Idiots!!!!

[Landlubber]

Please, please, please help me prove that the people I work with are morons.

All but one of the people I work with are adamant that the pronunciation of Halley's comet is Hailies.
Even after downloading & printing a web page that gave the pronunciation as Hal-lee to take to work they could not be convinced, arguing that the pronunciation differs from country to country.
I need someone with some credentials ( or at least 100 people without ) to be able to give me concrete proof that it is pronounced Halley ( Hal-lee ) the world over.
Although, I fear even if I get a qualified answer from the leading aussie astrophysicist these deadbeats will argue that the entire astronomy community in Australia is wrong.
Please help me before I kill these wankers.

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Hear ya go Landlibba

and

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/h/h0028800.html

Click on "hear It"

[styleman333]

As far as i know its Halleys....
But kill the wankers anyway
lol

[Dujon]

Regardless of Paul's reference, Landlubber, where I was growing up it was always pronounced HAILies. That doesn't mean that it's right, just that that's the way it was said.

[Adrian-H]

im sure they dont even know the difference between a meteor and meteorite.

and they claim they saw a meteorite in the sky, and found a meteor?

[erick (Eric)]

Originally Posted by Dujon

Regardless of Paul's reference, Landlubber, where I was growing up it was always pronounced HAILies. That doesn't mean that it's right, just that that's the way it was said.

Never trust pronunciation in Australia - it's often quite weird! I should know, I grew up in Queensland. Indeed it should be "HAL-EE" and I should know, I have a Ph.D. (in chemistry). Even further, it should be "Comet 1P/Halley", shouldn't it?

The problem, of course, is Bill Haley and his Comets! (pronounced "HAIL-EE").

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by Landlubber

please help me prove that the people I work with are morons

You shouldn't think so harshly of your work mates. It only takes one lazy inept misinformed journalist to turn ill-researched material into common belief.

[sheeny (Al)]

Originally Posted by erick

The problem, of course, is Bill Haley and his Comets! (pronounced "HAIL-EE").

I think you might be on the mark here Erick. Halley has a double L following the A so by the basic English I learned in primary school the A sound will be soft. In Haley there is only a single consonant (L) between the A and the E so the E hardens the A sound.

Of course there are always exceptions, especially in names, but if I was to attempt to say the name/word without prior knowledge of the pronunciation, that's the way I'd do it.

In my opinion there is only one correct way to pronounce Halley, and that's the way Sir Edmund did. If he pronounced it Hal-lee (which seems to be the officially recognised pronunciation as far as I can tell) then that's the way it should be.

Al.

[xelasnave]

Welcome landlubber don,t let it upset you be happy that you are working with folk that at least know about it . Maybe the pressure of work should be addressed it seems there could be too much or too little .
alex

[Landlubber]

Well, thanks everyone.
I was really just venting my spleen. Please don't think of me as some kind of disgruntled psycho on the verge of a workplace shooting spree.

What frustrates me is that they won't even entertain the possibility that it is pronounced the way it is spelt !

The way I look at it Halley is a persons name & names ( unlike certain words ie; castle & mall ) should be pronounced the way the owner likes to hear it or how they pronounces it themselves, regardless of geographical location or regional dialect. I've never heard of Elvis Preezly or John Leenon.

[TidaLpHasE]

Yeah just "kill those wankers".................or even "shoot those pricks"

Have they any political affiliation we can debate?

[okiscopey (Mike)]

Originally Posted by sheeny

In my opinion there is only one correct way to pronounce Halley, and that's the way Sir Edmund did. If he pronounced it Hal-lee (which seems to be the officially recognised pronunciation as far as I can tell) then that's the way it should be.

I do recall from my pre-observing life (when I read everything I could get my hand on for 46 years) that it's unknown how Hally pronounced his own name. However, I read in one of those 800 books that there's a poem or similar from his day in which a rhyming word implied his name was then pronounced "Hawley".

You can never be too sure with English surnames, there often a bit weird.

Also, I do beleive the commonly-heard 'Hailey' comes from an association with the early rock-and-roll group 'Bill Hailey and the Comets'.

Just to confuse things, Halley never called himself this - and this name seems to appear only on his death certificate. He used the older English name which is pronounced as "Haw-ley."

You can read this in the second footnote of the American scientific writer Norman Thrower. This can be read from the JSTOR article front page at;

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=000...2-K&size=LARGE

As need for the earlier validation statement; "Indeed it should be "HAL-EE" and I should know, I have a Ph.D." is just appallingly insipid - the least said the better...

[Landlubber]

Does this now mean that I'm going to have to swallow my pride & admit that I am also wrong ?!
I think I'll just refer to it as Eddies comet from now on.

Ah! dear Grasshopper... You sure seem to have got yourself caught in a pickle...

Perhaps the best option is to just agree, learning the hard lesson that it is best to get all the facts right "before putting both feet" in it!

Alternatively, just stand you ground. You might end-up look a bit of a wanker, but at least you never admit you were wrong!

As with anything is life - nothing's black and white - all is grey...

[Landlubber]

You are wise & knowledgeable. I might just forget about the whole thing altogether.

Now I just need to try & convince my colleagues that Shoemaker-Levy 9 wasn't named after a F-1 racer & that guy from the American Pie movie.

[Starkler (Geoff)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

don,t let it upset you be happy that you are working with folk that at least know about it

Indeed. I composed and circulated an email complete with photo at work to alert my colleagues to the spectacular event that was comet McNaught.

Apart from one semi interested person who took a look it was treated with total indifference.

I guess such things get overshadowed by the really important things in life like Big Brother.

[xelasnave]

Big brother hasnt started again, has it? when where why wasnt I told, I hope I have not missed anything, one can get so sidetracked from the good shows particualrly when they run "The biggest loser"... now there is an insite into the life of real people doing real things ... still somehow one must not be too critical its what the people want ...maybe.
How do I know they are on TV anyways well the only place I "hear" TV unfortunately only gets C 10... no its not hell but it gives you an idea of what it may be like.
alex

[astro_nutt]

More than one persaon can have a diffrent way of pronouncing the same thing as long as you both agree that's it is the same thing!!..that way no-one is demeened!...

[DobDobDob (Ron)]

Listen, don't get caught up in pronunciation, I have found that only one in every hundred people know how to correctly pronounce Australia