]

en ee ess

 

[dity]

I say N-E-S, but still say SuperNess sometimes. Weird.

 

[dose]

Nope, and those would have been better examples than 'laser'. However my theory for why I think those are said as a singular word is because a lot of people don't know what they stand for. So saying them as initialisms feels weird. Like, if they're talking and say "A-I-D-S" then someone can ask them "What's that stand for?" then they go "uuuhhhh". So they say "Aids" as a word, so then that question doesn't arise.

I'm not sure that's the reason, but it is weird. No-one says 'hiv' for HIV yet I imagine a lot of people don't know what that stands for.

 

[chippy13]

Always called it Nintendo and Super Nintendo when I was a kid. Otherwise it was N-E-S and Super N-E-S.

In Canada.

 

[Moozo]

Neo G-A-F

 

[EdwardTeach]

UK here...



Hyrule - High Rule
Hylia - High Leea
Hylian - High Lee-an

Are those even in doubt? What are the alternative pronunciations?

 

[SomedayTheFire]

Nope, and those would have been better examples than 'laser'. However my theory for why I think those are said as a singular word is because a lot of people don't know what they stand for. So saying them as initialisms feels weird. Like, if they're talking and say "A-I-D-S" then someone can ask them "What's that stand for?" then they go "uuuhhhh". So they say "Aids" as a word, so then that question doesn't arise.

That's 100% not true. The acronym's would have been created for an easy way to say something, not because people didn't understand what it meant. Radar, for example, is also an acronym for radio detection and ranging, the acronym was created by the US government.

Are those even in doubt? What are the alternative pronunciations?

Hee-rule.
Hee-leah
Hee-lee-an

I guess.

 

[Dagobert Duck]

Well quite simple I call it Nintendo And the SNES is Super Nintendo!

Easy as it gets in Germany Nintendos next platform should just be named Nintendo

 

[Pillville]

N-E-S

and I live in the 'oosah', I'm sorry, I meant U-S-A.

 

[r0xx]

N-E-S and Super N-E-S as the canuck above. I live in the UK now but that's what we called it when I was a kid in Canada. (Nintendo and Super Nintendo as well)

 

[Stainless]

PES or P-E-S

 

[Hippopuncher12]

From Ohio.

We called it N-E-S or just Nintendo. Never have I heard someone call it a Nez...it doesn't even make sense to me. Sounds terrible. I mean it's the Nintendo Entertainment System. N-E-S!!!!!!!

 

[SomedayTheFire]

PES or P-E-S

PEZ!!! or Pro Evo

 

[NoblesseOblige]

I'm not sure that's the reason, but it is weird. No-one says 'hiv' for HIV yet I imagine a lot of people don't know what that stands for.

I guess maybe people just stick to saying it as an initialism when it's only 3 characters, and a word when it's 4 or more. Can you think of any another 3 character acronyms said as a word? CIA, FBI, HIV, NSA, AKA, AFK, CRT, VGA, DVI, CPU. GPU ... all said by their individual letter. Meanwhile NATO, NASA, LASER, SCUBA, AIDS, ROFL, LMAO, WYSIWYG, ... are said more as a singular word before the individual characters.

Also I had trouble remembering 4+ character acronyms, so yes some of those examples are silly.

 

[Lernaean]

Famicom.

But on topic, it's N-E-S.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

I guess maybe people just stick to saying it as an initialism when it's only 3 characters, and a word when it's 4 or more. Can you think of any another 3 character acronyms said as a word? CIA, FBI, HIV, NSA, AKA, AFK, CRT, VGA, DVI, CPU. GPU ... all said by their individual letter. Meanwhile NATO, NASA, LASER, SCUBA, ROFL, LMAO, WYSIWYG, ... are said more as a singular word before the individual characters.

Also I had trouble remembering 4+ character acronyms, so yes some of those examples are silly.

LOL, if we're going for that.

 

[UncleSporky]

Hee-rule.
Hee-leah
Hee-lee-an

I guess.

No, it's

still High-rule

Hill-ee-uh

Hill-ee-un

(pronounced as in "hysteria")

 

[JNT]

N-E-S.
Seggah.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

LOL, if we're going for that.

I just remembered GUI is usually said "Gooey" as well.

 

[Joey Ravn]

There's no vowel before the N in NES.

So? The /z/ sound in morphemic in English* occurs when it is attached to a lexeme ending in a lenis (voiced) sound. In this case, a vowel. It is not as far-fetched as you think to pronounce /nez/ by analogy with other native words, such as /sez/ ("says") or /feiz/ ("phase").

It would make no sense to pronounce a "liquid /s/" as /z/, though, so that's why you don't see any /znez/.



*i.e. the Saxon genitive [-'s], the third person singular of the Present Simple [-s], the contraction of "is" and "has" [-'s], and the plural [-s].

Spoiler

Sorry for the crummy phonetic transcription.

 

[gelf]

I guess maybe people just stick to saying it as an initialism when it's only 3 characters, and a word when it's 4 or more. Can you think of any another 3 character acronyms said as a word? CIA, FBI, HIV, NSA, AKA, AFK, CRT, VGA, DVI, CPU. GPU ... all said by their individual letter. Meanwhile NATO, NASA, LASER, SCUBA, AIDS, ROFL, LMAO, WYSIWYG, ... are said more as a singular word before the individual characters.

Also I had trouble remembering 4+ character acronyms, so yes some of those examples are silly.

Do any people say G I F? I'd say its just based on what feels nice and easy to pronounce and that will vary based on local dialects.

PES or P-E-S

Always just said Pro Evo for that one. Pez sounds weirder to me then Nez..dunno why.

 

[dosh]

In France, everybody calls it "Ness".
Ness and SuperNess

Yeah, it was Ness in France. But didn't you call the SNES Super Nintendo? We all called it that when I was a kid.

 

[SomedayTheFire]

No, it's

still High-rule

Hill-ee-uh

Hill-ee-un

(pronounced as in "hysteria")

Well, that is how I pronounce them but I was just throwing some alternates out there.

I just remembered GUI is usually said "Gooey" as well.

Yeah, and also sometimes Gee-You-Eye. It just depends on the person, a lot of acronyms do apart from some standards. CIA, Radar, Laser, USA etc. It all comes down to is it easy to pronounce, gooey is easier for some to pronounce than GUI. NEZ also only has one syllable compared to three syllables in N-E-S, it's also easier to pronounce than NESS as a lot of English words ending in -es have that z sound. Clothes, lines, zones etc.