How do you pronounce kilometer?

[pokerfan]

I put the stress on the second syllable.

[Guava Jelly]

1. Killlomedder

[XemaSab]

2. Kuh-law-mitter

:P

[applegrove]

24. Yup. That's how we pronounce it in Canada.

[pokerfan]

3. Neither answer indicated stress

:P

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. never mind

wrong place

[frogmarch]

5. KIL o meter

I've been told, because it is a unit for measuring length or distance, like millimeter is.

[pokerfan]

8. So how do you pronounce thermometer?

[frogmarch]

17. therMOmeter

A thermometer measures temperature and is not related to length or distance, which millimeter and kilometer are.

[pokerfan]

18. So if this rule only applies to linear measurements...

how about odometer? That's a linear measurement. Do you say odd-uh-mee-ter or oh-dom-uh-ter?

A speedometer measures distance too or, more precisely, the derivative of distance. Do you say speed-uh-meter instead of speed-dom-uh-meter?

:P

[frogmarch]

21. You made a valid point.

Here is what I found online about the pronunciation of kilometer.

http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/faq.html#kilometer-pronounce

(snip)

The preferred pronunciation of kilometer puts the accent on the first syllable — KILL-oh-meet-er — although kill-AH-met-er is also common.
Note that other units with prefixes are accented on the first syllable — millimeter, kilogram, megawatt — and that words with the -AH-met-er pronunciation are generally instruments used to measure something — odometer, speedometer, thermometer — rather than units of measurement.

In particular, consider micrometer: Accented on the first syllable, it's a (rather small) unit of distance, while accented on the second syllable it's an instrument used to very accurately measure distances.

So it seems most logical to accent the first syllable of kilometer.

However, there is no “standard” pronunciation for kilometer or any other unit name.

[pokerfan]

23. Micrometer is good example

though I almost always just say micron when referring to distance. I do stress the second syllable when referring to the instrument.

ETA: good source. I see that wiki has a section on the pronunciation of kilometer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilometre#Pronunciation

[Doc_Technical]

6. I pronounce it 0.621371192 miles.

[loveable liberal]

7. kill ah met er.

its the only rational way to pronounce the word. However, I do pronounce aluminum AL U MIN EE UM. So there.

[pokerfan]

10. Well, Al is spelled differently here than in the UK

So the pronunciation simply follows the spelling.

[Seeking Serenity]

12. And I'm sure you pronounce "controversy"

kun-TROV-ersy

[DarkTirade]

9. I tend to adapt to whoever I'm talking to.

So if they have a british accent, I end up pronouncing it keel-oh-meter. But normally around americans I prounce it kill-ah-meh-ter or kill-ah-meter.

[SoxFan]

11. Klick

[IndianaJones]

13. mile. nt.

[Seeking Serenity]

I don't.

This is America, dad-gummit.

[Redstone]

14. Which is absolutely correct, and I've never been able to figure out why all we

Americans (including me) pronounce it wrong.

Redstone

[elocs]

15. I think typically in American English we do stress the second accent with more than 2 syllables.

Then again, how often do you hear people say INsurance as opposed to inSURance? But then we can't seem to come up with a single, correct pronunciation of "Iraq".

[Orsino]

16. As a physics major, I tended to accent the first syllable...

...as I would with "kilogram," but in the decades since, most English speakers I've encountered stress the second. I now tend that way.

[pitohui]

19. ki-LAHM-it-ur

my pronunciation is bad overall so this is probably not correct but people do understand what i'm getting at

usually i just say "miles"

[pokerfan]

22. "Murkins shouldn't being saying kilometer anyway

The metric system is for backward countries whose inhabitants can't remember that there are 1760 yards in a mile. Clear evidence that the metric system makes you stupid. <end Colbert impression>

[billyoc]

20. click

[DeepBlueC]

25. yes, that's right

At least in Canada, where we use use the wretched metric system.

[Mutley]

26. Kill-ah-muh-ter.