the word "Omega"?

1) My whole life I've said Omega as in "meg-alomania" - a short "e" with the stress on the first syllable.

2) James Bond says it with the O-me-ga pronounced as in "me" as in I, me and mine (a long "e", with the stress on the second syllable.)
How do you all say it?
R

 

Oh - may - guh.

 

I, too, am a fan of phonetics for idiots (like me).
Hadn't even considered the "may" option. Dennis, where do you place the empahsis? Is it Oh - may - guh or Oh - may - guh ?
Hope this thread doesn't explode

 

emphasis on the may.

 

I pronounce oMAYguh as well. I have also heard it called oMEguh by several people, which I kind of like and may start doing that.

 

http://www.foundalis.com/lan/omega.wav

 

I was thinking about a phonetIcs example but the US phonetics are different to the US and probably to Australia et al too. It looks as though most in the US say o - MAY - ga, although there are geographical differences. The UK seems to prefer o-MEE-ga. And the Swiss say O-me-ga, emphasis on the first syllable.

 

oh meg uh

 

Great stuff. What book is that? Kyle, that completely supports the US pronunciation as shown by our very unrepresentative study. But.... is the author also from the US? After all, Webster's phonetics don't apply to British or Australian pronunciation.

Most popular so far:
US - oMAYguh
GB and Oz- oMEEguh
Swiss - Omega (looks convincing )

 

Archie pronounces Omega as not-ROLL-ex.

 

To rock an old boat: technically, the correct pronunciation would be either the correct Greek pronunciation or the pronunciation of the Swiss who gave the company the proper noun name in their own pronunciation of a Greek letter. In either case, almost all of the above examples are wrong insofar as both the proper Greek and Swiss pronunciation places the stress on the first syllable, not the middle syllable (as we English speakers are want to do) - accordingly, a crucial piece of correct pronunciation is to say *O*-mega (which, prounounces the "o" strongly as in "uhh", and removes almost all stress from the "g," and when stressed correctly, essentially pronounces the "mega" portion as a single syllible, altogether sounding very little like most people pronounce it). Try saying it as though the "O" is an exclamitory "UHH!" and the "mega" portion is a single, quiet syllable, and it should almost as if you're slurring the phrase "oh my god."

When pronounced this way, there is barely any recognizable difference between pronouncing the middle syllable as it "mee" or "may."

That said, pronouncing the word correctly in a watch shop would get you very funny looks.

 

I think Omega is one of the few words Americans pronounce more correctly than do other English language speakers.

anyone know any other such words?

 

O-MEE-GA here in NZ, just like our brothers in West Island

 

I come from a place called Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu. And I'm not joking. It was used by Kenny Everett Video Show byte he used before commercials where Kenny would say, "And we'll be back before you can say" and a cartoon native with a bone in his nose would to say that name as fast as he possibly could.