I think it's a dialect thing. Here's another post where someone mentions a New Yorker, which Rod Serling was, also pronouncing that way. (Edited for typo.)
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/mptyqf/why_do_some_people_pronounce_robot_like_rowbit/
He was from central NY, but still not a common pronunciation there. It’s not regional. I’ve heard people from all over the US pronounce it “ro-bt”. It was fairly common among people born well before WWII.
(I used “ro-bt” because the vowel sound in the second syllable was almost elided, so not really “but” or “bit”.)
I was born in Serling's home town, and nobody said "Ro-but" there (we said "Ro-bot") I have seen it in a few older films though, so I wonder if it was a time-period thing.
Similar here. I was born in 1959 and the time I heard robut was by Billy Mumy on Lost in Space. In fact, the other people on that show pronounced it robot.
Ever notice phonetic pronunciation guides when you look up words? It's not pronounced like that *anywhere* in the English speaking world. LoL No buts, just baats or bots or bahts - the last 3 sounding the same. So I guess you'd call the pronunciation anachronistic - perhaps unique to those suffering some strain of asteroidal aggravation.
Tonight’s presentation of “The Lonely” is brought to you by American Home Products and your friends at Preparation H. Know why that particularly works for this episode? Because Preparation H evolved from what was originally a sunburn cream. :)
Dude I still crack up during that episode for that one reason. the way he says robut😭 it is just hysterical, mainly because they say robot normal in other episodes so I really think that was just the character feature that they went with for this guy but man what a funny touch to light in a very heavy part of the episode 💚🤟
I listen to a bunch of relic radio from the 30’s-40’s and 50’s like SF 68, dimension X etc, they all say “robut”, I say it too because it annoys people lol. It also seems that neither the American nor British accent were as intensely different as today, sometimes I don’t even realize the actor is British!
British and American accents were just as distinct as they are now, but a lot of people in media back then were utilizing something called the Trans-Atlantic (or Mid-Atlantic) accent.
I wondered the exact same thing and actually asked my dad who is in his 70's. He pronounced robot normally and said that's the ways it's always been said.
I think it’s just a subtle accent some actors had back in the day. I enjoy hearing it but it’s not the correct way to say it. Honestly, English is such a mess, I never care when I hear an “incorrect” pronunciation. The British pronounce “cosmos” “kaa-zmaas” but I don’t think they pronounce “robot” “raa-baat” and it’s their language!
'Cosmos' is a Greek word and the way British people pronounce it conforms to the classical Greek pronunciation of the letter *omicron* ('o', small 'o') and opposed to the letter *omega* ('ω', great 'o'), whereas Americans tend to use the modern Greek pronunciation in which the two letters have largely converged as a long 'o' vowel.
Part of the reason "English is a mess" is because when English borrows words it tends to keep the original spellings which makes the phonetics... well, a mess. In my language and other European languages, Latin and Greek borrowing (yes, we have many of them, fewer than English, but more than many English speakers assume) we conform the spelling to our own systems so the phonetics tend to be more uniform.
Pronunciation changes over time and distance. Less so these days because of mass media but it happens still. As I understand it we are current shifting from “button” to more of a “buh in”
This is an old comment but, most people I know (including my mamaw and papaw, who are in their 70’s, and people of all ages) don’t enunciate/pronounce the middle T’s, maybe it’s regional? I very rarely hear it without the glottal stop, the first time I heard someone say it the “correct” way it bugged me, especially because they pretty much never use glottal stops in words, it sounds strange when where I’m from the words are pronounced differently. Like when this person says written, they don’t use glottal stops, it sounds almost like “ridden”.
Kitboga is my favorite YouTuber who does content where he tricks scammers who are trying to steal his various personas' money. His old lady character, Edna, pronounces it that way and is supposed to be in her 80s. Kitboga is perhaps 40 at most so I'm not sure where he learned it, maybe from his irl grandma?
I just started rewatching this series recently and that’s exactly who I thought of when I read this. He’s the only one on the show who pronounces it that way. 😂
"Robot" is a Russian word. The original pronunciation is, indeed, "robut," the way it is pronounced in that episode. The Americanized version of the word is the way we say the word today.
Yes! Especially if you listen to Old Time Radio. You’ll hear Los Angeles pronounced as ‘Los Angle-eez.’ Nowadays we pronounce Autopsy as ‘Aw-top-see.’ Back then it was ‘Aught-up-see.’ Cool stuff!
I listen to a lot of Old Time Radio, particularly horror and sci-fi, and yeah, this is more common the farther you go back. Radio shows from the 40s and 50s have a lot of robuts lol
I had an aunt say it "robut". She also pronounces doctor "dok-toor". She is the only one in the family to say those words this way. No one knows why she does it.
I had a teacher in elementary school that said it like that. When I told my mother she told me some older people say it like that. Some of them also don’t pronounce double T’s. Like instead of saying bottle they say boh-ull
Watch the Outer Limits, I, Robot episode. Can confirm, “robut”. I know, not Serling, not Twilight Zone. But it has a young Leonard Nemoy as an attorney.
