8/23/2006
Astronomer Getting "Pretty Tired" of Uranus Jokes
Left: More than just a cheap laugh(Prague, Czech Republic) As the world's astronomers debated a plan to use a celestial object's roundness as the criteria for defining a "planet," astronomer Lars Christensen paused to address an additional thorny issue.
"Everyone in this room has had to deal with being the brunt of a Uranus joke at some point, and I move to rename this unfortunate planet," he told members of a International Astronomical Union (IAU) conference. "The worst one of these invovles Star Trek's Captain Kirk and 'Klingons on Uranus.' I say: Enough!"
Christensen recounted another wisecrack that "repeats every year" in undergraduate classrooms.
"And how can we forget this one: 'Due to the poisonous gases that exist there, humans cannot survive anywhere near Uranus," he said, shaking his fist at the crowd. "Or the related: 'Apparently Uranus is a gas giant.' Colleagues, it's time we put an end to these sophomoric attempts at humor."
Left: Christensen says "enough with the jokes, already"Christensen said that the "tipping point" for him came during a recent trip to his physician.
"I needed to have my prostate checked, and the doctor - who knew I was an astronomer - actually said: 'Beginning launch sequence for Uranus probe,'" he said. "Can you believe that? From a doctor? I swore that if he made a crack about 'moons around Uranus,' I was going to beat him like a rented mule. Lucky for him he shut up."
# posted by Subcomandante Bob : 11:13 AM
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Har har! Ever told *whom* though?
But seriously, folks: All we English speakers really need to do is pronounce the name more as it would have been anciently said (& presumably still is in other languages). The problem is mostly with a dipthongal *U*--plus a long A. Accent the second syllable, & Uranus sounds like "urinous"--not necessarily that much of an improvement. Maybe a sleight spelling change would help; if it was "Ouranus," maybe even "Ouranos," it would remind people to pronounce it "Oo-RAH-noos." Regardless, that's how I'd pronounce it in public; it's at least consistent with Latin & close enough to the Greek.
But seriously, folks: All we English speakers really need to do is pronounce the name more as it would have been anciently said (& presumably still is in other languages). The problem is mostly with a dipthongal *U*--plus a long A. Accent the second syllable, & Uranus sounds like "urinous"--not necessarily that much of an improvement. Maybe a sleight spelling change would help; if it was "Ouranus," maybe even "Ouranos," it would remind people to pronounce it "Oo-RAH-noos." Regardless, that's how I'd pronounce it in public; it's at least consistent with Latin & close enough to the Greek.
# posted by 
: 12:59 AM
: 12:59 AM
what color are the rings around Uranus? Does Uranus have a smell? Please try not to be so up tight about Uranus? There just jokes. You seem facinated with Uranus. What the nest way to view Uranus?
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# posted by : 5:35 PM
: 5:35 PM<< Home
