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Oh no my harvest is too bountiful (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 months ago by Stamets@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 214 points 3 months ago

Start pronouncing it 'nucular', there's no bigger turn off.

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 44 points 3 months ago

RIGHT?! I'm glad I'm not the only one. It's based on the term NUCLEUS ffs.

[-] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 106 points 3 months ago

Common misconception but it's actually based on Saint Nukulus, the guy that puts uranium in your boots if you leave them out overnight.

[-] Lumidaub@feddit.org 18 points 3 months ago

Did you know he was a real-life engineer in ancient Turducky?

[-] ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml 24 points 3 months ago

Now, to be fair, nucleus it comes from the latin nuculus. It just that it sounds bad and feels bad to say

[-] altphoto@lemmy.today 10 points 3 months ago

Yes officer, she touched my nuculus.

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 months ago

Noooooo my whole worldviewww

[-] blibla@slrpnk.net 10 points 3 months ago

dw it's not true, you were right, "nucleus" is already latin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus?wprov=sfla1

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 6 points 3 months ago

Oh no being told I'm right is my fetish 👀

[-] blibla@slrpnk.net 1 points 3 months ago

dw it's not true, you were right, "nucleus" is already latin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleus?wprov=sfla1

[-] ReplicantBatty@lemmy.one 10 points 3 months ago

Nuculeus

[-] ArchEngel@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 months ago

Nuculeuslear

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

😩

[-] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

nuculus*

[-] Banana@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 months ago

🥺

[-] acockworkorange@mander.xyz 2 points 1 month ago

Dubya said nucular, must be right.

[-] Malgas@beehaw.org 30 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Fun fact: "nuclear" ultimately comes from the Latin nucula, 'little nut'. The c and l being adjacent is the result of metathesis, similar to pronouncing "ask" as "ax".

[-] Schmoo@slrpnk.net 10 points 3 months ago

Now go further back. Where does the latin word nucula come from?

[-] Lux@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 3 months ago

went further back lol

Latin: Nux - nut nuculus - diminutive of nut ("little nut")

Proto-Indo-European: kneu - nut

I can't find much on where the -culus suffix originated, which seams to be the the place we would want to look if trying to tie the pronunciation of nuclear to the earliest etymological root.

[-] GandalftheBlack@feddit.org 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

-ulus according to Wiktionary:
From Proto-Italic *-elos (whence Faliscan -𐌄𐌋𐌏𐌔 (-elos)), from Proto-Indo-European *-elós, thematized from Proto-Indo-European *-lós.[1] Cognate with Proto-Germanic *-ilaz and *-ulaz, whence no longer productive English -le (as in dimple and nozzle), Dutch -el, German -el.

So the PIE for little nut would be something like *knewelós