How Do You Pronounce Radiator?

GGross

I was on the east coast a while ago and was a bit surprised to hear people pronouncing the word radiator differently from what I normally hear. So I am curious, how do you say the word radiator?

(sorry if my phonetic spellings don't make sense)

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Canada usually calls them rads...

bburd

It’s one of those regional pronunciations. I am from Boston and only heard “ray-” there. Then I moved to Philadelphia, only 300 miles away, where the locals say “rad-“ which is also usual further south.

EdTheHeaterMan

RAD-EE-AY-TER

But I grew up with Rad Dee 8 ors in Philadelphia

..along with Yous Guys, drinking Wooder from a garden hose and Pat's cheesestakes from South Philly. (One word. Not cheese steaks)

GGross

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

I always knew you were Rad @EdTheHeaterMan

Intplm.

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Ray-dee-ay-tor?

GGross

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

@Intplm.

I am sorry there are only two options and you will have TER choose one

Intplm.

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

GGross said:

@Intplm.

I am sorry there are only two options and you will have TER choose one

Ok. You got me. Ill go vote.

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

you need a schwa in your phonetics

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

can someone send me a cheeststeak?

bburd

mattmia2 said:

can someone send me a cheeststeak?

Wit or witout?  (Onions)

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

with...they won't run you out of town if it is without?

Dave Carpentier

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Whats the odds.. just had philly cheesesteak sandwiches with fries for dinner.
Wit onions.

HVACNUT

RAY-DEE-AY-TER. But when I save 3 syllables, I say rads, not raids. 

STEVEusaPA

I guess we ran out of things to talk about.

DJD775

RAY-DEE-AY-TA in Rhode Island

EdTheHeaterMan

RAD-EE-AY-TER

As of 9:00 PM, the vote is 14 to 1. Now I know you guys are just picking on me!
and that is witout @HVACNUT, @STEVEusaPA and @DJD775 actually voting. I'm sure Steve says RAD DEE 8 er. he is close to Philly.

nibs

Since I was enrolled in. school in England I can speak with some authority.
We were taught that whenever an A is followed by a hard consonant it is always pronounced with a long A as in raydiator, likewise whenever you pronounce the second A in garage, it is pronounced garidge.
Hope this settles any mispronunciations.

bburd

@nibs of course those of us on this side of the pond stopped listening to that sort of thing around 1776… 😆

nibs

@bburd when I left England in 1954 towns 50 miles apart had different accents and colloquialisms. It has changed a lot now since with TV we could all hear the queen and with cars we could visit towns that were 50 miles away. However I wish you would all talk proper like wot I duz.

Mad Dog_2

Provo wit!   I say it both ways depending on my mood.  Mad Dog

DanHolohan

In NYC it rhymes with gladiator, which is often appropriate. 

retiredguy

Depends on my mood but either way is acceptable.

MikeL_2

I've been using ray- d-8or for about 55 years and everyone seems to know what I mean.

ChrisJ

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Everyone around me calls them rad-iators.
I call them ray-diators.

You don't listen to the rad-io, do you? It's a ray-dio.

That said, I can't stand the crap on radio these days. Not so much the music but the endless crap in between and the horrible quality unless you're lucky to be close enough for HD.

HVACNUT

ChrisJ said:

Everyone around me calls them rad-iators. I call them ray-diators. You don't listen to the rad-io, do you? It's a ray-dio. That said, I can't stand the crap on radio these days. Not so much the music but the endless crap in between and the horrible quality unless you're lucky to be close enough for HD.

I love my Sirius XM. Commercial free

ChrisJ

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

HVACNUT said:

ChrisJ said:

Everyone around me calls them rad-iators.
I call them ray-diators.

You don't listen to the rad-io, do you? It's a ray-dio.

That said, I can't stand the crap on radio these days. Not so much the music but the endless crap in between and the horrible quality unless you're lucky to be close enough for HD.

I love my Sirius XM. Commercial free

Everytime I've tried to listen to that I couldn't stand it.

