How do you pronounce "centimeter" ???

[shermrn]

Not a big deal but something that bothers me. I run into a lot of nurses who pronounce the word centimeter as sontimeter.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

my high school chemistry teacher used to say : centimeter: sent to meet her, sent to meet her, sent to meet her... if her hasn't met her yet, then he may as well for get it... that always stuck with me

[LuvScience]

I've never heard the pronunciation "sontimeter". Where do people use it?

[Ntheboat2]

In the south, I'd say it sounds more like "sin-uh-meter." It's about a sinuhmeter!

[mariebailey, MSN, RN]

Franglais is so darn sophisticated, I think I'll start pronouncing it "sontimeter". Merriam Webster's audio pronunciation: http://www.merriam-webster.com/audio.php?file=centim03&word=centimeter&text=\ˈsen-tə-ˌmē-tər%2C ˈsän-\

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I learned it as "sahn-ti-meter" way back when I was having babies and my OB pronounced it that way. I still like the sound of it, but use "sen-ti-meter" because everybody knows what a centimeter is.:)

[apocatastasis]

I've heard a number of people try to justify "sontimeter" as a French pronounciation of the word. Yeah, well, I have a French degree and speak French and Italian and studied Latin for two years. The word is CENTimeter.

Whenever I hear someone say "sontimeter," what comes into my mind is, well, google "Emily Howard at the Swimming Pool."

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

So glad this came up for discussion because I say centimeter, but I have heard sontameter so many times I thought I was doing it wrong.

I think its a pretentious thing and bugs me to death.

"Long live the cent"

[owlRN01]

Oh my gosh! I thought I was going crazy when I moved from Indiana (where it is CENTimeter) to Florida (where ALL the nurses say SONTimeter!) What the!? It drives me nuts and I think it sounds totally prissy and I refuse to say it that way To each their own I guess. So funny that you brought this up I was just thinking about it the other day.

[Sadala, ADN, RN]

I know med professionals who say "sontimeter," but for me, it's not rational to say sontimeter unless I'm also going to call 1 cent, 1 sont. So... centimeter.

[DSkelton711]

I like "sont" but use "sent". I had a college professor who pronounced fetus as "fet-us" not as "feet-us". Drove me nuts.

[SaoirseRN]

Cent-I-meter. I'm from Canada, but western Canada. One of my instructors was from Ontario, and she said sont-i-meter.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

"Sahn-uh-meter" - an attempt to pronounce centimeter in a pretentious manner that comes across as ignorant. This mispronounciation meme is rare, usually only found in OB nursing and a few southern regions.

Of course, everyone knows better than to correct the pronounciation of an OB prof/preceptor/manager... so the mispronouciation survives into a new generation.