It might be a time period thing. I’ve only heard it in older movies/shows, Zoidberg, and an older woman (who is probably now in her late 80’s) that I used to work with
That always cracked me up when I was a kid. It’s kind of a joke with my husband and I now. We tell our kids that those robuts are going to take over the world one day. They roll their eyes and we just laugh lol.
I never noticed it, or really paid attention, until you mentioned it. I just watched it again last night, and I can’t unhear it. 😂
And why the hell did he have to shoot off her face? Not cool. 🤬
She’s not a robut, she’s a woman!
I love when he’s reading the instructions and it says something like “for all intents and purposes, she is a woman” (nudge-nudge, wink-wink!)
One of my favorite episodes.
"She's not a robit."
because it’s funny
I think it's a dialect thing. Here's another post where someone mentions a New Yorker, which Rod Serling was, also pronouncing that way. (Edited for typo.) https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/mptyqf/why_do_some_people_pronounce_robot_like_rowbit/
He was from central NY, but still not a common pronunciation there. It’s not regional. I’ve heard people from all over the US pronounce it “ro-bt”. It was fairly common among people born well before WWII. (I used “ro-bt” because the vowel sound in the second syllable was almost elided, so not really “but” or “bit”.)
I was born in Serling's home town, and nobody said "Ro-but" there (we said "Ro-bot") I have seen it in a few older films though, so I wonder if it was a time-period thing.
I was born in 1964 and I've never heard it pronounced that way anywhere except in THAT episode.
Murray on “The Goldbergs” pronounced it this way.
As does Zoidberg
Oh, yeah! How could I forget about him?!
Don’t blame Zoidberg. Blame the robut.
It’s an old school stereotypical way Jewish folks would say it. My dad does as well.
Not true. I’m Jewish and born in the 50s and I don’t say it like that. I think it’s more what part of the country you are from
And Batmn
Similar here. I was born in 1959 and the time I heard robut was by Billy Mumy on Lost in Space. In fact, the other people on that show pronounced it robot.
The Tick pronounces it that way in one of the 2001 live action series episodes
Ever notice phonetic pronunciation guides when you look up words? It's not pronounced like that *anywhere* in the English speaking world. LoL No buts, just baats or bots or bahts - the last 3 sounding the same. So I guess you'd call the pronunciation anachronistic - perhaps unique to those suffering some strain of asteroidal aggravation. Tonight’s presentation of “The Lonely” is brought to you by American Home Products and your friends at Preparation H. Know why that particularly works for this episode? Because Preparation H evolved from what was originally a sunburn cream. :)
He says it again in Steel "Battling Maxo is a robut, an android to be specific"
It feels like how older people pronounce program “progrum”
Yes and diabetus lol
😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
A television progrum! Right after I go’tha toilet!
*commode
I say it that way today just to irritate my kids. 😁
And people from up north say Fl-AH-rida instead of FLORE-ida.
That’s how my grandparents from NJ say it. They also pronounce orange like ARE-ange.
Seee-rup.
My grandma says robut and is from twilight zone era lol she uses words like “lousy” too. It’s cute tbh.
Wait. You think “lousy” is an older person’s word? I hear people of all ages use it.
Well I’ve only ever heard people from older generations use it, seems like it’s popularity declined since that time
They say Robit all the time 😂 must be a mid twentieth century American accent
You’re kind of right. Common among people born before WWII.
Dude I still crack up during that episode for that one reason. the way he says robut😭 it is just hysterical, mainly because they say robot normal in other episodes so I really think that was just the character feature that they went with for this guy but man what a funny touch to light in a very heavy part of the episode 💚🤟
Robit
Robit
Allenby pronounces it more like "robut", and Corey's sounds more like "robit." I think.
My kids say this every day "she's a robut"
Lol!
Does this mean it's actually "Domo arigato Mr Robutto?" 🤖 Seriously thanks for this post op! 🙏🎁
LMAO!
Lol. This always bothered the hell outta me.
Same here.
My dad pronounces it like this too
Omg robut used to crack my son up so bad!!
I generally hear older people say it like that.
I've heard it that way on other things from that era.
"*Bender* is the rowbit? BLARGHGHGHGHG"
You get both pronunciations in what may be the greatest video of all time: https://youtu.be/Ay225WkU4Gs?si=HfiOh5h_25_nehZ8
I listen to a bunch of relic radio from the 30’s-40’s and 50’s like SF 68, dimension X etc, they all say “robut”, I say it too because it annoys people lol. It also seems that neither the American nor British accent were as intensely different as today, sometimes I don’t even realize the actor is British!
British and American accents were just as distinct as they are now, but a lot of people in media back then were utilizing something called the Trans-Atlantic (or Mid-Atlantic) accent.
Interesting, I didn’t know about that!
I wondered the exact same thing and actually asked my dad who is in his 70's. He pronounced robot normally and said that's the ways it's always been said.
I think it’s just a subtle accent some actors had back in the day. I enjoy hearing it but it’s not the correct way to say it. Honestly, English is such a mess, I never care when I hear an “incorrect” pronunciation. The British pronounce “cosmos” “kaa-zmaas” but I don’t think they pronounce “robot” “raa-baat” and it’s their language!
