Primer

[Epicurean]

Is primer pronounced pry-mer (rhymes with timer) or prim-er (rhymes with simmer)? I've heard people say both.

[Rosie_0801]

I'd say primer with a long i. Primmer means more prim, doesn't it? lol

[OneStepAtATime]

I have heard it Primer (short i) as base level instruction that unlocks learning something, such as a primer to learn how to read or a primer to unlock a code, etc.

 

Primer (as in long i) is a base coat of paint you paint before painting the tinted paint so the final color is smooth.

[Xahm]

I'd always assumed long I, but recently read, and Merriam-Webster supports this, that it should be a short I to rhyme with glimmer.

[Rosie_0801]

I have heard it Primer (short i) as base level instruction that unlocks learning something, such as a primer to learn how to read or a primer to unlock a code, etc.

 

Primer (as in long i) is a base coat of paint you paint before painting the tinted paint so the final color is smooth.

 

We pronounce them the same. They're the same word, really, about foundations.

[purpleowl]

I have heard it Primer (short i) as base level instruction that unlocks learning something, such as a primer to learn how to read or a primer to unlock a code, etc.

 

Primer (as in long i) is a base coat of paint you paint before painting the tinted paint so the final color is smooth.

 

This is how I understand it as well.

 

Here's an article about the two pronunciations; it talks about how the short-i pronunciation is an American thing while the long-i one is British - and, apparently, Australian as well. :) 

[OneStepAtATime]

We pronounce them the same. They're the same word, really, about foundations.

Makes sense.  At least where I have lived in the U.S. there is a different pronunciation for the paint primer (long i) but I think I have only heard the short i version for all other uses.  I could be wrong, though.  I honestly wasn't paying terribly close attention.

 

I do know if I went into a paint store here and asked for primer with the short i they would either laugh at me or wonder what I was asking for.  :)

[Rosie_0801]

To prime is to make ready, so both the reading instruction manual and the base coat of paint should be pronounced with the long i. 

 

Our dialect is better than yours, ner ner ner!  :laugh:  :001_tt2:  :laugh:

 

 

[ScoutTN]

Shouldn't it be a long i sound, since the syllables would divide pri-mer? The open syllable is usually long. 

 

[Tanaqui]

Shouldn't it be a long i sound, since the syllables would divide pri-mer? The open syllable is usually long. 

 

Speech is primary. Spelling is secondary. We do not pronounce words based on how they're spelled*, we (hopefully) spell them based on how they're pronounced.

 

* Though that IS one way the pronunciation of words changes in a literate society. For example, see the different pronunciation of "herb" in the UK and the US, or consider the fact that often with a pronounced /t/ used to be a huge shibboleth.

 

[scoutingmom]

This is how I understand it as well.

 

Here's an article about the two pronunciations; it talks about how the short-i pronunciation is an American thing while the long-i one is British - and, apparently, Australian as well. :)

That explains it... Canadian and I say it is a long i. Short i would make no sense to me.

[scoutingmom]

Speech is primary. Spelling is secondary. We do not pronounce words based on how they're spelled*, we (hopefully) spell them based on how they're pronounced.

 

* Though that IS one way the pronunciation of words changes in a literate society. For example, see the different pronunciation of "herb" in the UK and the US, or consider the fact that often with a pronounced /t/ used to be a huge shibboleth.

 

Prime is the root of the word primer (and primary).... long i!

[Tanaqui]

Prime is the root of the word primer (and primary).... long i!

 

Cute, but by that logic the root of the word two (and twice, and twin) clearly should be pronounced as it's spelled.

 

Nobody learns to speak through etymology. Literally nobody.

 

[fralala]

In my (American) family we have always said "primmer", a pronunciation that my mom and grandparents heard at school.

 

Having learned to read and spell from primers myself, I now wholeheartedly agree that it's an illogical pronunciation. But if I were to say "primer" with a long i to my mother, who taught me to read, she would likely be baffled and maybe even a little hurt.

 

I've got another one that's a little like this, though: the surname of Richard Scarry. (Those who like following rules may assume correctly from what I've written above that, discarding logic, we pronounce it "Scary." It wasn't until I began having chats with other parents about our kids' favorite books that I realized some people find that weird, and worse than weird, wrong.)