Is it pronounced FebUary, or FebRuary?

[Cant trust em]

I mean, there's clearly an R in there. Why do some people omit it?

Is this a regional thing? What do you use and where are you from?

[Oeditpus Rex]

1. Feb-ree-ary

Soy de Santiago de Cuba. Mucho gusto.

[flvegan]

2. This has Lounge flamewar potential.

:popcorn:

[RadiationTherapy]

3. FEB - u - rary. nt

[terrya]

4. FebRuary

I've been gently scolded about that by my wonderful boyfriend. :-)

[Lil Missy]

5. FebRuary.

On the flipside, there is no 'R' in wash or Washington.

[grannylib]

6. FebRuary.

[mainegreen]

7. Feb-brew-airy

[I Have A Dream]

8. Both are correct.

From dictionary.com:

The common pronunciation /ˈfɛbyuˌɛri/, with the first 'r' replaced by 'y', is the result of dissimilation, the tendency of like sounds to become unlike when they follow each other closely. An additional influence is analogy with January. Although sometimes criticized, this dissimilated pronunciation of February is used by educated speakers and is considered standard.

From the American Heritage dictionary:

Usage Note: Although the variant pronunciation \fěb'yōō-ěr'ē\ is often censured because it doesn't reflect the spelling of the word, it is quite common in educated speech and is generally considered acceptable. The loss of the first r in this pronunciation can be accounted for by the phonological process known as dissimilation, by which similar sounds in a word tend to become less similar. In the case of February, the loss of the first r is also owing to the influence of January, which has only one r.

From the Merriam_Webster on-line dictionary:

Pronunciation: \ˈfe-b(y)ə-ˌwer-ē, ˈfe-brə-\

Usage: Dissimilation may occur when a word contains two identical or closely related sounds, resulting in the change or loss of one of them. This happens regularly in February, which is more often pronounced \ˈfe-b(y)ə-ˌwer-ē\ than \ˈfe-brə-ˌwer-ē\, though all of these variants are in frequent use and widely accepted. The \y\ heard from many speakers is not an intrusion but rather a common pronunciation of the vowel u after a consonant, as in January and annual.

[WinkyDink]

12. NO way is the ignorant "Feb-you-ary" "quite common in educated speech and is generally considered

acceptable"!

[I Have A Dream]

15. Tell them... I'm just the messenger.

:rofl:

[zanne]

17. Acceptable like "nucular"...

And the Electorial College?

[Canuckistanian]

9. In Canada, we say Feb-rary

We have a way of dropping vowels as well as e-x-t-e-n-d-i-n-g them.

[tekisui]

10. Yes, it is.

[WinkyDink]

11. The "r" is there for a reason. Don't diss the "r". Embrace the "r."

[ScreamingMeemie]

13. In Michigan---F*kn Cold...

That's how I say it at least.

[montanto]

20. LOL!! Really!!

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. I pronounce it "it". But that's just me, pronouncing words correctly as much as possible.

"it" doesn't even have any of the letters you are trying to put into it.

[meow2u3]

16. FebRuary!

February has two r's for a reason--for both of them to be pronounced!

Many people mispronounce February as "Feb-you-ary" for one of two reasons: ignorance and imitation of what they hear on television and/or radio.

[BarenakedLady]

18. I only pronounce the r when I'm spelling it.

[mzteris]

19. FebRuary . . .

Just like LibRary - NOT for godsake - Liberry. UGH