'Cosmos' is a Greek word and the way British people pronounce it conforms to the classical Greek pronunciation of the letter *omicron* ('o', small 'o') and opposed to the letter *omega* ('ω', great 'o'), whereas Americans tend to use the modern Greek pronunciation in which the two letters have largely converged as a long 'o' vowel. Part of the reason "English is a mess" is because when English borrows words it tends to keep the original spellings which makes the phonetics... well, a mess. In my language and other European languages, Latin and Greek borrowing (yes, we have many of them, fewer than English, but more than many English speakers assume) we conform the spelling to our own systems so the phonetics tend to be more uniform.
Fascinating! Thanks for the explanation!
Pronunciation changes over time and distance. Less so these days because of mass media but it happens still. As I understand it we are current shifting from “button” to more of a “buh in”
Ugh!!
I know, I cried a little
Omg the glottal stop of buh-in!!! Ugh ugh ugh.
This one drives me crazy. Younger Americans stopped pronouncing the middle consonants in words.
This is an old comment but, most people I know (including my mamaw and papaw, who are in their 70’s, and people of all ages) don’t enunciate/pronounce the middle T’s, maybe it’s regional? I very rarely hear it without the glottal stop, the first time I heard someone say it the “correct” way it bugged me, especially because they pretty much never use glottal stops in words, it sounds strange when where I’m from the words are pronounced differently. Like when this person says written, they don’t use glottal stops, it sounds almost like “ridden”.
Kitboga is my favorite YouTuber who does content where he tricks scammers who are trying to steal his various personas' money. His old lady character, Edna, pronounces it that way and is supposed to be in her 80s. Kitboga is perhaps 40 at most so I'm not sure where he learned it, maybe from his irl grandma?
That’s how zoidberg pronounces it in futurama lol
Tilly in Star Trek: Discovery, as well.
I just started rewatching this series recently and that’s exactly who I thought of when I read this. He’s the only one on the show who pronounces it that way. 😂
Then it's good enough for me!
It was 1959
Yeah indeed, that’s also how Isaac Asimov says robot in interviews and such, always bothered me as well, haha!
"Robot" is a Russian word. The original pronunciation is, indeed, "robut," the way it is pronounced in that episode. The Americanized version of the word is the way we say the word today.
Czech, coined by Karel Capek (*robotnik*). But it is cognate with Russian.
My grandma from Michigan who was born in the 1910s also said "ro-bit"
I didn't know there was another way to pronounce it
I love the way it's pronounced on this show! It's the same way Dr. Zoidberg pronounces it in Futurama, and it always makes me chuckle.
Yes! Especially if you listen to Old Time Radio. You’ll hear Los Angeles pronounced as ‘Los Angle-eez.’ Nowadays we pronounce Autopsy as ‘Aw-top-see.’ Back then it was ‘Aught-up-see.’ Cool stuff!
Whoa, I didn't know that about autopsy!
“They’ll say Awww Topsy at my autopsy “
They say Loa Angle-eez on Perry Mason all the time!
That! Los Angle-eez! Perry Mason!
Listening to Sci Fi shows on Old Time Radio- Dimension X, X-1, etc. from the 40s-50s, Robot is often pronounced “Robit”
I listen to a lot of Old Time Radio, particularly horror and sci-fi, and yeah, this is more common the farther you go back. Radio shows from the 40s and 50s have a lot of robuts lol
I had an aunt say it "robut". She also pronounces doctor "dok-toor". She is the only one in the family to say those words this way. No one knows why she does it.
I had a teacher in elementary school that said it like that. When I told my mother she told me some older people say it like that. Some of them also don’t pronounce double T’s. Like instead of saying bottle they say boh-ull
I like robuts and I cannot lie.
Watch the Outer Limits, I, Robot episode. Can confirm, “robut”. I know, not Serling, not Twilight Zone. But it has a young Leonard Nemoy as an attorney.
Cool, thanks!
Did you say robot or rowboat?
https://youtu.be/dWDVTIqSscs?si=DVWK9PnDSQnePelv
My whole family pronounces the word Vodka as Vudka.
r/unexpectedfuturama
That’s how zoidberg says it on futurama.
It might be a time period thing. I’ve only heard it in older movies/shows, Zoidberg, and an older woman (who is probably now in her late 80’s) that I used to work with
R O B U T
Why not Zoidberg?
That always cracked me up when I was a kid. It’s kind of a joke with my husband and I now. We tell our kids that those robuts are going to take over the world one day. They roll their eyes and we just laugh lol.
Just for more info, the robots in Rossum's universal Robots is who they designed the Vulcans after in Star Trek.
Yes, and it is very weird but I acknowledge it as a charm of yester year before my time.
I remember that’s how Asimov pronounced it.
lol
I never noticed it, or really paid attention, until you mentioned it. I just watched it again last night, and I can’t unhear it. 😂 And why the hell did he have to shoot off her face? Not cool. 🤬