I can do Youtube music and Amazon music but anything Sirius XM is like shaving with a cheese grater.

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Arbitron is the reason that radio audio is terrible. The tracking that is embedded in the audio adds artifacts that make it sound mutilated.

ChrisJ

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

mattmia2 said:

Arbitron is the reason that radio audio is terrible. The tracking that is embedded in the audio adds artifacts that make it sound mutilated.

And here I always thought it was primarily the extreme amount of compression they use on most FM radio.

Combined with, at least in a car in my area the tuner constantly going between stereo and mono for high frequency due to low signal strength. And then there's the awful repetitive programming, for example every station plays the same 5 to 10 songs over and over and over.

Dave Carpentier

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

ChrisJ said:

And here I always thought it was primarily the extreme amount of compression they use on most FM radio.

Sirius just kept getting worse.. I dropped it about 6 years ago after subbing for 10yrs or so.
Love my Spotify.

Sear-e-us
Spot-if-eye

(just to try and stay on topic.. lol)

pedmec

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Raised right in Boston. Ray Dee

SlamDunk

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

DanHolohan said:

In NYC it rhymes with gladiator, which is often appropriate. 

Maybe on the four islands of NYC. But on the mainland (Bronx) it is ray-dee-ay-tor because, you, it ray-dee-ates

DanHolohan

The mainland is different for sure. Thanks 😂

hot_rod

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

DanHolohan said:

The mainland is different for sure. Thanks 😂

Rads is the description I remember at OSI 🤭

mattmia2

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

Why am i getting cheesesteak ads on facebook now?

Bob Harper

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

I live in Philly suburbs and pronounce them with the long 'A', ray-dee-ay-tor. That's because they ray-dee-ate heat. Then again, I'm from S.C. and married an Eye-tal-yan nurse. They don't go to the beach here- they go to the Joisey Shore. They buy 10 pound of potatoes, ree-gotta cheese, pro-zyute and gobba-gool along with peppas or Scrapple. They eat soft pretzels from the guy standing in the median at large intersections where birds circle overhead and there's no hand sanitizer for a mile. You put Jimmies on soft serve ice cream or get some Tasty Kakes. They love weird names for roadways like Street Road. The streets in Center City run North/ South numbered from 2nd st. along the Delaware River and Penn's Landing, skipping 15th st. for Billy Penn peeing on City Hall, then to the School-kill river at the 30th St. station, CHOP and Penn. To get over to Joisey you take The Ben, The Walt, The Betsy or The Barry. You can shop at the KOP Mall across from Valley Forge or take 422 towards Redding to hit the VF Convention Center or the Outlets. Hershey is about an hour away towards 3 Mile Island and Harrisburg then State College where the state college is located in the middle of nowhere. Pitts-berg is about a time zone one the other side of the state just past Pensiltucky. The Amish have warning triangles and turn signals on their buggies but won't pull over to let you by. We shop tax free in Dellyware but watch all our sports and shows in Philly and Camden despite the threat of muggings. The Italian Market doesn't have anymore Eyetalians because they pretty much shut it down due to CV. South Street was THE place for young people before the gunfire. The Eyetalians call marinara sauce 'gravy' and make their own as a huge family event using a truckload of tomatoes from South Joisey. We have lots of casinos now, so you don't have to travel to AC to gamble. You can go down Pass-yunk ave. to try Geno's or Pat's steaks (cheesesteaks) but I think they're dog food. Much better any corner pizza shop. FYI, a 'hoagie' is a sub sandwich on a 'steak roll' with Eyetalian meats and pro-vah-lone cheese. If you toast it in the pizza oven, its a 'grinder'.

You'll see guys wearing shorts and heavy coats in the snow and the young girls think its ok to wear their jammies to WAWA. You don't take SEPTA into or around the city if you value your life. You are proud of our international recognition recently when Kensington was highlighted for all the open-air fentanyl salesmen and customers by Mexico as an example what drugs can lead to.

Visitors are required to run up the steps at the Art Museum without dying then pose by the Rocky statue on the grounds facing The Parkway and all the tents still there for the ANTIFA/BLM protesters.

Youz can get most cuisine here except real BBQ. For that, you must make the pilgrimage to South Carolina for either vinegar or mustard based sauce- none of that candied ketchup crap.

That's alls youz need to know about Philly and Delco.

DanHolohan

@Bob Harper, you win. 😂

reggi

Bob Harper said:

I live in Philly suburbs and pronounce them with the long 'A', ray-dee-ay-tor. That's because they ray-dee-ate heat. Then again, I'm from S.C. and married an Eye-tal-yan nurse. They don't go to the beach here- they go to the Joisey Shore. They buy 10 pound of potatoes, ree-gotta cheese, pro-zyute and gobba-gool along with peppas or Scrapple. They eat soft pretzels from the guy standing in the median at large intersections where birds circle overhead and there's no hand sanitizer for a mile. You put Jimmies on soft serve ice cream or get some Tasty Kakes. They love weird names for roadways like Street Road. The streets in Center City run North/ South numbered from 2nd st. along the Delaware River and Penn's Landing, skipping 15th st. for Billy Penn peeing on City Hall, then to the School-kill river at the 30th St. station, CHOP and Penn. To get over to Joisey you take The Ben, The Walt, The Betsy or The Barry. You can shop at the KOP Mall across from Valley Forge or take 422 towards Redding to hit the VF Convention Center or the Outlets. Hershey is about an hour away towards 3 Mile Island and Harrisburg then State College where the state college is located in the middle of nowhere. Pitts-berg is about a time zone one the other side of the state just past Pensiltucky. The Amish have warning triangles and turn signals on their buggies but won't pull over to let you by. We shop tax free in Dellyware but watch all our sports and shows in Philly and Camden despite the threat of muggings. The Italian Market doesn't have anymore Eyetalians because they pretty much shut it down due to CV. South Street was THE place for young people before the gunfire. The Eyetalians call marinara sauce 'gravy' and make their own as a huge family event using a truckload of tomatoes from South Joisey. We have lots of casinos now, so you don't have to travel to AC to gamble. You can go down Pass-yunk ave. to try Geno's or Pat's steaks (cheesesteaks) but I think they're dog food. Much better any corner pizza shop. FYI, a 'hoagie' is a sub sandwich on a 'steak roll' with Eyetalian meats and pro-vah-lone cheese. If you toast it in the pizza oven, its a 'grinder'. You'll see guys wearing shorts and heavy coats in the snow and the young girls think its ok to wear their jammies to WAWA. You don't take SEPTA into or around the city if you value your life. You are proud of our international recognition recently when Kensington was highlighted for all the open-air fentanyl salesmen and customers by Mexico as an example what drugs can lead to. Visitors are required to run up the steps at the Art Museum without dying then pose by the Rocky statue on the grounds facing The Parkway and all the tents still there for the ANTIFA/BLM protesters. Youz can get most cuisine here except real BBQ. For that, you must make the pilgrimage to South Carolina for either vinegar or mustard based sauce- none of that candied ketchup crap. That's alls youz need to know about Philly and Delco.

Well , any ethnic label that is intentionally mispronounced or generally not the accepted terminology is seen as disrespectful.. IMHO it doesn't belong in a forum where the Public is invited in to seek assistance and see that crap..

WMno57

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

@reggi, I don't think any disrespect was intended.
The world would be a boring place if we all talked the same, ate the same foods, had the same views and politics. Political Correctness can be taken too far.
I, as a Liberterian will ask you, who gets to decide what is correct pronunciation, and what is intentionally mispronounced?
I'm really enjoying this thread, and it's making me hungry, but not hangry.

ChrisJ

RAY-DEE-AY-TER

I noticed two songs from two different German groups they pronounce radio as rad-ee-o.

I thought it was interesting. Perhaps the German pronunciation is where RAD-EE-AY-TER comes from?

DanHolohan

Joseph Nason, who put steam heat in the White House, is the person who came up with the name radiator. I suppose because it radiates. But he was from Boston, so feel free to filter it through his regional accent.